First of the OLPCs Built 145
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."
It's worth noting... (Score:4, Informative)
Those of you who were hailing Khaddafi's deep commitment to freedom when he jumped aboard will be relieved to know that he's not going anywhere anytime soon, though...
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Ditto. So my question is, does anybody have any insight about the real motives for the weird distribution scheme? The one million minimum order? And from governments?
Because if it is economy of scale it just doesn't make sense.
I'd bet that if they sold them for say, $250, they'd be selling one million every month. I myself would buy four on the spot. They are made-for-order for the business we're in.
And, since the cost is
black market (Score:1)
If I am, I blame the hand crank and high-res black-and-white screen mode for greasing my slide into the dark side...
DN
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The OLPC organizers have said that they will not sell this computer to private individuals. The $300 figure is just a number pulled out of the air a
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And there are plans to sell them commercially for three times the regular price, and pump the profit back into the charity program, so you won't have to buy the thing in eBay for $1000.
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Will OLPC spin-off a commercial subsidiary?
The idea is that a commercial subsidiary could manufacture and sell a variation of the OLPC in the developed world. These units would be marked up so that there would be a significant profit which can be plowed into providing more units in countries who cannot afford the full cost of one million machines.
The discussions around this have talked about a retail price of 3× the cost price of the units.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Our_marke [laptop.org]
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And there are plans to sell them commercially for three times the regular price, and pump the profit back into the charity program, so you won't have to buy the thing in eBay for $1000.
Wrong. There are no plans to sell these on the open market in any way whatsoever. Many people have suggested a one-for-two or one-for-three, but the people behind the project have consistently stated that this will not happen.
I'd like to get my hands on one, as I believe that as a low-power entry-level laptop it should fo
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If that's true, it's the first dumb decision I've heard come out of this project. Bill Gates stated that the major cost of the laptop would be software. In the absence of open source developers, he's right. There's some ability to take software for existing high-lowered linux machines, but it certainly won't be as good without developers being able to run it on
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There's some ability to take software for existing high-lowered linux machines, but it certainly won't be as good without developers being able to run it on the actual machine.
A) How much software do they need?
B) Part of the point of the project is to create a new technologically-literate generation. If we write all the software for them, what incentive is there for them to build up their own coding skills?
C) The developed world is acculturated to a particular tradition of code and interface design whi
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A) How much software do they need?
I don't know how much they need, or even what that question really means (software isn't like apples where it's all the same and you order it by the pound). My guess is there's going to be requests for software to do Thing X, or if only Program Z had feature Y. That's no different than how people use software right now.
B) Part of the point of the project is to create a new technologically-literate generation. If we write all the software for them, what incentive is there
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From http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Our_market [laptop.org]
Will OLPC spin-off a commercial subsidiary?
The idea is that a commercial subsidiary could manufacture and sell a variation of the OLPC in the developed world. These units would be marked up so that there would be a significant profit which can be plowed into providing more units in countries who cannot afford the full cost of one million machines.
The discussions around this have talked about a retail price of
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Let me guess...Near zero?
Put a web site, process credit cards, and I will gladly pay for shipping, and even throw a fiver for the tip.
And, if it's not enough and you want to make some extra change sell them for $200. At that price point, who cares?
Cheers,
CC
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I wasn't asking who would pay; I was asking how much it would cost. My original point was that the governments who are buying these appear to be footing most or all of the costs except for direct manufacturing, hiding the obvious fact that the true cost of the OLPC is far higher than $100. I realize that some costs can be driven down on a per-unit basis with high volume, but even that can't eliminate shipping, customer support and other things that happen on a per-customer ba
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Well, let's put it this way: if the OLPC is willing to sell me 1K laptops at $100 every month, I'm buying them. I can sell that number with almost no ov
My Prediction for 2007 (Score:2, Funny)
My Prediction for 2008 (Score:2)
Again, Linux uses its monopoly position... (Score:5, Funny)
This monopoly position must be dealt with to level the playing field so that American companies (not the Finnish) can pass more of their profits on to people like you and I who hold shares in their retirement portfolios.
TDz.
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Damn it, Linux might be a lot of things, but it isn't fat.
One laptop per child test plan (Score:3, Insightful)
2) come back in a week
If computer survives AND the kid didn't get bored with it, the test passes.
---
It's lame but laugh anyways.
Seems like putting the cart before the horse to me (Score:1)
The software could be developed and tested using conventional computers without the expense of building these laptops.
