link to my blog post: http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/my-experience-with-olpc-in-tuvalu/
On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 5:22 PM, Leigh Blackall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > Hi Valerie, > > Glad you asked, as I'm in the process of posting to my blog a text that > basically outlines my over all disappointment with them. I was guilty of > being charmed by their innovations, but that has always been from the > perspective of what the OLPC could offer computing generally, particularly > in wealthy economies. Clearly the OLPC sparked such things as the Asus Eee > PC and a new awareness of free software, but the innovations in the OLPC > will damage their effectiveness in poorer economies. Here's my text that I'm > about to post to the blog (links not in yet): > > My experience with OLPC in Tuvalu. > > > > In Tuvalu I experienced my first OLPC reality test. I've touched them > before, drooled over them at an expensive conference in Wellington while I > stuffed my face with atlantic salmon and caviar orderves one morning... but > up until now, I had never had the opportunity to see or use them in the > context they were designed for. What follows are my notes on such an > opportunity, using brand new OLPCs in a wiki training workshop for teachers > in Tuvalu. > > > > The setting: > > > > The workshops I've been running here are for the Tuvalu Ministry of > Education. They have me here for a Wikieducator initiative called Learning > for Content (L4C). Many primary and secondary teachers from around the > Islands of Tuvalu are here, as well as people from non government > organisations and service areas in Tuvalu. The organisers and I thought it > would be a good idea to run the session on the new OLPCs, and expose the > teachers to what was coming to their students. > > > > We are working in a large room on the second floor of the Government > building, over looking the Funafuti atol. It is very hot in that room all > day, and I try to keep prime position in front of the only fan. There is a > wireless network set up froma main satellite connection and distributed > through a Linxis wireless router situated in the room with us. The OLPCs > were fresh out of the box and the IT person had only had the afternoon > before to familiarise herself with them. > > > > The OLPC experience: > > > > The first thing I noticed (but already knew about) was the radically > different operating system interface is. It doesn't look anything like any > Linux distribution I have used before and it certainly looks nothing like > any Windows or Mac OS. This operating system is out on its own again, a 4 > th operating system if you will, and while I at first was mighty impressed > by it back in Wellington while eating caviar, I have serious reservations > about it here in Tuvalu... > > > > The next thing I noticed was the browser. At first glance it looks a little > like Google's Chrome, but less than 3 clicks around you soon realise that > its not of course. I couldn't for the life of me work out how to get new > browser tabs happening, and I suspect that tabbed browsing is not possible! > The apparent absence of such an important browser feature had me seeing > doubts about the approaching workshop. If I couldn't even work out the > browser, let alone the operating system, how the hell was I going to run a > workshop for 40 odd people through it over the next 6 days? > > > > Its funny, it only takes one perculiarity of a thing – compared to what > we're used to of course, and we start to look out for more and see only the > faults. I started to notice the differences a lot more from this point on, > not in terms of innovation – though on reflection I can see many aspects of > the software that could be seen as innovative, but more in terms of > usability and limitations to what we needed to be doing. > > > > I couldn't work out how to save and recover files from a USB. Admittedly I > was by now very short on time and didn't look long or hard for it, but I was > continuously thrown off by new icons I hadn't seen before, trying to work > out what signified what and where, and how long a thing took to initiate, > how to quit a thing, or how to swap windows. As with most things that > require patience, I had to walk away from this one and get the classroom > ready for a workshop I was now dreading. > > > > Soon we had somewhere near 20 people in the room for day 1. The nice little > charm of the OLPCs turning on started filling the room.. great, everyone > found the on button. The IT lady was running around connecting everyone to > the wireless network, but each computer was taking a dreadfully long time to > connect, often hanging once the access key was entered, or just dropping the > connection soon after it found it. I needed a projector to demonstrate > things in the workshop, but couldn't plug an OLPC into the projector. The > only other device on hand was a standard 17 inch laptop with Windows Vista > on it :( > > > > I filled some time raving about the OLPCs and how much I was stoked to be > in a room full of them, and how they were the thing that inspired Asus and > others to start putting out great little things like the Asus Eee PC. > Eventually we had enough OLPCs connected to proceed, and we packed up the 3 > or 4 that just didn't connect or misteriously turned themselves off after a > few seconds. > > > > After I had giving a little show and tell on the projector it was now a job > of going around and showing each person how to find and start the OLPC > browser and bring up the wikieducator website. > > > > I'd say about 1/3 of the group had used computers before, and all of