Negroponte Responds to $100 Laptop Criticisms 586
teefaf writes "Wired News is running an article on the most recent developments surrounding Nicholas Negroponte's (of MIT) $100 laptop project. The project aims to make 'cheap' computers available to children in developing countries. In the article, Negroponte responds to the inevitable criticism from Intel and Microsoft, "When you have both Intel and Microsoft on your case, you know you're doing something right", and elaborates on his vision for the future of the project, "He also said the display and other specifications could change as enhancements are made. In other words, he seemed to be saying to his critics: Don't get too hung up on how this thing operates now, 'The hundred-dollar laptop is an education project,' he said. 'It's not a laptop project.'". The article also states that the initial production cost of the laptops is expected to be $135; the $100 price-point probably won't be hit until 2008. It's possible that the cost could drop as low as $50 by 2010."
Will it have a "Vista Capable" sticker on it? (Score:3, Funny)
Just wonderin'.
The critics ignore reality (Score:4, Insightful)
Everyone is very quick to speak ill of Negroponte's efforts here which are all about building a project that works and places computers onto the desks (or laps) of the "have-nots." Based on what I have read of the man he's an original thinker and very creative.
Usually, the entrenched tend to be very frightened of those types.
Re:The critics ignore reality (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The critics ignore reality (Score:4, Interesting)
That's what I'm always hearing about Gates' books. I assume the reason B.G. "wrote" books (I don't know the degree to which he actually wrote them) was not because he really wanted to, but because people were always saying to him "Bill, you're the richest man in the world, why aren't you writing a book to share your secrets?!?!"; at some point if you become famous enough, people expect you write a book...
B.G.'s response was probably "Er, ok, I guess (sigh)...." (starts looking up ghostwriters in his address list).
Re:The critics ignore reality (Score:3, Interesting)
Before making that judgment, take a look at the web site for the Bill Gates Foundation. It's impressive. Based on what I read, Bill was determined that his foundation was really going to make a difference, rather than just throwing money at problems so that everyone "feels good" (as so many foundations do, and never actually solve anything).
Say what you want about Bill (and his book wasn't that great), but you can't accuse him of lacking vision to doing
Not to be logically fallacious... (Score:4, Interesting)
It's an Education Project (Score:5, Insightful)
Given that, it hardly matters what OS it runs, as long as school systems, educators, and students have the ability to write and run the educational software they need on it.
IMHO, the real value of a machine like this in a students hands (especially if they are taught programming) is that they learn problem solving, not just information.
Re:It's an Education Project (Score:2)
Would it be okay if MS stepped up and offered (for free) to bundle some super stripped down version of WinXP or Win2k/ME/98SE.
Because if MS did that, it'd be a real coup to get Windows into all those developing countries. And as a bo
Re:It's an Education Project (Score:2, Informative)
Re:It's an Education Project (Score:4, Interesting)
Or, most likely, what if Apple refused to allow the device to be sold in the US? That would be an excellent way to raise money for the project, of course: sell the laptop for $250-$299 over here, and bang, every sale over here is one more laptop you can give to the poorer countries.
No, it's much better to deal with software that you control on a device such as this.
Re:It's an Education Project (Score:2)
Re:It's an Education Project (Score:2)
Some people will complain about anything (Score:5, Interesting)
They are making a laptop that will cost $100, and perhaps $50 by 2010. Who cares about the specs, it will not be a buisness machine.
Even if they stuffed a PII 400 mhz and had a 12" screen, it would be very usefull. People could write reports, surf the web, and compile programs. When I was in school, I compiled Java programs on a PII266 without any problems. Sure, I could not run a fancy IDE, but it was good enough to get the job done.
I think a $100 laptop is important. The poor get screwed, and go without. Many poor families will be able to afford a $100 laptop. Also, if I was a charity with $5000 to give away, I would much rather give away 50 basic laptops than 5 thousand dollar laptops.
Re:Some people will complain about anything (Score:3, Insightful)
This is an excellent point.
When I was doing undergrad in Moscow I had two friends whose specialization was hydrodynamics.
