As soon as we started hearing about the OLPC project a couple of years back (I first heard about it from Seymour Papert at a Network of Innovative Schools conference in 2004), many of us felt "left out" because it would be very 3rd world centric and would exclude North America as a potential customer.
There were lots of good reasons for this I am sure (the biggest likely so that they wouldn't suffer the wrath of WinTel producers who saw margins about to shrink...)
I'm not sure if it is good new or bad news then that OLPC is setting up shop stateside to sell to N.A. While I'm happy to potentially have the chance to deploy them in schools, I'm wondering if this is a sign of the failure to successfully penetrate the 3rd world. Maybe what we are seeing is the impact of the many countries not wanting to buy into technology that we (N.A) haven't bought into yet, for risk of being left out on a limb. Will be interesting to see how this plays out...
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141298-c,notebooks/article.h
Keywords: OLPC
Comments
Had I had the ambition, it would be interesting to draw up side by side specifications to these machines. The original OLPC had mesh networking, no hard drive, solar power, etc. Perfect the settings. The NA version seems to be more of a hybrid between a traditional laptop and the OLPC, don't you think?
I agree totally that this will be interesting to watch play out.
It also begs the question as to whether we need to have entire software suites installed annually on an image. What opportunities are gained or lost as a result?
I find it also that Edubuntu is not one of the languages that is bantied about in the design of these machines. Wouldn't you think it be a good choice?
You mean like this?
http://www.commun-it.org/wiki/index.php/Ultra-Portable_Laptop_Co
I'm not sure if there are any hardware differences between what they have shipped to Nigeria and what we will see here.
The XO-OLPC is Redhat linux underneath, but the whole UI is written in perl (named "Sugar") Should be interesting to play with. I saw th very early prototype at NECC 2006 and have to admit I was a bit lost. I'm sure it has come a long way since then.
Edubuntu is OK, but there really isnt that much educational customization in it. I do have eeeXubuntu running on my Asus now (http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/13/eeexubuntu-ubuntu-distilled-), but that is just for fun. The units I we are shipping to schools next week will have the stock asus/xandros image on them.
Although I don't go along with "conspiracy theories" really, I do think this project has parts that could be considered in that genre. Seyour Papert's early work with computers was great (I still remember the turtle and getting children to be creative in math) )but somehow that got "lost" in the surge of other ideas. This project is potentially bringing that back and maybe to try it in NA first was impossible for reasons I will explain later. So making a machine for another perfectly acceptable and equally compelling reason is a great way to go.
OLPC brings back the work of Papert as part of a wider approach as I see it. I prefer not to label it as Constructionism but as showing up the side of computing that I think has been sidelined by some people. Computers have two purposes as I see it - Efficiency/Productivity and Creativity. The latter has been reduced by IT departments in some boards as they strive for a system that is secure and works well every day (although how many are at that stage?) In some cases the power of the "personal computer" has been subsumed by the desire for control.
OLPC is putting back the control into the hands of students then using the attraction to promote learning. They are living one of my favourite quotes from McLuhan:
"The children of technological man respond with untaught delight to the poetry of trains, ships, planes, and to the beauty of machine products."
The sad part of the quote comes next: "In the school room officialdom suppresses all their natural experience; children are divorced from their culture. They are not permitted to approach the traditional heritage of mankind through the door of technological awareness; this only possible door for them is slammed in their faces."
I have found that it seems to be part of the nature of academia to not give too much credence to things technological - the computer has thrown them for a loop since it is so pervasive. I think that Negroponte and Co. are simply seeing the impossibility of changing that attitude quickly but seeing that the learning of students cannot wait! They came up with an interesting way of testing the waters here (perhaps accidentally) and I feel there is sufficient interest to now sell it here.
I hope it does take off in NA - it gets round the old silly arguments of platform and fosters many desirable characteristics in people working together creatively. Far beyond the simple green machine!
Hopefully this week we may all get "news" - can't wait!
Addendum:
I am not sure how much time you spend on OLPC news but I confess I am "somewhat addicted"!
I have therefore built up a list of a number of sites like, http://olpc.tv/ etc. If it was considered useful I would be happy to create a list and post it, although I am not sure where - could we have a Wiki listing or something - what is the best technique to use? If you already have your own list then maybe it is not really needed but though I would mention it.
Could it be that Negroponte has gone about this in the wrong way? I think that if he would have worked with the large chip makers and technology companies out there at the start (read Intel and Microsoft) that he would have been better able to produce the product that he has been striving for. I remember seeing him on 60 minutes (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/20/60minutes/main283005) and being very intrigued about the idea, but wondering why he did not get the other companies I mentioned here involved. It is interesting to note that no microsoft is launching into the OLPC realm, http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9847295-37.html, and I think that has more to do with Negroponte's lack of success and the realization that these developing countries wanted more than the native OS that they were running. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Shawn, Many thanks for the link to 60 Minutes. I enjoyed the Negroponte interview greatly. I am however perplexed that Negroponte would portray Microsoft as such a predator when philantropic gestures are the order of the day in the developing world. Bill Gates actually seems to epitomize the humanitarian spirit with his foundation (The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). So it is hard to see Microsoft in the light that the OLPC creator would have us believe. Maybe it is me that is being naive.
One of the more interesting aspects of the interview was the debate whether or not a 10 year old child needs a teacher to learn to use a computer and the internet. In the clip, we see that peers are the teachers... but does this have limits? Hard to say... I have seen students teach themselves a great deal about the Second World War where they become real experts. I have also seen the same thing from quite adept, self-taught programmers. These examples however are the exception to the rule.
When on the 60 Minutes website, I took the opportunity to view the interview with Mark Zukerberg that was on TV last night (missed it due to the football game). The evolution of Facebook testifies to the importance of social networking and how the internet is changing our society in profound and meaningful ways. The fact that Facebook started with university students, migrated to high school students before hitting the adult crowd shows that adults are at times the last ones to grasp the signficance of technological changes in our society.