Hello Satish,<div><br></div><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>
<div><br></div><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>
</div><div><br></div><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>
<div><br></div><div>With regards,</div><div><br></div><div>S. Zaheer</div><div><br></div><div>3 ideas to start the new year in a different way (an innovative new year greeting from my brother)</div><div><a href="http://www.hasnainzaheer.com/2008/12/2009-is-this-the-year-of-opportunities-and-turnarounds-happy-new-year/">http://www.hasnainzaheer.com/2008/12/2009-is-this-the-year-of-opportunities-and-turnarounds-happy-new-year/</a> <br>
</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div> <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 4:24 PM, Satish Jha <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jha.satish@gmail.com">jha.satish@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<p><span><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;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 size="2" color="black" face="Arial"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">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 size="2" color="black" face="Arial"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black"><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 size="2" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial"></span></font></p>
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<p><font size="2" color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy"><img width="189" height="175" src="cid:image001.jpg@01C96E30.9238EEA0"></span></font></p>
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<p><font size="6" color="green" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:24.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:green">Give a laptop, Get a
laptop; Change the World</span></font><font size="6" color="navy" face="Verdana"><span style="font-size:24.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:navy"> </span></font></p>
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