Obviously they needed to write and run some code, but computer time was hard to come by. So they put their savings together and bought an IBM XT clone for $5. It was that cheap because at that time 386 were already low end. That XT machine was still very useful - and all theirs.
In a similar fashion, wha
Re:Some people will complain about anything (Score:5, Insightful)
No, it will be an excellent business machine. Writing documents, doing spreadsheets, inventory, email. We used to do that on 286s 10 years ago. That's 98% of what most small businesses use a PC for. And there are lots of more specialised apps on SourceForge, they can probably use DOS apps under emulation, and with millions of these machines around there will be a demand and market for more to be created. That's what Gates is afraid of, a whole world of non-MS software.
Re:Some people will complain about anything (Score:3, Insightful)
Dell may not have a service center close by, but
Re:Some people will complain about anything (Score:3, Informative)
It took me about two years of lobbying before I got one to upgrade from the 286. Wordstar, Lotus 123, dBase IV, Ventura 3, and Coreldraw 2 for Windows all ran at blinding speed. I still use some of that stuff.
Re:Some people will complain about anything (Score:3, Insightful)
In fact, I'm willing to agree with a post somewhere above you and say, if this laptop costs $100 to a developing country poor person, I'm willing to pay $200 for it here, to get myself a $100 laptop AND get someone else a $100 laptop. Absolutely. I mean, I'll get a cheap laptop, someone else will get a free one, and the world is a slightly better place.
~Will
Why (Score:3, Insightful)
Why do skeptics decide? Of what value is the opinion of a skeptic? Why do people listen to skeptics at all? Offer something constructive, or SHUT THE FUCK UP.
"Geez, so why criticize me in public?" Negroponte said.
Good question. Why everyone isn't on this guy's side is beyond me.
Microsoft did not immediately return calls for comment.
Wait, wait. Let me guess. A meeting! Right?!?!
In time, Negroponte expects the $100 laptop to be a misnomer. For one thing, he believes the cost -- which is actually about $135 now and isn't expected to hit $100 until 2008 -- can drop to $50 by 2010 as more and more are produced.
This man should be given a standing ovation everywhere he goes. Anyone who criticizes him should be ashamed of themselves and their companies. This is a worthwhile, workable project, and it should be supported.
Re:Why (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why (Score:2)
Because some people think there are more important things, like curing/controlling AIDS, building infrastructure, and enabling access to clean water.
Re:Why (Score:2)
All things that can be done by outsiders, yes, or by the people themselves, once they are properly educated.
And once they are properly educated, they won't need outsiders anymore.
Throughout the History of Humanity, social progress was always resisted by the few powerful that stood to lose their power to the masses, and a very potent mean to crush the masse
Re:Why (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why (Score:2)
Throughout the History of Humanity, education started with litteracy. Learning how to read and write.
What prevents a program running on a laptop from teaching children how to read and write without being constantly in the presence of a teacher?
How do you churn out lots of teachers when everyone can't be properly fed? At least
Re:Why (Score:5, Interesting)
You had me, right up to there.
The only computer I've ever been near that "didn't require troubleshooting" was an Apple IIc. And even there I'm not sure that it's a true statement -- it's just that the troubleshooting was so simple, the group of 1st graders that I saw using it could do it themselves.
Put disk into drive. Turn on computer. Computer runs program. When done with program, turn computer off. Remove disk. Repeat.
Now that's the kind of computer they should be laboring to build. Maybe make it run on little optical cartridges or something instead of 5-1/4" floppies, but the same idea. Put the disk in, turn it on, it runs. Anything else is needlessly complex and will require support infrastructure.
Now maybe, like the old Apple II, you could have it do something special, an "advanced mode," if you will, when you turn it on without something in the drive. The old Apples booted to a text prompt where you could program in BASIC. Probably only 1 in 1,000 users will ever see it, and only 1 in 1,000 of them will ever bother to try to go further and figure out what it means and what they can do from there. But maybe you'll teach that 1 in 1,000,000 kid something, and he'll turn out to be the next Linux Torvalds. I can accept that.
