[OLPC-AU] Some facts about the XOs

[James Cameron]

On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 02:36:00PM +1100, Sridhar Dhanapalan wrote:
> James Cameron was gracious enough to grant me a few hours of his
> holiday time to chat. Some interesting things I picked up:
> 
>   * The XO is certified in the USA by Underwriters Limited as a
>   children's toy. It is apparently the only laptop in the world that
>   is also certified as a toy.

Come to think of it, I don't know that it is the only one, but I don't
know of another.

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Hardware_Testing has some of the
certifications.  I don't recall which one is the childrens' toy
certification, ... perhaps the ASTM F 963 "Consumer Safety Specification
on Toy Safety".

A laptop with removable key caps probably would not meet a standard that
covered risk of choking on small parts.

>   * XO screens are UV rated to last for about 4 years with 4 hours of
>   direct sunlight per day. UV light is a killer for displays, and no
>   other screen comes close.

I didn't have the actual numbers handy.  I was giving an example,
pointing out that there *is* a specification and that it permits much
more UV than normal for a display.  Our hardware team would have the
actual specifications.

I've found a reference to "half a million hours in sun" in the page
above.  I'm not sure that's right.  Even over ten years that would be
about 137 hours per day!

>   * If you weren't aware, the Grab key is used for scrolling: hold it
>   down and move the trackpad to scroll.

Correct, except you should move your finger on the trackpad rather than
move the trackpad.

-- 
James Cameron
http://quozl.linux.org.au/