<p>A step in this direction was to extend communication between XO and cell phones;supporting text messaging (Ubiquitous in rural areas since here people commonly use SMS/voice calls rather than accessing mobile internet). </p>
<p>SMS with XO can be used for disseminating information; which can be either about latest commodity prices taken from school server, sent to parent's cell phone, or any other notification. Students can even send their queries to teachers and to other concerned communities. </p>
<p>I gave a demonstration on using SMS with XO at OLPC, Cambridge; the brief overview of which can be found here: <a href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/SMS">http://wiki.laptop.org/go/SMS</a></p>
<div>Initial step has been encouraging and It will be exciting to see real-world results.</div>
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<div>Regards,</div>
<div>Ankur</div>
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<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 1/5/09, <b class="gmail_sendername">S. ZAHEER</b> <<a href="mailto:szaheer@gmail.com">szaheer@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">Hello Satish,
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<div>The points raised by your friend are all valid. These laptops should not just be used as educational tool by students but can also contribute in economic progress of their parents. For e.g. it is a well known fact that middle-men in our country buy the produce from farmers at minimal prices and sell at market rates. XO can be used for disseminating correct & latest prices of commodities etc to the parents of the kids using XO laptops </div>
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<div>For this to happen, relevant and latest content in regional languages has to be made available. XO can have strategic tie-ups with such content providers as I dont think OLPC will be able to aggregate such a diverse information on its own.<br>
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<div>On a lighter side, who knows an XO child may help his parents find a suitable groom through a matrimonial site for his elder sister not just from a nearby village but from a distant state or a country :-) </div>
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<div>With regards,</div>
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<div>S. Zaheer</div>
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<div>3 ideas to start the new year in a different way (an innovative new year greeting from my brother)</div>
<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.hasnainzaheer.com/2008/12/2009-is-this-the-year-of-opportunities-and-turnarounds-happy-new-year/" target="_blank">http://www.hasnainzaheer.com/2008/12/2009-is-this-the-year-of-opportunities-and-turnarounds-happy-new-year/</a> <br>
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<div><span class="e" id="q_11ea6967edd20625_1">On Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 4:24 PM, Satish Jha <span dir="ltr"><<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:jha.satish@gmail.com" target="_blank">jha.satish@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<p><span><font face="Times New Roman" color="black" size="3"><span lang="EN" style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black">One of my friends from Harvard Alumni Group had the following to say:</span></font></span></p>
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<p><span><font face="Arial" color="black" size="2"><span lang="EN" style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I'm familiar with this great initiative. The question I would have is this: do you have studies on how the village changes when children get the XO? In a poor village can the child be "only" a school learner, or does s/he have other roles to play? How does the XO impact those roles? </span></font></span><font face="Arial" color="black" size="2"><span lang="EN" style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><br>
<span>Coming off reviewing a major book on bio-tech, I'm impressed with the fact that we don't see things enough as flow, as context, as ecology. The XO must have major impact, but is it to pull the child out of the village, mentally, and into the Mumbai-global economy world? Or does it lead to solving community problems and enhancing everyone's potential? The child connecting adults to resources, for instance. </span><br>
<span>Questions, I see, not advice, and perhaps you have good answers already. Or perhaps this holistic view helps somehow.</span></span></font><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></span></font></p>
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<p><font face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><img height="175" src="cid:image001.jpg@01C96E30.9238EEA0" width="189"></span></font></p></div></div></div></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Best regards,<br>Ankur Verma<br>Email : <a href="mailto:ankur@laptop.org">ankur@laptop.org</a><br>Web: <a href="http://ankur.nsit.googlepages.com/">http://ankur.nsit.googlepages.com/</a><br>
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