However, if the machine is anything approaching the complexity of today's PCs, which most literate, educated people can hardly understand, much less troubleshoot and support, I think you're setting the whole thing up for failure. IMO, any device you're tossing out there like this ought to be like a Gameboy: just enough onboard, hardcoded intelligence to make the thing turn on and load code from external modules. That way no matter how bad you hose the software, you can't "break it." Plus it makes them a lot easier to share: one person can pull out the cartridge/disk for whatever they've been working on, and another person can plug theirs in and it's like they're on a different system.
Re:Why (Score:3, Insightful)
Prove it. Show me any study that has shown that computers in the classroom improve literacy. People become literate by reading and writing. The more one does of both, the more one becomes literate. People don't need computers for this, and quite frankly, have done quite well without computers for millennia. In the United States, we have no shortage of computers, yet we have a pretty bad
Re:Why (Score:3, Insightful)
What you need to do is provide broad education, so that the local infrastructure can be built up. The $100 laptop project could do this, because it has a short range wireless connection. It would let children communicate with close neighbors. (would could communicate with neighbors not so close to the originator)
Re:Why (Score:5, Insightful)
That explains why they are not helping him, but it does not explain why they are opposing him. And they are opposing him.
Re:Why (Score:2, Insightful)
Why do people listen to skeptics at all? Offer something constructive, or SHUT THE FUCK UP.
Believe it or not, not everything is a good idea. Despite what you have been taught in school, trying hard isn't good enough. It has to actually accomplish something!
As such, questioning whether this will further their stated aims is perfectly appropriate and useful. Negative feedback is not intrinsically bad unless you have a severe case of crybabyosity. It's not the world's job to pat you on the back for
Re:Why (Score:2)
Was there anything worthwhile in your post? You rail against "skeptics" (despite the fact that there is nothing wrong with being one or for them to speak out), make a silly and utterly useless comment about why Microsoft didn't return calls for comment, and say anybody who doesn't agree with him (and you by extension) should be ashamed of themselves.
It seems to me that you did no better than those skeptics, only your post was a fanboy comment instead of
Linux (Score:2, Insightful)
The specific criticisms (Score:2)
Re:The specific criticisms (Score:2)
Re:The specific criticisms (Score:2)
Re:The specific criticisms (Score:3, Insightful)
Sidenote: If they throw a single USB port on that thing, I'll buy one in the US for whatever they'll sell them to us at (probably roughly $250).
100 dollar computers? (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.worldcomputerexchange.org/offices/bost
There are plenty of takers for your old equipment. Why fill up a dump?
--
BMO
Re:100 dollar computers? (Score:5, Insightful)
That's the one part of this plan that I have the most serious reservations about.
Here's what I think is likely to happen. Plane full of laptops is unloaded at airfield in Uganda. Negroponte gets photo op, handing first unit to smiling child. Technology companies, computer users, all get warm fuzzy feeling.
Cameras go off, Negroponte and cadre go home. Ugandan government officials come out, confiscate laptops, load into trucks, take to black-market smuggler, trade for AK-47s. Laptops go in shipping container, shipped to India where workers in sweatshops file serial numbers off, then to LA where they get sold in stores and via eBay for $125. Ugandan goverment officials draft children into Army, give each one an AK-47.
Net result: African children get guns, Americans get warm fuzzy feeling and cheap black-market technology.
Re:100 dollar computers? (Score:3, Insightful)
No, actually most kids in my school _did not have computers_ at all! Like I said, you weren't there. You're not old enough to witness the transformation from _not_ having computers to _having_ them. Even the lowest powered machine, something on the order of a Kaypro luggable (talk about rugged!) suitcase computer can give culture shock.
"but solving this other problem would be even better!"
It would! Give them teachers, books, lit
Loss of the crank is good (Score:2)
Re:Loss of the crank is good (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Loss of the crank is good (Score:3, Interesting)
People've been wrong before (Score:2)
MS and Intel can say what they want, I mean, didn't Jobs say once there was no market for portable computers or notebooks?
