$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: (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?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (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 wo
Re: (Score:2)
That's not the point. Used notebooks aren't a sustainable plan in large volumes. It's not very maintainable, either, with replacement parts also being over seas. If you do this, you get an unsupportable mess of different notebook models, the steps to repairing each one is different, with different replacement parts needed to fix different models.
The point that is often missed is that the education could have significantly reduced the social ills you described. In fact, in my area, there
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: (Score:2)
Habitat for Humanity [habitat.org.za]
Farm Africa [farmafrica.org.uk]
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
It DOESN'T HAVE A FUCKING CRANK.
See OLPC hardware [laptop.org]. The crank was one suggestion long ago; and it would only have been a backup when there wasn't any mains power.
Think of another excuse.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The GP's point wasn't that the laptop wasn't cost effective, or that the hardware is inferior to other mass market items. He alluded to that, sure, but that wasn't his main point at all.
The point is that the target audience for this item, ie: the impoverished people of third world countries, have much bigger problems that the 1st world could help them solve,
Re: (Score:2)
Whether it was minor or major, he started out with the same sneering attitude to the concept that gets parroted here every time it comes up. That's what I responded to, not his "main point". If you introduce your argument with a fallacy, it's hard to take it seriously.
As for the general utility of a laptop, I have mixed f
Re: (Score:2)
They tested cranks and found it stressed the case too much. They may offer a foot pedal charger option. A rather more sensible idea. Your legs are stronger than your arms and you can pump a pedal while you type. My grandmother had a treadle-powered sewing machine, which probably used more power.
Re: (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
Re: (Score:2)
The scary thing is, you just described many urban environments in America...
Re: (Score:2)
I'm still not going to do it though. For that $200 I can (and do) pay for the schooling for a child or two for a year. I didn't think Clinton's initiative of one computer per classroom was the solution to America's education problems and I sure don't think OLPC is a good use of resources for the third world. As far as I can tell, it's just a stunt that will truly benefit very few people.
Re: (Score:2)
IMHO, the problem with schools is that they are a (very poorly run) government monopoly. Vouchers would solve this, creating an educational industry that is responsive to parents and the needs of students. Due to the cost of private education now, most private schools are run by churches. A voucher system would change that.
Re:You are wrong. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Why you didn't, but I would (Score:2)
And it's not really a normal laptop. It could be used in situations where a normal laptop would be useless (i.e. no power).
The fact is that you could get one for just a little more than it's worth and at the same time help out two third world children.
Re: (Score:2)
Seems more "realistic" an option than actually expecting people to buy it for personal use. Is it going to be supported by the project?
Re: (Score:2)
Have you seen the idiotic toys that people are willing to spend $300 for? Most of them are probably worth about $20 but for some flashy packaging. The extra $280 they pay just goes to the corporation clever enough to swindle them. Here, at least, the $200 is going towards something useful.
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: (Score:2)
Well, I don't think it's been advertised terribly well.
Two points are
Re: (Score:2)
The idea that a bunch of third-world countries were going to leap at the opportunity to provide their citizens with computers was deluded. Sure, the corrupt leaders of these countries will be happy to SAY they want to give all their citizens computers. But when the time comes to actually pony up some money out of their palace-and-mercedes budgets, these leaders will baulk.
And, as for charitable givers from the U.S. and other countries,
Tax writeoff (Score:2)
This was my big question. How do you write the $300 off as a "donation" when you're getting a laptop out of it? It seems like you wouldn't be able to do it. I'm not sure how the IRS would feel about a quasi-sale like that. I suspect that, just like buying a Newman's Own can of salsa (or other product whe
Re: (Score:2)
The contentious issue is the documentation and reliability.
I have parted with my own money for hardware (a fat IDE drive) that developed read-write errors and locked my system hard under OpenBSD 3.9, yet worked flawlessly in a, shall we say "Magical Situation".
I want to pay you and your engineering team to produce your finest in a completely de-coupled fashion, by adhering to published, d
First I've heard of it (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Me too.
I wish I had heard about this earlier. I would definitely have pledged.
"Doomed to Failure by Apathy" ?! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Computers in the schools of developed
Re: (Score:2)
Is the organization a 501c(3) tax deductable charity?
Only if 99,999 other will too (Score:3, Interesting)
Does that mean they can't produce and sell these laptop if there were only 5,000 orders?
Re:Only if 99,999 other will too (Score:5, Insightful)
Only 96,322 short (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If they can actually make an OLPC with the specs of the most recent prototypes, it'd still be a good deal at $300.
It's a significantly more capable machine than an AlphaSmart Dana [alphasmart.com], and those sell for more than $400. There's a definite niche for rugged PC-companion machines with full-sized keyboards. The OLPC beats every previous entrant in that category by having a much better screen - everything else has a "mail slot" black and white screen with pretty miserable resolution.