What I fear is that these laptops will be underpowered for the software stack. Just seems kind of silly to not have a good low resource software stack done before spending the money on the hardware.
Re:Seems like putting the cart before the horse to (Score:2, Informative)
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Where are the educational programs?
I see nothing that teaches reading or basic math skills?
Squeak/EToys is nice but I saw no traditional educational programs. I have to love the idea of giving kid VIM. That will help kids. They will all want to be farmers after that.
You could deliver content from the web but who will develop it? Does the Sugar browser support rich Internet sites like Google maps and yahoo maps?
Honestly I would love to see more educational software for Linu
Do they work? (Score:2)
Translation: (Score:1)
Destructive testing? (Score:2)
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
Human Development Index (Score:1)
I will simply point you to the human development index map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:HDImap2006.png [wikipedia.org]
Notice how the only country of the list of buyers (if you can locate them in the map, that is) under YELLOW is Nigeria.
And how Argentina is actually in GREEN.
That will be all, thank you.
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"Third world" inside the USA (Score:3, Insightful)
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Of your sentiment in general, I think you are completely correct that they ought to be sold within the USA. And there is no logical reason other than an attempt by the parts suppliers of the O
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What other technologies could really help people? (Score:2)
A while ago, I suggested a modular ``Safety core'' which would be a 10 x 10 foot cube which would contain solar cells, a water purifier, a pedal-powered generator, lights, radio, hydroponic garden (to at least provide for vitamin C needs), sleeping facilities a composting toilet and sink and water fountain and a pantry w/ say a 6 week supply of food staples and
Re:What other technologies could really help peopl (Score:2)
Every year, more than two million children die of diarrhea and other sicknesses caused by dirty water and a lack of "access to sanitation." That is the common euphemism for the reality that more than a third of the world's people -- 2.6 billion -- have no decent place to go to the bathroom, while more than a billion get water for drinking, washing and cooking from
But, really, we're all wondering... (Score:2)
Meanwhile, competitor Linutop is already shipping (Score:2)
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There are lockdown measures to avoid corrupt distribution. A black market wouldn't really work because a stolen OLPC laptop won't work. Not to mention that they're pretty much useless for most other tasks. A geek may want one for the neat factor or for an effective terminal. But you can't exactly play 3d shooters on them, or store gigabytes of movies or whatever (I doubt you could even play a divx on it).
The corrupt market would be to stea
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It's a 300MHz x86 board with a gray-scale display (the colour is faked), 128M of ram, 512M of flash, no cdrom, no advanced GPU, very small keys, and the host OS is designed for small children. Perfect for reading, playing simple learning games, and browsing the web. Sucks for games, videos, music and the like.
I seriously doubt there will be a huge black market for adults to hack them and turn them into a standard Linux PC. Selling them as is to children won't be really pr
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http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT5734583728. html [desktoplinux.com]
Display -- 7.5-inch "dual-mode" 1200 x 900 pixel display
* Mono display: High-resolution, reflective monochrome mode
* Color display: Standard-resolution, quincunx-sampled, transmissive color mode
Doesn't sound very 'fake' to me... Just lower resolution.
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The mono mode is much better and made to make looking at text a pleasurable experience
Tom
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I imagine if we had close ups of the REAL screen and not the simulator you'd see what I'm talking about.
Tom
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I wouldn't take "theft" as a light issue though. When these things get stolen in the field, it's usually because the person delivering them HAS BEEN MURDERED and the delivery looted. So making them "feature deprived" isn't just a function of being cheap.
Remember the idea is to bring information and interactiveness to children. I remember playi
Re:Childrens laptop? (Score:4, Informative)
"These oil revenues and a small population give Libya one of the highest GDPs per person in Africa"
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but that raises the obvious question: csn the really poor countries afford OLPC?
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Moreov
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One of the highest GDPs per person in Africa, isn't that like saying one of the coolest people on slashdot?
Re:Childrens laptop? (Score:5, Insightful)
Second: Not everyone outside of the US and Europe is starving in a mud hut. Both Libya and Brazil are modern, technical societies with substantial wealth. Both countries would certainly benefit from increased technical skills among their local populations.
Remeber that the OLPC is designed to replace textbooks in schools, and over the life of the machine will almost certainly provide a cost savings over printed books.
In addition, the project will foster local IT development as more and more people learn to use, repair, modify, and program for the machines. This will lead to free and/or locally produced software and a local IT service sector, keeping money in local economies rather than sending it to Redmond or to other Western software houses and consultancies.