The important thing to learn is not to be an ass just because you don't like an idea. Big companies can find themselves struggling to catch up to the "stupid ideas" that took off like a rocket because they thought they had everything figured out.
Re:People've been wrong before (Score:2)
Apple withheld over 4.5 million of the shares, worth $295.7 million in total, to cover the minimum taxes required on the vesting of the restricted stock the company awarded to Jobs in 2003. [macnewsworld.com]
Sell about half, keep the rest...not a bad deal for Steve.
I want ONE! (Score:2, Insightful)
Response to criticisms (Score:2)
That's his response to the critics? How about responding to some of the specific criticisms instead? Or maybe he did in his speech
Re:Response to criticisms (Score:2)
MS would rather have them buy their orgami devices or used pc's but pay MS for more software licensing fee's.
They make portable equipment and basic economics101 teaches that it devalues teh price of yoru product. This is true even for people with money who live their and never intend to buy these devices.
Publicity (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Publicity (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Publicity (Score:5, Insightful)
someone is out-charitying him
You're kidding, right? You think a $100 laptop project -- working with $29 million dollars donated by some tech companies -- has surpassed the Gates Foundation's $10 billion in donations [gatesfoundation.org] to nonprofits (particularly to solve health issues in Third World countries)? Try working in the international nonprofit sector for awhile, you'll start getting ticked at Negroponte too. These kids needs nutrition, vaccines, and education. A laptop might help with the latter, but good teachers, clinics, and/or radio networks would solve this problem MUCH MORE CHEAPLY.
Negroponte is a visionary, and I like him a lot, but in this case he is using a chainsaw to hammer a nail.
Re:Publicity (Score:3, Insightful)
The point, as Negorponte said, is that this is an educational project, not a project about cheap computers. If the aim was just to throw a random lump of computer hardware in front of a kid in the thrid world then indeed used computers would be fine. The project is trying to do more than that however, and that means more effort needs to be spent on the
"I can't do it for anything less than a thousand!" (Score:2)
Kudos to Mr. Negroponte (Score:2)
Ghandi had the right idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win."
It appears that we are currently transitioning from 2 to 3.
A Potential Downside (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:A Potential Downside (Score:3, Insightful)
"Remember, $100 in the US (and many other countries) is very cheap. In the countries that this is intended for, it's a lot. Perhaps even several months wages. When you are looking at not being able to feed yourself or your family, that laptop will most likely become a bartering tool, or sold outright to get food on the table."
As others have already pointed out (albeit somewhat misguidedly), when you're worrying about satisfying one of Maslov's basic needs, you're probably not in school anyway.
But take a
Ego, Ego, Ego (Score:2, Insightful)
As Microsoft continues to trip over their dicks geting VISTA out the door, I for one am glad these kids will get these laptops prior to becoming senior citizens.
I'd like to take a minute to remind everyone that there are areas in the US that aren't much better off than the third world, and could benefit from devices similar to this. Here's a parts list if you'd lik
Why always 'developing countries' (Score:2)
Not that i think everyone needs one to be 'human' like some people do, but i fail to understand the basic rational of helping others before you help those in your own back yard.
Or in other words (Score:2, Insightful)
Up from the cell phone, not down from the PC (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Up from the cell phone, not down from the PC (Score:3, Interesting)
As someone who has owned a:
I can confidently say that a PDA simp
Gates not all bad (Score:4, Insightful)
Flame away, I can take it.
Re:Gates not all bad (Score:3, Interesting)
Lack of knowledge here about 3rd world countries (Score:5, Insightful)
Interestingly enough, the literacy rate in neighboring Costa Rica at that time was something over 95%, higher than even in the US. The people were well educated, but (compared to the US) poor. I can argue that they would benefit even more from the $100 laptop.
Several posters here seem stuck on a image of giving these laptops to Masai tribes in unelectrified Kenyan backcountry. The potential market for such laptops is global; there are many millions of people who live in countries with the requisite electric infrastructure, who could eke out $100 for one of these laptops, and who could benefit thereby due to poor educational opportunities in their countries.
