Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC
Hi Magda When one goes into an electronics store one finds many choices in PC's based on price/needs. When the military wants a laptop, they don't know where they will be next and they do not want to have a million choices because the troops and equipments have to be everywhere. But, we know that even though we ave laptops in harsh conditions around the developing world, not everyone needs to have the equivalent of a machine that can go anywhere at any time. The OLPC is an engineering marvel designed by academics and those who wanted to create one bullet proof machine to go anywhere under any condition rather than a platform that could be easily manufactured and modified for the specific need. And that is what they have done. I know that where we work, a low cost pc that could be based on any model in local stores in the US would work well for a large majority. Unfortunately OLPC is the HumVee of laptops and your concerns are well taken. Next stop? cell phones. cheers tom tom abeles > Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2008 18:54:28 + > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net > Subject: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC > > Thank you all the members of the list for your kind answers! > I will try here to discuss some of the topics that have been raised: > > Tim: the OLPC is said to be a quality tool for children of the developing > world but what you pointed out is very true: people living in rural > developing areas are going to appreciate any kind of technology that could be > presented to them, as they do not have any alternative. So, the point is: why > not offering them the technology that we all use everyday (a standard laptop) > instead of a tool created to be a “laptop for the third world”. > > I am not sure that I agree with Satish when says that the OLPC is more > advanced than a normal laptop, as it is thought as a game for children who > aren’t failiar with technology. It was proved by a recent research held from > IBM that PCs and laptops introduced in primary schools as “games” where > making children ask why they do not have “normal” PCs and laptops, as the > ones that they saw in other contexts. That is to say: are we sure that it is > right to create a “game” of the first laptop that those children are going to > use, just because they have never seen a laptop before? What’s the difference > between the OLPC and the laptop that Taran suggested or the Asus EEE, which > have now the same price than the OLPC one but are “serious” laptops? > > Thank you all for suggestions, > Magda > > --- Ven 5/9/08, Satish Jha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ha scritto: > > Da: Satish Jha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Oggetto: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC > A: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group" > > Data: Venerdì 5 settembre 2008, 21:39 > > Magda, > > There is a bit of difference between making a PC and a learning PC for > children. What we know as OLPC, without a dozen feature it has that do not > come bundled with any other laptop, can be manufactured below $100. But add > ruggedness, no moving parts, mesh networking, dual boot system, a screen > that works well under the sun, a keyboard that is spill proof, a built in > camera, a swiveling screen and an e-book feature and we are talking a > serious package. retaining costs at $200 after adding all that narrated > above and more is a feat in itself.. So OLPC is no ordinary laptop and the > next version will be to laptops what i-phone is to cell phones and for > less.. That said, we should encourage every initiative to reduce costs as > the lower price points will undoubtedly increase the reach of computing, > opening every newer frontier with drop in prices.. > > Thanks > >Magda Pischetola wrote: > > > Dear collegues, > > > > > > I've been reading with great interests your posts in the latest > months > > and now I'd like you to ask your opinion about a topic that is going > to be > > an important part of my research. > > > > > > I am doing my PhD in Italy with a project on the Digital divide from > the > > point of view of Education. I am studying how can education reduce the DD > > with media literacy and how teachers can help children to achieve a good > > level of the so-called "digital skills", to access ICT and > Internet and to > > produce development. > > > > > > Now, this year I will follow a field research in a primary school > where > > teachers are going to introduce the OLPC laptop as a tool in their method > of > > theaching. Then, in the new year I'd like to compare the results to > another > > area of the world (I'm thinking of Buenos Ayres, Argentina). > > > > > > I'm asking to you all what you think - out of any preconcept that > I might > > share - about the initiative of OLPC in the world (if it is a goof > initiave > > or not and why) and which aspect would you stress in a field research like > > this one (e.g. skills of the teacher, self-learning of the child, > creativity > > and
Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking
The capabilities of the cell phone are developing but access is controlled by the parties who need to have positive cash flow. There is now an app for the i-Phone that lets one access and participate in Second Life. In the US the service providers all have usb systems that connect to their cell services so that one has an alternative to the availability of broad band. One can buy English lessons in China which down load to a cell and there are cell phones that for all intents and purposes come close to the WII game system. Want to play dice? load the game, shake the phone, hear the rattle see what you rolled. The capabilities are such that one goes with what gives the best access at an affordable cost. The smart money appears to be on cells for many uses that are now forced onto the broadband networks. cells are NOT just the next gadget. thoughts? tom tom abeles > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net > Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2008 13:11:16 -0700 > Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking > > What do you-all mean by "the latest ICT gadget"? Do you think it is trivial > and will decline? From what I've seen all over West Africa, it is nontrivial > and here to stay. We are working on how to use it for getting information to > villagers, who despite their remoteness seem to have access (Ghana, e.g., > has 300+ cell towers). > > Sarah Blackmun-Eskow, M.A. > Deputy Director > Office of External Affairs > Ghana Telecom University College > PMB 100, Tesano-Accra, Ghana > U.S. Address: 290 North Fairview Avenue > Goleta CA 93117 > 805-692-6998 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.gtuc.edu.gh > > > > > The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has > been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes > > Sarah Blackmun-Eskow > President, The Pangaea Network > 290 North Fairview Avenue > Goleta CA 93117 > 805-692-6998 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.pangaeanetwork.org > > -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Daniel O. > Escasa > Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 7:30 AM > To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group > Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking > > Sabi ni Jacky noong Wed, 3 Sep 2008 23:31:29 -0400: > > I agree with the idea that mobile phone is the latest ICT gadget; > > however, there is a lot that remains to be done in terms of broadband > > penetration. > > You don't need much bandwidth for SMS, and there's a lot you can do with > SMS. For example, the Community Heath Information System (CHITS -- > http://www.apdip.net/resources/case/rnd48/view) > > > In this study free and open source tools from the Linux community combined > with participatory people-centric strategies were employed to enable > implementation of an injury surveillance system by health workers. The > project has three main components: a Short Messaging Service (SMS) for > reporting injuries, training of health workers on injury surveillance and a > web-based system for the graphic presentation of injury data used by > decision makers. The pilot project was implemented in a poor urban village > of the Philippines. SMS was selected because of its widespread penetration > in the Philippines and its wireless capabilities. > > > Another SMS-enabled service is B2Bpricenow (www.b2bpricenow.com), a portal > that provides up-to-the-minute price updates on market information for > agriculture, consumer manufactures, and industrial produce. It brings > together farmers and transport providers so that the former can get > information such as pricing and transport availability from the latter. > > In a previous post (or it might've been in another mailing list), I thought > that mobile telephone carriers could tie up with The Knowledge Channel (TKC) > or some similar educational TV station to provide quick quizzes to the > student viewers. TKC would flash a question on screen and invite viewers to > SMS in their answers, and TKC would reply to a viewer's cell phone with > either "correct" or "wrong". In the latter case, it would send the correct > answer. The carriers would lend their infrastructure, ideally at reduced SMS > rates. > > So who needs 3G? > -- > Daniel O. Escasa > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > contributor, Free Software Magazine (http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com) > personal blog at http://descasa.i.ph > > -- > http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and > love email again > > ___ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > > ___ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscr
Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC
Magda, Have you used OLPC? It does not have the speed I would like, but it has XP and MS Office and several Linux based applications. Does that sound like something not good for you and me? How many adults played with Nintendo? Who was it made for? Better to take a good look at what you are trying to evaluate. At least the doubts I see in your communication may be addressed. How about this.. I have been using a PC since 1984, have used Macs, bought a dozen PCs and laptops in teh intervening years and even now I prefer to use Sony Vaio T 250.. until I saw the $200 XO.. At a fraction of the price of T250 I get a dozen more convenient features and I just wish it had 1 GB ram instead of 256 and I will use a laptop that looks good for kids any day.. Its as much of a PC as any PC is.. At $200 its a steal, feature by feature and more.. but for the speed.. But once they bring in 4GB flash memory in the next few months, it will be as good as any. Dell has just announced its halfway to XO today.. On Sat, Sep 6, 2008 at 2:54 PM, Magda Pischetola <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > Thank you all the members of the list for your kind answers! > I will try here to discuss some of the topics that have been raised: > > Tim: the OLPC is said to be a quality tool for children of the developing > world but what you pointed out is very true: people living in rural > developing areas are going to appreciate any kind of technology that could > be presented to them, as they do not have any alternative. So, the point is: > why not offering them the technology that we all use everyday (a standard > laptop) instead of a tool created to be a "laptop for the third world". > > I am not sure that I agree with Satish when says that the OLPC is more > advanced than a normal laptop, as it is thought as a game for children who > aren't failiar with technology. It was proved by a recent research held from > IBM that PCs and laptops introduced in primary schools as "games" where > making children ask why they do not have "normal" PCs and laptops, as the > ones that they saw in other contexts. That is to say: are we sure that it is > right to create a "game" of the first laptop that those children are going > to use, just because they have never seen a laptop before? What's the > difference between the OLPC and the laptop that Taran suggested or the Asus > EEE, which have now the same price than the OLPC one but are "serious" > laptops? > > Thank you all for suggestions, > Magda > > --- Ven 5/9/08, Satish Jha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ha scritto: > > Da: Satish Jha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Oggetto: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC > A: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group" < > digitaldivide@digitaldivide.net> > Data: Venerdì 5 settembre 2008, 21:39 > > > -- > Satish Jha > President & CEO > OLPC India > One Cambridge Center > Cambridge, MA 02142 > T: 301 841 7422 > F:301560 4909 > www.laptop.org > __ > http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=tab_pro > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satish_Jha > ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking
What do you-all mean by "the latest ICT gadget"? Do you think it is trivial and will decline? From what I've seen all over West Africa, it is nontrivial and here to stay. We are working on how to use it for getting information to villagers, who despite their remoteness seem to have access (Ghana, e.g., has 300+ cell towers). Sarah Blackmun-Eskow, M.A. Deputy Director Office of External Affairs Ghana Telecom University College PMB 100, Tesano-Accra, Ghana U.S. Address: 290 North Fairview Avenue Goleta CA 93117 805-692-6998 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.gtuc.edu.gh The narratives of the world are numberless. . . . there nowhere is nor has been a people without narrative.--Roland Barthes Sarah Blackmun-Eskow President, The Pangaea Network 290 North Fairview Avenue Goleta CA 93117 805-692-6998 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.pangaeanetwork.org -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Daniel O. Escasa Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 7:30 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking Sabi ni Jacky noong Wed, 3 Sep 2008 23:31:29 -0400: > I agree with the idea that mobile phone is the latest ICT gadget; > however, there is a lot that remains to be done in terms of broadband > penetration. You don't need much bandwidth for SMS, and there's a lot you can do with SMS. For example, the Community Heath Information System (CHITS -- http://www.apdip.net/resources/case/rnd48/view) In this study free and open source tools from the Linux community combined with participatory people-centric strategies were employed to enable implementation of an injury surveillance system by health workers. The project has three main components: a Short Messaging Service (SMS) for reporting injuries, training of health workers on injury surveillance and a web-based system for the graphic presentation of injury data used by decision makers. The pilot project was implemented in a poor urban village of the Philippines. SMS was selected because of its widespread penetration in the Philippines and its wireless capabilities. Another SMS-enabled service is B2Bpricenow (www.b2bpricenow.com), a portal that provides up-to-the-minute price updates on market information for agriculture, consumer manufactures, and industrial produce. It brings together farmers and transport providers so that the former can get information such as pricing and transport availability from the latter. In a