$100 PC Pledges Fail To Meet Minimum 419
bobthemuse writes, "Nicholas Negroponte's $100 laptop PC was demonstrated back in May, and a PledgeBank was set up: the goal was to get 100,000 people to purchase an OLPC for $300, allowing the project to send two of the devices to the proposed users. Today the pledge ended and only 3,678 people had signed up." It looks like a mention in Slashback a few weeks ago gave a boost to the effort, but not a big enough one.
Why I didn't (Score:2, Insightful)
"I will purchase the $100 laptop at $300 but only if 100,000 other will too."
I would gladly sign up for a $100 laptop if it cost $100.
I realise everything about starting up and getting the ball rolling but I cannot waste an additional $200.
Its that simple.
Re:Why I didn't (Score:2, Insightful)
The extra money would have (hopefully) meant an extra two computers distributed, not to mention the fact that I would have become the proud owner of one of the first of these little gadgets. Of course, my personal gain is secondary...
Maybe the target was set a little too high - are there really that many people out there that care?
You have an interesting interpretation of boost (Score:2, Insightful)
While the project has its merits I wonder if the lack of interest shown by the public at large and quite importantly by the slashdot audience is an indicator of a project doomed to failure by apathy.
Re:Only if 99,999 other will too (Score:5, Insightful)
Frivolity (Score:5, Insightful)
Besides all that, there are numerous other costs associated with making these laptops useful. For example, there's maintenance, theft replacement, training for teachers, and development of a standard computer-based curriculum. Many of these costs are recurring, which means that in the long run, these kids could be worse off from having so much money being tossed onto the bonfire trying to maintain a computer-based education program.
Don't overblow it... (Score:5, Insightful)
This is NOT a failiure of the "One Laptop Per Child" project.
Cheers...
Re:Why I didn't (Score:3, Insightful)
If not a single industrialized or developing nation would support creating the devices, why should we? The concept was pretty decent, but laptops are not going to solve third world problems. Depending on the African nation, they need teachers who won't get shot, kids who won't go hungry, parents who won't die from AIDS, and/or textbooks that won't be burned for fuel. Spending 6 month's salary on a windup laptop sounds rather absurd next to settling some of the bigger issues.
Re:Slashdot effect?! (Score:3, Insightful)
If by "cheap" you mean "not stupid enough to pay $300 for a $100 product", then yeah, you can count me as one of the cheapskates.
Now, I really wouldn't mind getting one of these. I'd even pay a reasonable premium to send some to the actual target market (like perhaps 20-50% extra. But NOT 200% over list just because someone combines the magical phrases "for kids/charity/third world".
Perhaps most importantly, computers don't actually help kids learn. Computers make kids poor spellers, unable to do basic arithmetic, and will only get used for gaming and IM'ing anyway (ever visited an actual school computer lab? I've seen several, and without fail, they have one or two kids writing papers, ten or so wasting time surfing sites like Slashdot, and ten or so gaming (from Solitaire to WoW, depending on connectivity and horsepower).
The whole thing failed for very sound reasons... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why I didn't (Score:3, Insightful)
That said, I'm not wholly convinced about the new device for the reasons you stated. I run a charity wherein I refurbish castoffs and give them to high school kids in poor neighborhoods--in about a month we're going to have our first charity drive to get money for free broadband (Verizon here is like $14/month) or to buy cheap stuff on eBay.
Though again, there are "worse" problems in the ghetto than high school kids not being able to type up a paper at home, but ending gang violence, drug abuse, and absentee fathers are not really within my reach, dig?
Stupidest idea in a looong time! (Score:3, Insightful)
In case you havent been out in the boonies, if you take the chicken bus from any big city in 95% of the countries of the world, out an hour or so, you get to villages where there are no schools, no paper, no pencils, no books, no nuttin!
Those people need:
They do not need: money wasted on what random first-worlders thing third worlders need.
Re:Why I didn't (Score:4, Insightful)
Tech toys like these have theire place and moment can help but the basick foundation of the pyramid must be built first. You need decent health, places to sleep, and a dependable food supply before cranking laptops become not only a luxury but a dangerous drain on time and energy that must be spent on survival.
Africa and the Third World aren't just poorer versions of your hometown, they're places in deep distress with a profound lack of the basic neccessities of life, and sweeping plagues which are taking an enormous toll. These are the problems that must be solved FIRST and foremost before the higher goals can be tackled.
Re:Don't overblow it... (Score:2, Insightful)
No the project itself will fail on its own. Why do people in 3rd world countries need laptops? Its not like that's going to feed them or make them learn how to read.
What these children need are: a) stable democracies, b) stable food supply, c) stable housing, and d) stable learning environment. Selling them on this laptop idea is like offering plastic slip covers to squatters. It doesn't adress the problem at all.
Re:Slashdot effect?! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Why I didn't (Score:3, Insightful)