From a development perspective, this is a cheap project with enormous potential -- it could eventually bring an even bigger fundamental change in developing societies than micro credit progams have.
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Because the US government doesn't have the authority to procure education materials for local schools. Education and school systems are the responsibility of State governments and local school boards.
There are schools in the US that have begun providing students with laptops, but these were decisions made by individu
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Because of school computer labs, libraries with internet access, etc. Even the poorest schools are able to afford textbooks for all their students (even if somewhat outdated) which is the main function of OLPC. And telephone coverage in the US is nearly total, eliminating the need for the wifi capabilities of OLPC.
Get over it, it wasn't designed for the 1st world.
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The rich are probably not as culpable in the plight of our urban poor as the "white flight" middle class. And then you have the equally-wretched rural poor... I'm sure a crappy laptop would solve their il
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Reply: Childrens' laptop, food, shelter ...? (Score:2)
Something great is being done by damn good [AKA: Right Stuff
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OLPC doesn't sell to individuals.
OLPC sells to government ministries of education. Several nations have already committed to large buys, I think Libya is the only one who has committed to enough to meet the goal of one laptop per schoolchild though, and Libya has apparently also been discussing the possibility of subsidizing purchases for poorer African nations.
Is it, at $100 pe
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I think its rather clear that "someone" (i.e., the ministries of education that provide basic schooling in the countries that have elected to participated) decided that buying laptops was a useful and productive way to improve the provision of basic schooling.
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trade it for food or medicine.
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Let's be realistic. People are not nice.
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ok, I'm biting... about this illiteracy... (Score:5, Interesting)
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....
Cheers...
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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. When you were in the area you should also have visited Laos, and get away from the capital province of Viangchan (Vientiane) and the tourist village of Louang Prabang, and
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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 count
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KFG
Re:ok, I'm biting... about this illiteracy... (Score:4, Informative)
Hear, hear.
Some figures:
Country, literacy rate in percent (world ranking)
Kazakhstan, 99.5 (29)
Ukraine, 99.4 (32)
Tonga, 98.9 (36)
Mongolia, 97.8 (47)
Argentina, 97.2 (53)
United States, 97 (55)
Thailand, 92.6 (72)
Zimbabwe, 90 (85)
Brazil, 88.4 (90)
Namibia, 85 (103)
Libya, 81.7 (111)
Source [wikipedia.org]
Discussion of Source accuracy [wikipedia.org]
UNDP Human Development Index Report, 2005 [undp.org] [pdf]
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They can use the laptop for porn.
Re:But can it feed them? (Score:5, Insightful)
Or something like that.
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"Build a man a fire, and you'll keep him warm for one night. Set a man on fire, and you'll keep him warm for the rest of his life!"
Re:But can it feed them? (Score:4, Interesting)
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?
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Also, no one seems to want to talk about the non-manufacturing costs of OLPC, either. Assuming you find a non-corrupt government as a participant, it seems to me that the entire distribution cost is being foisted on that government. I don't think that's trivial. What about training? I haven't been a big fan of the TCO school of thought, but that's because in the (US) corporate world, I've seen it used mainly as a justification of bigger IT budgets. But in this case, I think we do need
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Probably until, e.g., Brazil goes through a radical collapse and turns into Somalia.
No one said they are. They are a tool for education, nothing more. OLPC doesn't pretend that laptops replace education, they suggest that investing in the laptops and associated infrastructure (like the satellite downlink st
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The corruption will start at the top, and there is no legal means to prevent these computers from being resold in 1st world countries. The only way to stop that sort of behaivor is to flood the world market so shipping them to 1st world countries will cost more than you can possibly sell them at. Ev
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But a computer (Score:2)
computers vs. books (Score:2)
That's a good point... I'm sure all the people in the world working with poverty-stricken third-world nations have never thought about providing books!
Sarcasm aside, $5 books aren't known for being chock full of useful information, reliable information, or a wide variety of information. Also, once a book is printed, the content can't be changed, updated, or corrected.
The OLPC program is intended to pro
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As far as other even less developed countries with actual armed/religious conflict, I see the OLPC being put into bad use (i.e trading), and never even reac
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http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_myths#The_laptop_w i ll_be_really_clunky_with_a_hand_crank_on_the_side [laptop.org]
The crank was found to be both too fragile and too energy wasting. It has been replaced by a yoyo kind
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Re:Bender sez (Score:2)
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