The Dana is, I think, the bes
Re: (Score:2)
You missed one subtle point:
buy one at three times the cost and thus contribute to supplying two to the proposed users.
Basically it's a donation to help serve the intentions of the OLPC initiative.
Slashdot effect?! (Score:4, Interesting)
There must a whole bunch of cheapskates here on slashdot.
FYI, I pledged for three. Then, for a short time, I contemplated to let them keep the third PC as well. But that is betrayal because you shouldn't dump second grade stuff onto the 3rd world. I decided to actually use the third one seriously and to contribute at least with bug reports.
Hell, I even convinced my not-so-techie brother to pledge and he did. And also consider that we're not from the USA. We're from a part of the world where USD 300 is a higher percentage of our nett income.
Please get over yourself (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Well, how can I put this politely? Hmmm... Fuck you!
Instead of paying $300 for having two (2) substandard $1
Not inferior, just slower! (Score:3, Interesting)
Nor do I believe that dumping things that we wouldn't use on the 3rd world is going to make the [technology] gap disappear -- au contraire. I'd rather see them receive one $1000 laptop than ten $100 ones that aren't similar to what the rest of the world use. "Better than what they have" isn't a valid argument, as it serves to keep the gap.
Developing countries cannot maintain a "fleet" of up-to-date computers, as every PC is rendered obsolete by "progress" within 3 years. "what the rest of the world uses"
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (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 kid
Re: (Score:2)
They do not do that by themselves (no magic there... duh), but they can be great tools to help the teacher when used properly. What you described in your post is their improper use. Also, let me address at least some points you've raised.
I seriously doubt there is an integrated spellchecker available in those laptops (or otherwise) for the language the target audience uses, if that's what you're refer
Re: (Score:2)
I am really amazed though that this pledge only got 3678 people from their 100k goal: I'd rather give to this (although, admittedly, at the moment I am not in the position to actually be able to contribute), as the billions spend on food the previous years didn't quite help to get people over there back on their feet: Ok, it probably saved alot of lives, but I'd rather teach t
Re: (Score:2)
How short sighted can you be? A computer is a powerful tool, it can be used to make many processes more efficient. Some of the most useful processes it benefits are the search for information, communication and yes, even gaming. I don't understand why the improvements of two peoples opportunities is not worth it because 8 people "squander" theirs. Don't you see that if there are
silly jab at US (Score:2)
The key issue he is, how many people actually know about this program and how many of those are already comitted elsewhere?
Me, I don't care for the project. I already donate to specific local charities as I can see the effects of my donations. I don't have to worry about bleed off by the local governments (overseas ones where this money and possibly the laptops would go)
The land
Re: (Score:2)
You have doubts that you wasted that much money on a failed project, and now all you're left with is to play with the "omg I'm so moral" card and be pissed at us, cheapskates.
It's hard to admit it that maybe the problem lies within the project itself.
Normal people don't throw money at everything that is labeled "good for the poor children". When you give money for something, you need more arguments than this, or you'll fall for thousands of scams that
Re: (Score:2)
Um... Well here is some news for you... I live in the US and make more than minimum wage (I make ~$10/hr, which is considered good where I live) and $300 is just slightly less than 1/3rd my total monthly income... We all don't earn 6 figure salaries just because we live in the US. To put it in perspective
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
That said, $300 is close to my rent for the month, and given the choice to send a nerfed laptop or have a place to sleep at night, you can call me one selfish sonofabitch.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Now, getting more to the point: Communications infrastructure is a core element in having an effec
Re: (Score:2)
WOW won't run on these. They don't meet the hardware spec, let alone they don't run Windows abd will very likely not have relisble net access.
Not a lack of interest (Score:4, Interesting)
Probably partly a lack of interest (Score:2)
Change that number to $200 (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Probably you wouldn't get 2/3 of a stampede; you might need to price it at $249 to do that. However, you have to look at net, not gross. Suppose it currently costs you $100 to make the device; you make twice as much per unit at $299 as you do at $200. So you only need more than half a stampeded to get ahead.
This doesn't count the non-tangible but very real
Re: (Score:2)
alternative story (Score:2)
Pledging? (Score:4, Informative)
Sign up to buy a computer and then a few months later find out later whether you'll be able to buy one. It's really inconvenient. Such a project requires wider grassroots adoption and the support of a lot of people. The amount of money pledged was huge.
100,000 computers at $300 a pop is $30m. Making the effort part of telethon's and charity drives might have been much more effective than just having a website where you can't even buy one.
It's a cheap simple computer. It might have found a good audience in non geeks interested in trading up from old Windows 98 boxes. It's the one laptop per child project. For selling it in the 1st world it was marketed wrong. It might have done very well if sold as something to get your kid for Christmas instead of an Xbox 360 or an iPod where most of the money goes to charity. Meanwhile the iPod nano Red will sell in huge numbers with a lower (but very decent) amount going to charity.