previous post (or it might've been in another mailing list), I thought that mobile telephone carriers could tie up with The Knowledge Channel (TKC) or some similar educational TV station to provide quick quizzes to the student viewers. TKC would flash a question on screen and invite viewers to SMS in their answers, and TKC would reply to a viewer's cell phone with either "correct" or "wrong". In the latter case, it would send the correct answer. The carriers would lend their infrastructure, ideally at reduced SMS rates. So who needs 3G? -- Daniel O. Escasa [EMAIL PROTECTED] contributor, Free Software Magazine (http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com) personal blog at http://descasa.i.ph -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and love email again ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC
Thank you all the members of the list for your kind answers! I will try here to discuss some of the topics that have been raised: Tim: the OLPC is said to be a quality tool for children of the developing world but what you pointed out is very true: people living in rural developing areas are going to appreciate any kind of technology that could be presented to them, as they do not have any alternative. So, the point is: why not offering them the technology that we all use everyday (a standard laptop) instead of a tool created to be a “laptop for the third world”. I am not sure that I agree with Satish when says that the OLPC is more advanced than a normal laptop, as it is thought as a game for children who aren’t failiar with technology. It was proved by a recent research held from IBM that PCs and laptops introduced in primary schools as “games” where making children ask why they do not have “normal” PCs and laptops, as the ones that they saw in other contexts. That is to say: are we sure that it is right to create a “game” of the first laptop that those children are going to use, just because they have never seen a laptop before? What’s the difference between the OLPC and the laptop that Taran suggested or the Asus EEE, which have now the same price than the OLPC one but are “serious” laptops? Thank you all for suggestions, Magda --- Ven 5/9/08, Satish Jha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ha scritto: Da: Satish Jha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Oggetto: Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC A: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group" Data: Venerdì 5 settembre 2008, 21:39 Magda, There is a bit of difference between making a PC and a learning PC for children. What we know as OLPC, without a dozen feature it has that do not come bundled with any other laptop, can be manufactured below $100. But add ruggedness, no moving parts, mesh networking, dual boot system, a screen that works well under the sun, a keyboard that is spill proof, a built in camera, a swiveling screen and an e-book feature and we are talking a serious package. retaining costs at $200 after adding all that narrated above and more is a feat in itself.. So OLPC is no ordinary laptop and the next version will be to laptops what i-phone is to cell phones and for less.. That said, we should encourage every initiative to reduce costs as the lower price points will undoubtedly increase the reach of computing, opening every newer frontier with drop in prices.. Thanks Magda Pischetola wrote: > > Dear collegues, > > > > I've been reading with great interests your posts in the latest months > and now I'd like you to ask your opinion about a topic that is going to be > an important part of my research. > > > > I am doing my PhD in Italy with a project on the Digital divide from the > point of view of Education. I am studying how can education reduce the DD > with media literacy and how teachers can help children to achieve a good > level of the so-called "digital skills", to access ICT and Internet and to > produce development. > > > > Now, this year I will follow a field research in a primary school where > teachers are going to introduce the OLPC laptop as a tool in their method of > theaching. Then, in the new year I'd like to compare the results to another > area of the world (I'm thinking of Buenos Ayres, Argentina). > > > > I'm asking to you all what you think - out of any preconcept that I might > share - about the initiative of OLPC in the world (if it is a goof initiave > or not and why) and which aspect would you stress in a field research like > this one (e.g. skills of the teacher, self-learning of the child, creativity > and flexibility of the project, etc.). > > > > I will appreciate very much your help. > > Thank you! > > > > Magda Pischetola > > > > -- > Satish Jha > President & CEO > OLPC India > One Cambridge Center > Cambridge, MA 02142 > T: 301 841 7422 > F:301560 4909 > www.laptop.org > __ > http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=tab_pro > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satish_Jha > ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. __ Do You Yahoo!? Poco spazio e tanto spam? Yahoo! Mail ti protegge dallo spam e ti da tanto spazio gratuito per i tuoi file e i messaggi http://mail.yahoo.it ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] Google Insights - social networking