Re:Lack of knowledge here about 3rd world countrie (Score:4, Interesting)
I also notice that you obviously do have access to a computer, and the time to post on Slashdot. What gives you the right of speaking on behalf of all of those that don't have that luxury about what their needs are?
And your idea about the US tax system is completely far out there. Most people in the US pay far more than 21% once you've added up federal income tax, state income taxes (for the states that have them), and local taxes (including property taxes etc.). For most working people in the US the total direct tax burden will add up to more like 25%-30% unless they're on extremely low salaries or live in extremely low tax areas.
thank you... but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Thank you Nicholas, but we need some other stuff first if you guys want to help us. And our governments are so stupid that they will buy these computers for our people instead of using that money to address some other issues.
The will is ok, but it will end up doing us worse.
In my country (Argentina) all those computers will end up in wrong hands. We dont need computers for education; it seems that americans believe that are helping the world, but from this side of the counter it is all different.
Countries dont need to be invaded to get help... not with your armies, not with your patents, not with your companies that take full advantage of our corrupt governments (as this project)... It is our fault, but please stop "helping" us in those ways because it harms people seriously.
Your banks lend money to our govs, that money goes somewhere else, no-one controls that seriously and we all end up paying that "help" and nobody gets anything.
Nicholas, if you want to help then travel to our country and do something punctual. But SKIP governments; or else you will be feeding corruption and you will never know.
Regards,
AiZ
Re:thank you... but... (Score:3, Insightful)
The second is an uneducated population. If the population is uneducated, it's not going to be able to do anything much to stop you, assuming they even realise that there's something wron
Re:thank you... but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Who elected you spokesperson of a couple of billion people?
Re:thank you... but... (Score:3, Insightful)
We, the people who live in those needy countries do not need cheap computers... In my country (Argentina)
Sorry AiZ, but your country isn't the sort that Negroponte is targeting. Argentina's had a very rough time economically over the past few years, but compared to much of the world you're quite wealthy, and your country already has a well-educated populace with a very high literacy rate (slightly higher than the US, actually).
So why don't you let the people who are the targets of this effort speak f
I don't know. (Score:3, Informative)
I think what the world needs more than anything at the moment, is a device to connect everyone. Read Steven Baxters "Manifold Time". I much prefer his conception of the global device than the idea of a laptop.
And TBH, that device could be made for under 100 bones. Add in the idea of a kiosk operator and you'd have a winning combination!
Free Software Aspect (Score:3, Insightful)
OLPC is on the virge of doing what the fossils in these companies and in governments have only been able to talk about for the past several years--Bridge the digital divide. I'll bet the FSF [fsf.org] people are happy they can now have their 100% free software+firmware laptop, though maybe not in the form they were expecting it
Some points (Score:3, Insightful)
People used to laugh at him about even being able to do it for $100, the key I think he had said was a $30 LCD. Looks like he did it.
Consider there are perhaps the same number of geniuses (in literature, chemistry, particle physics, politics, whatever) born per million in population in the third world as in say the U.S.A. or other countries. The number of Nobels handed out would seem to speak more of the educational system. What if there is no way for geniuses to get more than grade school teaching?
Imagine the same exact you was born in the third world. If you are a slashdot geek maybe you are a self-starter and just need the machine in your hands. Personally I used Pascal, 6502 Assembler and two flavors of Basic on my Apple ][ and it was great. But I was so frustrated having hear a whisper of something called the Internet (not public then) and being able to figure out how to reach it. Got stuck in BBSs and finally the Source (Compuserve). They were not really the gateways to knowledge I was trying to find but I used what I could get to. Screw politics and economic systems. Tell me you wouldn't want that machine. I used to dream of something called a Dynabook described in the World Book Encylopedia's Year Book, in which you could make a character move around using Smalltalk commands. I saw it in my sleep. Of course these kids need medicine and food, this assumes that is available for at least smart kids.
I helped support a Cambodian school for children with no parents called Future Light. A friend who started it got Apple to donate a bunch of Macs, and it is growing perhaps the next generation of Cambodia's leaders, at least as that friend believes.