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.
Re: (Score:2)
I hope you realise that the idea is to actually use these laptops as eBook-readers for cheap and updated school books, including lots of free material from sources such as Wikipedia.
Also, the political and economical situation in Africa is much more complex than the image of starving children. There are many countries in Africa where most people are
Not an indicator of the project's merits (Score:2)
This doesn't say anything about whether or not the $100 laptops are a good way of spending money to benefit the third world. Just look at how successful cellphones have been at connecting communities in Africa. That's been a
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
This pledgebank wasn't started by the project and isn't connected to them at all. This is nothing more than a well-intentioned and failed internet petition.
Really, nothing to see here.
Since this is basically charity ... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks.
(BTW - I want a tax deduction, too. But I'd rather see the spending drop first.)
Re: (Score:2)
BTW, I agree that spending needs to be cut, but in a *substantive* way. 100,000*$200 in tax deductions is only $20M - which
Re: (Score:2)
Don't overblow it... (Score:5, Insightful)
This is NOT a failiure of the "One Laptop Per Child" project.
Cheers...
Re: (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: (Score:3, Informative)
$120 (Score:5, Interesting)
It makes sense to me... (Score:2)
Wow... (Score:2)
So you "show" support. Like a pat on the back, you're willing to do that cause it doesn't take effort or resources from you (!support) but actual support is "just a bit too much". Who are you trying to appear supportive for? Your bumpersticker wont give thes
Didn't realize it was expiring (Score:2)
I also didn't realize that, and don't understand why, it's a "limited time" thing. Why not just leave it open? I would have bought one. I'd do it right now if it was still available.
I didn't know! (Score:2)
I emailed them when the OLPC first went public, suggesting a buy-two-get-one thing. I was ready to pledge, but I never heard about it. Nowhere, nowhen, nohow.
If people don't know, they can't pledge.
HAL
New and experimental Pledge (Score:4, Informative)
Not interesting (Score:2)
Not surprising... (Score:2)
The half-sized keyboard and bright (orange) color will keep adults from using it, even if they really need the rest of the features of the OLPC.
The small flash drive/lack of a hard drive, and limited ports, will make it of limited usefulness to kids in developed countries as well.
It has a lot of features that would be great on, otherwise normal, n
Let's face it (Score:2)
Insightful Comment (Score:2)
I see a small bug in this pledge. Where is the distribution mechanism? If we had some way to say, put our $300 in an escrow account and were able to pay for a super efficient distribution center (and where to put it is another issue) then perhaps interest on the sitting cash could pay to get these things distributed, but we still have no "market based" distro system. The developing nation machines will still end up getting "lost" and end up on e-bay.
If the concept here is to sho
Why not just sell it commercially (Score:2)
I can see numerous applications for these kind of low cost devices, you could use it as a navigational device, router/firewall, reading books etc.
If they'd just make it look decent without the weird colours, drop the power handle and sell optional car power adapters etc..
The good part for them is that the profit can be used to deliver them to the 3rd world countries. Also, a lot of additional s
The whole thing failed for very sound reasons... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The whole thing failed for very sound reasons.. (Score:2)
Much of the criticism against the project has been of the "let them catch up, then give them technology" variety. I think Negroponte's whole point is third world countries will never catch up if they don't have technology. I think he's onto something.
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: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Because some of us HAVE been on the chicken bus for a couple of hours and looked over the villages.
Next month my brother is going to Guatemala to help build a school. Just a little ways out from the capital there are sizeable villages with no schools, or schools without roofs or plumbing, no books, no supplies, etc...
What WE think WE should do with OUR and other people's money to help unspecified others is just about the poorest way to efficient
Re: (Score:2)
And say your town wants to build an irrigation system and learn about crop rotation? You don't have that book, but th
More like a PDA (Score:2)
HP Jornada 820 Specs [wikipedia.org]
OLPC Ver 1 [laptop.org]
Re: (Score:2)
(Microsoft did of course offer their own operating system license free as did Apple)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I assume that they wanted to reach a 100k goal, as to offset some of the other starting costs; With 1.2 million the plan could be realised, and they could be distributing their 3678 (x2) computers.
This way it would also be easier to attract the attention of more donations towards the project, as at that time there would at least be a product available instead of the few prototypes around now.
Re:What they should do to make it sell like hot ca (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think Africa has bigger fish to fry...
Or *wish* they did.
Yeah, insensitive. I know. :-\
Re: (Score:2)
These computers are much better than most people here are implying. Ruggedised laptops, even with small screens, tend to be very expensive. Actually, I think this is a
Re: (Score:2)
If you want a project to succeed, what is the problem with selling a commercial version?