those > people would have used a Windows operating system. While their intuition > seemed to get them at least as far as I had before the workshop, that > intuition wasn't any use beyond that point. We were into a case of the blind > leading the blind. No one worked out how to get tabbed browsing going, one > guy managed to get a Logitec wireless mouse working (highly recommended > btw!), and no one worked out how to save and recover files from a USB. Those > who had not used comuters much before were not at much of a disadvantage to > the rest of us. We were all using computers for the first time it seemed, > and so I couldn't rely on anyone to help others. > > > > And here is my point. It would seem that the designers behind the OLPCs > have been so carried away with their design innovation that they lost sight > of something critical. That the people o the ground who are going to hand > out and help administer these things are likely people who have at least > some experience with computers. And like it or not, that experience will > have been based on a Windows or Linux operating system, and probably only in > as much as the graphic user interfaces would offer. While I can appreciate > innovation and have a high tollerance threshold for new ideas, the > differences between the OLPC and any other interface re so great that it > simply left me and anyone else who might have been able to assist feeling > useless and unable to help, and that will be the OLPCs undoing when they hit > the ground they were designed to be used on. > > > > To be honest, I would sooner hand out $400 Asus Eees, just because they > don't need an instruction manual like the OLPCs do. EeePCs run on a > distribution of Linux too, but what the developers of their operating system > got right was that they understood how much they could rely on user > intuition, in fact i would say that this was a primary element in their > design brief. If you've never used a computer before, you'll be able to work > out the Asus EeePC. If you have used Windows, Mac or and Linux, you'll know > how to work out an Asus EeePC. What's more! If your first computer is an > Asus EeePC you will develop computing intuition useful for using Windows, > Mac or Linux (which you will inevitably use if your job involves computing > in some way, or you start inheriting second hand computers via the > electronic waste management centre. > > > > The workshop still worked out OK. People got by on the OLPCs and tollerated > the frustrations of dropped connection, no right click options, difficult > touch pads, overly small scroll bars, and annoying uninformative browser > address bars. We got by, but not without a few complaints. We put up with > the limitations, and odd perculiarities that I certainly wouldn't call > innovations and were able to use the OLPCs for accessing and editing pages > on Wikieducator. > > > > I am still mightily impressed with the obvious innovations in the OLPCs. > Things like keeping most of the hardware in the screen and so elevating the > main vulnerability out of splash zones of spilt drink. (A fan, cranking full > tilt around the room WILL sooner or later spill a half empty plastic cup of > water across the desk or floor). And I do actually like the keyboard > configuration, even without a forward delete key. > > > > But I think it was a terrible mistake to go too far into new territory with > the operating system. There are clear advantages to leveraging from > experienced people's computing intuition, but the OLPCs have decided to go > way outside that relm and force everyone to learn a whole new metaphore, > essentually plonking a 4th operating system on the table. Yes there are > innovations in some of that software and interface design (for techno and > edu geeks), OLPC has shot themselves in the foot. The softare innovation > would have been better deployed on some other laptop project that wasn't so > reliant on mass take up, or wasn't concerned with things like relavence and > transferability of skills. The similarities between Windows, Linux and Apple > are close enough for an intuitive person to migrate between the 3. But the > OLPC is out on its own and too soon, so I think this is a terrible > mistake... I wonder if they'll work OK with Ubuntu or Asus Xandros on them? > > > > Oh, and by the end of day 2, the heat and humidity seemed to have gotten > the better of at least one of the OLPCs.. its touch pad was lifting and > seemed to have freed itself from its adhesive. I can't imagine how they'll > be a few months from now, with the salty, humid air all around us... perhaps > OLPCs are designed to withstand that too? > > > > Conclusion: > > > > Dispite all that I've said here, I still love the OLPC - the ideas in it at > least. Like I said originally, back in 2005 – OLPCs have more to offer > people in the wealthy economies than they do in poorer ones. They have > forced computer designers to rethink their comodities and release cheap, > strong, portable and better designed computers at more accessible price > ranges. They have lead us to consider the savings possible through the use > of free software (at last). And they have indicated to us that it could be > possible to develop very cheap computers and so conceivable that everyone > have one (if we still think that to be advantagious). But from my experience > in Tuvalu, the OLPCs got the software wrong for their mission. The Asus > EeePC (arguably a result of the OLPC initiative) got it right, but ironicly > don't share the OLPC mission. > > > > To the Tuvaluans I would suggest selling the OLPCs on eBay and fetch the > $300 you could get from collectors in the United States and Kingdom, then > use