Dear GKD Members, All posts on this subject are interesting. Obviously, cheaper computers are a good thing. Just as obviously, even if they were free, that would not make them a silver bullet.
Why does this remind me of close personal observation in Taiwan related to a young salesman, 30 years ago, who, ultimately, made fortunes in the chicken business? I am not sure; but let me tell you the story. The salesman, Y.C. Chang, started off peddling American poultry pharmaceuticals, a rough tough business because not one farmer in a hundred could afford the goodies offered. Because of the cash and "is it worth it?" questions, Y.C. developed this funny idea - at least "funny" at the time. What YC did was loan chicken farmers the money they needed for the drugs and equipment -- but only to farmers who would follow rigorous procedures which required sweat and diligence, but very little cash. (Mostly this involved keeping the coops and surroundings "hospital clean". This alone increased productivity sufficient to allow payment for the more exotic stuff Y.C. sold.) Unsatisfied to simply grow fatter chickens cheaper, Y.C. also helped his customers improve the marketing - bringing along the idea of a safe to eat frozen chicken. The rest is history. In a couple decades, Y.C. became one of the richest men in Taiwan. How does this relate to cheap computers? Perhaps all that technology investment inside schools is not where the resources should be devoted? Perhaps some hard decisions should be made as to which users can have the quickest benefit? How many farmers could use a computer? How many small business operators? How many trade schools with the ability to get data processing work (from abroad) for their graduates? How many professors for their own use? How many teachers to improve their deliveries? What kind of rationing makes the most sense? If the computers have real value, why should they go, automatically, into schools open short hours only four or five days a week? And closed in the summer? Why not in telecenters? post offices? the basement of the biggest bank? Places where one can calculate a return on investment which might well show that the price of the computer is hardly a factor at all. Does this mean children should have computers? Learn computer skills? Of course not. But can those children go to where the computers are -- as vs. taking "cheap" computers to where they go to school? I don't have any good answers to these questions. And most of this field has been ploughed many times by people a whole lot smarter and more experienced than I. But the story of Y.C. Chang in Taiwan and how he improved chicken productivity is worthy of contemplation....at least methinks so. John Hibbs http://www.bfranklin.edu ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
