[Olpc-open] an inexpensive plan for personalized laptops?

[Xavier Alvarez]

Jonah,

Good point! :)  I remember talking about a similar issue but in 
the urban planning domain dealing with state financed housing 
projects and similar.

The bottom line was that urban planners could tell the general 
health of a project by the level of 'appropriation' done on the 
houses.  They didn't need to enter the houses, the external 
appearence would provide plenty information.

Only when people changed the 'pristine' facade of their dwellings 
was a sign that the community thrived. Investing time and 
resources to change the color of doors, blinds and other external 
fixtures of the houses was a sign that a community building 
process was taking place. The community was adapting their 
environment to their liking, not someone else's. They were 
building *their* neighbourhood.

If nothing changed, it usually denoted a certain level of 
detachment. Could mean that people didn't intend to stay there 
long, no emotional ties were being developed either to other 
dwellers or the environment, etc. Thus, no community would 
spontaneously develop.

Grafitti and other 'non-ordinary expressions' was a mixed sort and 
couldn't really be determined without doing further (and a more 
complex) analysis on which way it would go; it could develop a 
vibrant new sub-culture or clash and disintegrate dramatically.

So yes, I think that allowing (and encouraging) personalization of 
the laptop hardware (not only software-wise) could do a lot of 
good to increase the sense of ownership of the child towards the 
laptop, with all the (alleged) benefits it would imply.


Cheers,
Xavier

PS: I have no real source for my 'urban legend', but it does 
strike as true based on personal (amateur) experiences and 
observations.

On Tuesday 06 February 2007 23:47, Jonah Bossewitch wrote:
JB> Hi,
JB>
JB> I recently had a chance to see the laptops in person at the
JB> UN CTAUN Info fair - http://www.ctaun.org/index1.php?param=con
JB>
JB> The experience and this series got me thinking...
JB> 
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=44124344283%40N01&q=olpc+unitedn
ations&m=tags 
JB>
JB> All of these laptops really do look identical - maybe OLPC
JB> could encourage ownders to attach stickers and decals to
JB> increase personalization and differentiation.
JB>
JB> I think kids personalizing their laptops with stickers will
JB> be a great way for them to assert ownership, differentiate,
JB> and personalize... maybe even fetishize their laptop.
JB>
JB> Another added benefit of this practice would be to actually
JB> devalue the resell value of the laptops, while leaving them
JB> functionally identical. From what I understand, purposefully
JB> lowering their perceived resale value would be great for the
JB> laptops.
JB>
JB> So, the biggest hurdle I can imagine for the sticker program
JB> is parents and teachers insisting that the new laptops are
JB> pristine, and that stickers would "mess them up" - maybe if
JB> laptops shipped with some basic decals, or even an alphabet
JB> so kids could stick their own name on? That way it is clear
JB> that stickers are "supposed" to be applied. 
JB>
JB> If you ask me, It would be great if more and more of the demo
JB> laptops had stickers all over them.
JB>
JB> BTW, for inspiration, check out the BMW mini decals (these
JB> quirky icons come with the car, for the dashboard)
JB>
JB> http://www.lokisnake.com/blog/2005/10/23/miniusa-uaom/
JB> http://www.flickr.com/photos/47478062@N00/280657481/
JB>
JB> cheers,
JB> /Jonah
JB> _______________________________________________
JB> Olpc-open mailing list
JB> Olpc-open at laptop.org
JB> http://mailman.laptop.org/mailman/listinfo/olpc-open
JB>

-- 
XA
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