First of the OLPCs Built

eldavojohn writes "An announcement came Sunday that the first ten prototypes of the Linux-powered OLPC XO-1 had been completed in China. From the article, 'Quanta, the Chinese computer maker that won the international bidding for the project earlier this year, will assemble 900 OLPC machines that will be used for destructive testing and distribution to our development partners.' Let's hope that these first prototypes do not warrant any design changes and that the testing goes well so that countries that expressed interest (Brazil, Libya, Nigeria, Argentina, and Thailand) can start distributing them soon."

Re:Childrens laptop?

[jimstapleton]

they are supposed to be free, so it's probably government funded. Still, the conecpet is right, how many people will be taking these from the children?

Re:Childrens laptop?

[Thaelon]

Or have it stolen by an adolescent or adult who will trade it for food, toys, weapons, drugs, sex, or money. Medicine my ass.

Let's be realistic. People are not nice.

ok, I'm biting... about this illiteracy...

[CptnHarlock]

So you have been to a lot of third world countries? Oh, you haven't? Every time this project is mentioned experts of your caliber start spewing their 0.02$ around. Interestingly, that's approximately how much those expert views are worth. Combined.

I've been to a few third world countries. One of them is Thailand (they are among the ones interested in the OLPC). I bet you'll see more poverty and illiteracy in New York than i Bangkok. Can you please get it through your brick wall that _any_ countrys population is not homogenous? Some people may have no use of a OLPC laptop while others will. Just as in the west. Another country i've visited where I stayed with the locals is Gambia. It's a pretty poor country but most of the young ones I met spoke 3-5 languages.Virtually everyone spoke English and French, then their tribal language and one or more of the other bigger tribal languages. How many languages do you speak? How many can you write?

Poverty != stupidity. Poor country != everyone being hungry and illiterate. People in poor countries are often much more motivated to study because they know it's a way out of poverty.

Hmmm... Why do I bother feeding trolls.... :| .. I dunno... But at least I'm also doing something instead of just complaining. I've left one laptop in Gambia and one in Chile before. I'll be on a round the world trip in about a month and a half (hopefully) and I'm packing lots of older laptops to give away. Guess what kind of OS they'll be running. That's my OLPC(ountry ;P).

Cheers...

Re:But can it feed them?

[Hoplite3]

I think corruption is a bigger problem. Without good governance, change is hard. How soon until one laptop per child becomes one warlord with all the laptops? He'll have to let some children use them (such is the nature of feudalism), but I can't see it being otherwise. Laptops aren't the same as education, anyway. It sounds like silicon snake-oil to me.

I should also say that the corruption is hardly just some internal matter for various African states. These leaders are aided and abbedded by rich nations across the world. Foreign meddling in the affairs of Africa has been intense and ongoing, but no one wants to talk about how they secure their oil rights, fishing rights, the use of their GM crops over local varieties, and so on. It's unpleasant.

Africa needs clean government to have a chance as much as it needs clean water. I can't see the laptop as part of the solution. You could argue that laptops make education easier, and that education drives economic growth. However, the prime examples of that (Japan, Korea, Singapore) all had stable governments and some measure of physical safety for citizens. In the absence of these things, what will stop the newly educated adults from leaving for the US, the EU, India, or China?

Re:ok, I'm biting... about this illiteracy...

[CptnHarlock]

Your problem is the use of Bangkok. I too have been to Thailand, and if you make the trip out to Surat Thani, Chumphon, or Ayutthaya you would learn that Bangkok is not typical of Thailand, and the people in Bangkok live far different lives then those in the country.

I was actually in Surat Thani also, remided me of Bulgaria.. :) .. And also to Chiang Mai where my brother lives. And me using Bangkok as an example was to show exactly that you can't take a single person/area/town to represent an entire country. Did you miss this: [snip] _any_ countrys population is not homogenous? Some people may have no use of a OLPC laptop while others will. [snip]? It seems to me that we kind of agree.. Still waiting for gp to answer... not holding my breath though..

Cheers...

Re:Childrens laptop?

[tomstdenis]

It's not a traditional LCD. The colour elements, as I was explained by an OLPC staffer (hint: I'm writing their BIOS security code...), are not stacked, and that you didn't have three elements per pixel. The filtering is REQUIRED to make it look aesthetically pleasing.

I imagine if we had close ups of the REAL screen and not the simulator you'd see what I'm talking about.

Tom