VIDEO: brewster_OLPC

Several months ago I briefly met with the awesome Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive.
He was showing off the OLPC computer (One Laptop Per Child).
They were initially promoted as costing $100, but are now about $200 each.

The computer is designed to be bought in orders of 100,000 units by developing countries to jump start their educational process. If every kid has a computer that's connected to the internet and each other, and is using open source software they can learn to program, then the kids in these countries can figure out their own solutions. This is the social techie dream.

Click To Play

But there are many people who say the OLPC program is bullshit.
I just got into another heated debate tonight over OLPC.
The argument is that children in developing nations need clean water and food first.
Many children barely have proper schools to attend. How are you going to give a kid who lives in a hut a computer? The corruption in many developing nations is incredible, and this would be another waste of precious resources. Why give computers to kids anyway? Give them to the adults.

I believe in appropriate technology and trust that the right people will find their ways to computers.
I truly believe that there are those of us who love to connect and explore. The OLPC computer just lowers the barrier to having a machine that connects you to the greater web so you can find your own way. Computers are not the answer, but they are a tool.

It's a pretty cool computer if you check out the features.
It runs on linux, has a video camera built in, an automatic mesh network is created through the antennae, and can be powered by a hand pump. Brewster is especially excited because he's working on Project Gutenberg which is scanning thousands of books that can be read on computers like these. He has a dream.

Comments

[Chris Ritke]

I think anything that connects people will help stop people killing each other. A lot of the misery on this planet is caused by people not knowing enough about other people - and then they start killing each other, or maybe just discriminating. And then people can't do what they need to do to feed, clothe and make a better life for themselves. A computer like this will connect people. I believe that is good for everyone.

(Holy moly - is 49sparks blacklisted here? Had to delete it to post this)

[Andreas]

Jay, you're awesome: http://www.solitude.dk/stuff/jay-awesome.png

[Heath]

I think the OLPC concept is really cool....but I do wonder about it's effectiveness...One thing I have learned because of Glenna (my wife) working for Cincinnati Works is that poverty in some ways is a learned behavier and trying to overcome that is extremely hard. It can be done, I have seen it...but...there is no one majic pill to address this, this is just one tool....but it can't be the only one (i'm not saying you are saying that) but the problem so often is, that everyone thinks that "this" or "that" is the solution to solving something....it's rarely one thing and it takes a lot of work to make dreams a reality....used properly this can help but it has to be part of an overall particpation and strategy...teaching people to unlearn what they have learned is a very hard thing to do.....

[Zé Nuno]

what i think is most fun on this video is the genuine and contagious joy of the people there admiring and praising the small OLPC. the "revolution" is in their eyes and expressions.
:-)
liked it a lot. and like a lot the idea of the OLPC too.

[Douglas Reay]

"How are you going to give a kid who lives in a hut a computer?"

Check out the pictures from the Khairat pilot site in India:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Khairat_Chronicle#Grade_levels

A hut is all they do have as a school. The pupils sit on the floor. There are a few posters on the walls. The teacher gets a chair. There was no power in the village.

But the parents wanted this for their children. They tried solar power. They tried wind power. They tried water power. And, finally, they tried:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Khairat_Technical#Cow_power

Yep, make cows go around and around in a circle, and use that to drive an alternator. There people are not stupid. They are not lacking in ambition. In the Peru pilot school there were children walking incredible distances just to go to the school providing them this opportunity.

Think how many different school textbooks you made use of, from the time you entered school at 5 years old, until the time you left at 18. Forget all the fancy features such as cameras and grid networking. Just as an electronic textbook this project is a miracle that pays for itself many times over.

[Kenya]

"The argument is that children in developing nations need clean water and food first."

Information and education are the great equalizers. Surely these laptops will give them access to both. Simply giving them clean water and food make them dependent. Giving them information and education will give them knowledge to devise solutions to their own problems.

I have participated in textbook for Africa drives and it's incredibly expensive to ship them - not to mention the fact that they aren't even current books. Electronic books would be revolutionary.

As far as giving adults computers, look at the U.S. Adults that don't know how to use computers typically are not eager to learn. Kids embrace them with enthusiasm. Children are the future - cliché but true.

[self storage]

like a lot the idea of the OLPC too.thanks!

[meme]

http://www.bigorange.com.hk/index.cfm/CHINESE/__38364___26044___27225___33394___31354___38291_