that money to buy Asus EeePC or similar. That is if you can't get > another operating system working on the OLPCs. > > > > List of things wrong with OLPCs Operating System: > > > > 1. The connectivity metaphore on start up is inappropriate for people > in areas where connectivity is a long way away. The OLPC is more useful to > people in Tuvalu as a device for games, media and typing before it is for > connecting to the Internet, so the connectivity interface should not be the > main focus at start up. > > > > 1. That said, we were using wireless connectivity in the Government > building, but the OLPCs holding that connection was flakey. We had no > trouble keeping a connection to the network on the Windows machines, but > the > OLPCs kept dropping. Placing a Wireless modem in the room with us seemed to > help the situation. Another problem relating to connectivity was the amount > of time some of the OLPCs took to connect. Some didn't at all. All of them > need clearer indication of progress in connecting. > > > > 1. The pop up menu for the operating system is very frustrating and > seems to be affected by processing. Sometimes it is slow to initiate and > even slower to dissapear. I think its better to use the key on the keyboard > instead, and turn off the mouse over feature. > > > > 1. Need better preloaders for the software. When we clicked an icon the > software takes a while to load. Sometimes the loader dialog that says > "starting" would take too long to appear. The icon does appear in the pie > chart indicating active applications, perhaps something in that graphic > could more effectively illustrate it as loading. > > > > 1. The browser must have tabbed browsing! If I missed where it was, > then it is too hard to find. There was no right click option on any of the > OLPC we were using, and I don't know if there is meant to be. If the tabbed > browsing relies on a right click then we were thwarted. Also, I think the > browser needs work on its layout and features. The address bar takes up too > much room and for some unkown reason wants to display the page name instead > of the URL. The URL is for more useful in terms of information, and having > to click into the address bar just to check the URL is just silly. The > scroll bars are too small, and especially noticable when managing a website > with a scrolling window inside it, like the edit view of a wiki. We didn't > try any ajax, java or flash – but I hope they are good to go! > > > > 1. I couldn't work out how to manage files. I could download PDFs ok, > but it was a bit of a fumble to display them, and I have no idea how to > save > them. I tried plugging in a USB but as far as I could tell, no new icon > appeared offering me access, and nowhere in the browser of the PDF display > could I find how to save the file to the USB. > > > > 1. I wonder about the touch pad. I am used to using them and use the > one on this Asus all the time, but seeing as the OLPCs are so ready to > think > outside the square, lets rethink the touch pad. If you didn't have the > touch > pad, you could have so much more room for keys! Apart from supplying a > small > mouse (which is infinately more easy to use) I wonder if the game > controllers in the screen could substitute a mouse, as could smart use of > the tab key. That little blue dial that IBM used in the middle of their > keyboard had potential I thought. > > > > 1. I reckon the operting systemm and software should completely change, > and I'd suggest something like what Asus has done. I can certainly > appreciate the innovations that I've found so far, but the extreme > difference between the OLPC and other OS is too great, and will affect the > usefulness of the laptops... think of it like Vista.. you are causing > stress > and lock in by being so different. The OLPC is not the place to experiment > if your primary objective is to offer people in poorer econimies to access > and exploit opportunities. Of course there is the new opportunity of > servicing and adminstering the OLPCs themselves, but that's hardly > sustainable and I hope it wasn't planned for! > > > > On Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 7:40 AM, valerie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> >> Hi Leigh >> >> What problems are you having with OLPC? How were you using them? >> >> I really want to love them, but I know they are not appropriate for >> many situations. It would be helpful if there was better information >> about where they are very beneficial, and where they aren't. >> >> Big ads on US TV promoting the current Give One, Get One program that >> is being offered through Amazon. After last year's G1G1 program, there >> were lots of XOs available on ebay fetching +$300 US - I know, that's >> how I got one. I'm afraid that the OLPCs are mis-represented. This >> will ultimately hurt the program which does have great benefits in the >> right circumstances. >> >> Based on your experience, what are the questions that should be asked >> to determine if the OLPC would be appropriate for a particular >> situation? >> >> >> >> On Nov 28, 5:20 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > Regarding laptops.. >> > >> > We have been using the OLPCs ($100 laptops) and I think they are not >> good. >> > >> >> >> > > > -- > -- > Leigh Blackall > +64(0)21736539 > skype - leigh_blackall > SL - Leroy Goalpost > http://learnonline.wordpress.com > http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall > -- -- Leigh Blackall +64(0)21736539 skype - leigh_blackall SL - Leroy Goalpost http://learnonline.wordpress.com http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. 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