The XO laptop gets a Windows makeover

[rihoward1 at gmail.com]

Albert,

I was not shouting down criticism. I was pointing out the inherent  
fallacy of the experiment.

File sharing is not an active real time collaboration tool by any  
means.   In sugar multiple children can work on the same write  
document, paint document, etc. at the same time and a copy is saved  
locally.  You are making the  fallacy of comparing apples with oranges.
As for Windows file sharing I could show you situations in which  
Windows file sharing fails miserably and  contrary to what you state  
Windows file sharing is not compatible between all operating  
systems.  A few of your statements are so bizarre they don't even  
deserve a response.

In my work life I use multiple OS in a given day and see these  
compatibility problems first hand.

Means of file sharing can be setup fairly easily in Sugar if you want  
to move raw files around. Currently file sharing is performed through  
activity sharing.

Just because MS Excel is used by some for science, engineering and  
statistics does not mean it is the correct tool for the job.  There  
are too  many serious problems with MS Excel that have never been  
fixed and have caused serious problems with a number of scientific  
projects, etc., that relied on MS Excel.  I too can use a screw  
driver to hammer a nail into a wall but does not mean it is the  
correct tool.

I agree with you that there has been a dearth of decent educational  
software on all platforms.  There is a chance to start a fresh with a  
new platform that is not encumbered with a legacy of poor offerings  
in that area.  Is that not what the stated target for the XO and  
Sugar is to be an educational tool?

Unfortunately from your response ,you have demonstrated you really do  
not understand the difference between education and rote learning.
By the way I did not say rote training was useless. I said it leads  
to inflexibility.
Rote learning is not based on understanding.


On Oct 26, 2008, at 4:09 PM, Albert Cahalan wrote:

> rihoward1 at gmail.com writes:
>
>> It was a very poor experiment and the article had a number of items
>> of misinformation.  The author of the article did not take advantage
>> of the fact that she had 2 XOs .  She did not boot both in Sugar to
>> observe the collaboration capabilities of Sugar and Activities.  If
>> she had then Sugar would have won hands down.
>
> Sugar isn't helped when people shout down any criticism.
> Living in denial about the competition just leads to failure.
> I'm far from a fan of Windows, but it gets many things right.
>
> If you think booting both into Sugar would have helped Sugar,
> then you obviously haven't seen the collaboration capabilities
> of Windows. Booting both into Windows would allow file sharing.
> Compared to what Sugar does, file sharing is very reliable.
> It works with **all** programs, without any developer effort.
> It's compatible between different software versions, different
> types of software, and even different OSes. It even eliminates
> the need to maintain a continuous network connection, which is
> great for kids without wired networks or reliable electricity.
>
>> Windows is pointless as an educational platform.  I have never seen
>> what I would call an educational application on Windows.  I have seen
>> rote training applications on Windows.  About all Windows is good for
>> is in a school training the next generation of low skilled, low wage
>> support personal for Microsoft with out of date knowledge.
>
> I haven't seen decent educational software for any platform.
> That includes Sugar and Mac OS. Probably this means that the
> concept itself is defective. Real tools are superior.
>
> I have seen Microsoft Excel used for science, engineering, and
> statistics. Sugar has nothing comparable, despite at least two
> usable free spreadsheets being available for Linux.
>
>> Remember education and training are 2 different concepts.  Education
>> gives you the ability to reach beyond your base knowledge and to
>> continue to learn, explore and synthesize ideas and concepts. Rote
>> training freezes you in time and makes you inflexible.
>
> You just keep telling yourself that Windows is only for rote training
> (false) and that rote training is useless (also false) while the
> world mysteriously ignores you for some reason.