Sabi ni Jacky noong Wed, 3 Sep 2008 23:31:29 -0400: > I agree with the idea that mobile phone is the latest ICT gadget; > however, > there is a lot that remains to be done in terms of broadband penetration. You don't need much bandwidth for SMS, and there's a lot you can do with SMS. For example, the Community Heath Information System (CHITS -- http://www.apdip.net/resources/case/rnd48/view) In this study free and open source tools from the Linux community combined with participatory people-centric strategies were employed to enable implementation of an injury surveillance system by health workers. The project has three main components: a Short Messaging Service (SMS) for reporting injuries, training of health workers on injury surveillance and a web-based system for the graphic presentation of injury data used by decision makers. The pilot project was implemented in a poor urban village of the Philippines. SMS was selected because of its widespread penetration in the Philippines and its wireless capabilities. Another SMS-enabled service is B2Bpricenow (www.b2bpricenow.com), a portal that provides up-to-the-minute price updates on market information for agriculture, consumer manufactures, and industrial produce. It brings together farmers and transport providers so that the former can get information such as pricing and transport availability from the latter. In a previous post (or it might've been in another mailing list), I thought that mobile telephone carriers could tie up with The Knowledge Channel (TKC) or some similar educational TV station to provide quick quizzes to the student viewers. TKC would flash a question on screen and invite viewers to SMS in their answers, and TKC would reply to a viewer's cell phone with either "correct" or "wrong". In the latter case, it would send the correct answer. The carriers would lend their infrastructure, ideally at reduced SMS rates. So who needs 3G? -- Daniel O. Escasa [EMAIL PROTECTED] contributor, Free Software Magazine (http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com) personal blog at http://descasa.i.ph -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and love email again ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
Re: [DDN] PhD research on OLPC
Taran Rampersad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > And what about the end users of these devices - are their human rights > being respected? Are people given a democratic choice of technology, or > is a well marketed device purchased by a government and then crammed > down their throats when they might have preferred the same money to go > to something else (like running water, electricity, et al)? I agree - that's definitely a very valid point. > Human rights probably shouldn't be subjective, but I may be too much of > an idealist. We can't talk about Human Rights over There without talking > about Human Rights in other places. A sobering way to look at it is to > consider the person with the least rights on the planet defines what the > reality of Human Rights are. Yes, sure, but at the same time, it makes sense with respect to any given project to limit attention to what can conceivably be affected (positively or negatively) by that project. I'm thinking of this in the context of generalizing the idea of "universal design" to something that I suggested could be called "universal freedom design" -- a methodology of project design that would in addition to "accessibility" concerns also take various "freedom" concerns appropriately into consideration. Let's consider for a moment the quotation from the "High Tech No Rights?" roundatable http://www.archive.org/details/hightechnorights_geneva which Claude Almansi gave in her recent posting: "Despite the positive inputs from more progressive brands beginning early 2007, long-term problems still persisted in their Chinese supplier factories. They include substandard wages, excessive work hours, poor occupational health and safety, no rights to employment contracts and resignation, and no communication of corporate codes of conduct to workers." I would suggest that this sounds very much like a modern form of slavery. In my opinion, silently accepting this kind of situation is very clearly totally unacceptable when one is at the same time making use of technical equipment from these sources. I would say that this is a matter of principle which is totally independent of whether there are others on the planet who are even worse off... In other words, I would suggest to interpret "human rights" as an obligation to insist that one's (direct and indirect) trade partners should verifiably adhere to resonable standards of conduct in how they treat people. If this is done, Taran's sobering point still applies, but at least we'd no longer be guilty of contributing to making some aspects of the overall problem worse. Greetings, Norbert. -- Norbert Bollow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Informatics Management and Consulting for Adaptability and Benefit/Cost Optimization in Harmony with Human Rights and Needs ___ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
