idealism meets reality.
Apparently, the "One Laptop Per Child" project is faltering, because Intel just pulled its support.
The article linked has a picture of two little Nigerian kids looking at the OLPC computer, which is being trialled in Nigeria at the moment.
Call me a cynic, but my first thought at seeing the picture was the mental picture of a little eight-year-old Nigerian boy, hunched over that hand-cranked laptop at the kitchen table, and typing furiously:
"Dear Sir,
I am Chief Accountant with the National Oil Nigeria
PLC (N/Oil) and member of 5 MAN Contract Executive
Review Panel (comprising 2 Snr.Staff of CBN and 3
Snr,Staff Of (N/Oil) set up by present Civilian Regime
of President Obasanjo. So far we have come across a
surplus of the sum of US$27M.(Twenty-seven Million
Dollars)which was as a result of deliberate
over-invoicing of certain contracts awarded by
Contract Award Committee of the cooperation..."
To be honest, that seems like a shambles that's been waiting to fall apart for some time. Getting edumacation to the poorer nations is great and groovy, but I can just imagine the Intel board meetings had they gone ahead.
Mark said...
10:55 AM
*snerk* Good one!
Breda said...
12:13 PM
You know, when I first heard of these, I wanted to buy 3 of them. However, I wasn't about to pay over $400 apiece for them ($200 each to pay for mine, and a $200 contribution to pay for one they supposedly give away). I would still like to find a small, low cost, minimalist laptop for email, web surfing, mp3's, and light office tasks.
Pappy said...
12:36 PM
Intel never was really onboard; they signed on late in the game after the machine was nearly complete. I'm guessing they tried to steer the project in a different direction, encountered resistance, and decided to take their ball and go home.
The OLPC machines use AMD Geode processors; I don't believe there are any Intel-sourced components anywhere in the design.
Pappy -
Take a look at the Asus Eee
TD said...
7:04 PM
pappy,
TD just beat me to it, but other than MP3s, you might want to take a look at the Asus EEEPC. I went with a Lenovo X61, but the Asus seems to have some cult followers.
aczarnowski said...
7:08 PM
LOL!
Thanks, Marko.
Christina LMT said...
11:46 PM
Not a cynic Marko - simply a realist!
45govt said...
8:17 AM
The OLPC project will die, I predict. A computer user needs the ability to read, write, and calculate as prerequisites -- something that can be taught cheaply with nothing more than McGuffey's Readers and a chalkboard. And that doesn't need billions of $ and a shiny, sexy UN project to accomplish. Good riddance to a bad idea, I say!
Anonymous said...
4:06 PM
Laptops in the absence of things like literacy, basic sanitation, a moral grounding, and a just system of laws that are evenly and justly enforced are nothing more than a panacea. We'd end up seeing exectly what Marko foresees; we're just giving them tools that part of the world uses for fraud and deception.
If we can't even get simple humanitarian aid to the region without the corrupt leaders of those nations, what makes us think that those computers would even make it to the people, let alone be used properly?
OLPC is nothing more than a way for techie wealth redistributionists feel like they're doing something useful, when they're just flushing cash down a hole.
The Raving Prophet said...
5:52 PM
Great minds think alike...
:)
Tam said...
8:41 PM
Very Funny!
Bob said...
9:53 PM
If nothing else, you can just imagine how cheerfully those laptops will be policed up by the biggest kid in the village and/or whoever's armed for Fiscal Recycling before you can say "solid state disk".
Mark said...
11:32 AM
Excellent.
Wish we could be hanging out right now...
J.R.Shirley said...
12:57 PM