A representative from Nigeria at a conference I remember said you cannot solve everything with IT - there is a problem finding firewood, and the worst problem is the brain drain from rural to the city. Maybe these machines would help support the rural populace too. Assume the smartest people you have ever met live in an economically disadvantaged locale. Are you telling me they couldn't do anything with a laptop like this which makes its own grid lan?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:god (Score:4, Insightful)
Or, just maybe, he thinks fightng AIDS among Africa's orphaned kids fills a tad more urgent need than MITS phantom $100 laptop.
Re:god (Score:5, Insightful)
No, you fight it with education. "The hundred dollar laptop is an education project." I'm watching this program on PBS talking about AIDS in Africa, and this doctor is explaining the birds and the bees to this 19-year old kid who has just infected his wife, because he used to have unprotected sex with prostitutes while he was off fighting a war for his country (from the time he was 14). The kid had no idea how AIDS was spread.
Re:god (Score:5, Informative)
The Freeplay Foundation uses radio, all-but-indestructible clockwork and solar powered multiband portables that can be manufactured anywhere.
The MITS laptop is dependent on the giant asian OEMS. Exchange rates, production and shipping costs. It wouldn't take much to push the project over the edge.
The infrastructure for radio is in place and we have seventy-five years of experience in educational broadcasting on which to build. Shortwave means that news filters in from outside.
The networking of the MITS laptop seems limited and fragile. You are essentially limited to whatever information the local powers-that-be are willing and able to provide.
Re:god (Score:3, Insightful)
Bet he knows alot more about an AK or AR than you. So yes, he probably had no idea how AIDS was spread but he knows he can shoot an AK clear for 4-5 mags without jams or barrel sieze. So with that said, how is a $100 dollar laptop going to help him? Do you think he's going to magically look
Re:god (Score:5, Insightful)
What an incredibly simplistic, narrow and ignorant viewpoint.
The challanges facing emerging third-world nations are very much rooted in education (or lack-there-of). Anachronistic feudal systems are a symptom, not a cause.
When one's only knowledge of issues like disease and sexuality comes from an oral tradition that is lacking in causality-based logic, being told "don't shoot up drugs with strangers and don't have sex with them" is going to be completely meaningless; especially if one's heard such gems as "having sex with a virgin will cure you of X disease" from your peers for most of your life. In order to understand and incorporate the importance of "don't have sex with strangers", one first needs to understand what can happen when this rule is broken and why/how it happens.
This means teaching, at a minimum, the basis of critical thinking; e.g. causality. In developed societies, east or west, causality is taught almost from birth (whether explicitly or implicitly); and it is often assumed that causality-reasoning is a "built-in" human feature. This is very much not true, and has not been the majority-case until relatively recent history. Such knowledge comes no more naturally or automatically to man than it does to your dog. The difference is that humans have the physiological capability to significantly extend and modify their reasoning abilities, while rover is somewhat limited in this capacity.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:god (Score:2)
Someone wants to do a program in their field of interest and their field of expertise, let them. It is going to benefit *SOME* people, right? Maybe everyone should stop donating money to ANYTHING other than those starving to death in foreign countries. Certainly they need your money more than the Republican party.
Bill Gates is only criticizing this for the same reason he criticizes software that is free and open to the public: IT IS A THREAT
Re:god (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, there's that whole "computer in every home in America" deal.
Oh, please. (Score:5, Insightful)
If IBM had gone with a different company to make an OS for its computers, nobody would have ever heard of Bill Gates or Microsoft, 90% of the world would be running some other operating system, and we'd still have computers on our desks. In fact, if you wanted to find a single company to give the majority of the credit to, I'd say Compaq is probably the most deserving, for reverse-engineering the IBM BIOS and producing the first clones, thus breaking IBM's pricing structure.
Really I think the only credit you can give Microsoft and Windows is for driving a very rapid hardware upgrade cycle over the last decade; this created sales volumes which led to economies of scale in the past few years which have kept the price of computer hardware on an ever-decreasing spiral.
