On Wednesday 01 Aug 2007 7:12 pm, Gautam John wrote: > Schoolchildren in developing countries will > start receiving the remarkable computer from October onwards.
I worry about this. Last month, my wife and I met the parents of a 6 or 7 year old boy. We have known the child since he was about 2 and his parents proudly told us that his new (upmarket, expensive) school has given each child a laptop. And the boy proudly showed us his possession - an admittedly small and light affair which apparently will be used exclusively to handle two subjects. But I am not at all sure of many things. Even if I assume that the laptop is merely a notebook/pencil/textbook combined in a compact space, I worry about things like handwriting, motor skills issues and RSI that little growing hands might get. Nobody really knows what will happen as far as my knowledge goes but this is being promoted like the greatest thing since the printing press. A computer can open up vast new vistas (pun unintended), but can be restricting in other ways. Creativity and art result from motor activity associated with pencil and paper, and the relative permanence of something that is written on paper lends itself to sharing in a manner that is different from information in a computer. I think there are so many unanswered questions that I see this as a new drug or medicine that is being tried out without any longterm testing. My kids are too old for this - but I would be very concerned if they had been much younger. shiv