I don't think there's anything that Microsoft did that you can't argue would have happened anyway, had they never existed or had IBM adopted a different OS. And frankly I can think of several scenarios which might have resulted in better outcomes for the average PC owner than the current one.
On the other hand, maybe you were just trolling.
Re:god (Score:2)
Maybe he does care. But when it comes to his personal bottom line and marketshare with the loss of control that will then happen and then he becomes brutal.
I know my grand parent post is controversial but I think its inappropriate to flame something designed to help the world be a better place. It shows alot about someone's character.
I mean its charity work practically?
Re:god (Score:3, Interesting)
He might care, but he doesn't care anywhere near what the amount of money would imply. Not to mention that 28b$ out of what he has still l
Re:god (Score:3, Insightful)
As if lying to governments were a bad thing.
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:2)
So they can learn how to read, for starters. Reading is important. It's the reason we know how to build computers in the first place.
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:2)
Yes reading is important but comprehending what you read is of an even greater importance. Have you heard of books by any chance? Books are what people used to read in the last millennium and the millennium before it.
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:2)
You forgot to mention under which tree in Africa this book can be found. It can be downloaded, though, for 0 distribution cost, from a postman truck's server when it comes around, and when someone else visits you the copy you have can be given to the visitor. Can you do the same with a physical book, even assuming that you have one?
Computers are unnecessary in 99% of j
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:2, Insightful)
Think of what benefits would result if every student in a small Kansas town were given a $100 laptop with Net access.
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:2)
In addition, I can recall several students discussing the relative merits of PCs vs. Macs in an intelligent fashion, reminiscing about growing up with 2 PC's in their classroom, and a media lab near the library. They were from Greensburg, Kans
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:2)
Not disagreeing with you, but that USF charge will not cover desktop or laptop computers. They fall under an ineligible type of technology for that program. Look here [universalservice.org] to see what can be used with the program.
I think every school would jump at the chance to provide every student with a laptop instead of making a cart of 24 "normal" laptops available.
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:3, Insightful)
If Africans (just an example) learn basic computer skills and children use education programs and can learn and connect with the rest of the world and be better informed the result would be tremendous!
Many employers could then setup shops and hire people. One of the reasons India is hot and Sudan is not is because the Indians speak English and are more educated then the Sudanesse.
Compute
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:2)
Computer skills are in no way essential, the fact that you can still find a huge portion of people 20 and over who are afraid of the magic white box i
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:2)
Indeed. In fact, more generally, it's ludicrous to suggest that any single effort can automagically make anyone's life better in poor undeveloped countries. So your statement applies more generally: all efforts to help anyone in any way should immediately be abandoned. They're not magic wands; only a magic wand wi
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:3, Insightful)
Other African countries have... well, few things so extreme, but sometimes they have things to prevent their population from
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:5, Insightful)
Ergo, $100 laptops will [indirectly] put bread on the tables of those who need it.
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:5, Insightful)
Why knock it?
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:3, Insightful)
umm.. actually..
Putting a computer in the hands of a nerd can be a powerful thing.
I am sure if the said computer was given to Chuck Norris as a child, the computer would have ended up as a totally shattered thing.
Re:There is one question left unanswered (Score:3, Insightful)
It's aiming to be more than just a laptop, it is being designed for the express purpose of being an ideal educational tool for children in third world countries. Haven't you ever read "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson? Think of it as our primitive version of "The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" based on the technology we have available at our disposal currently. That sounds like a worthy goal to me.
Jedidiah.
Re:One possible reason for the criticism... (Score:2)
and maybe you should wait until the MITS laptop goes into production and we see what it can do and how much it will cost.
if this $100 laptop, now a $135 laptop, becomes a $200 laptop and then a $300 laptop, it could go the way of the Simputer.
priced out of reach of its intended market.
Re:Even the "have-nots" deserve better (Score:5, Insightful)
Which computer is more useful? Your shiny $2000 powerbook, or the $100 computer that can be charged with a hand crank?
Pretty obvious if you think about it.