[Olpc-open] 45,000 G1G1 orders:Mea Culpa and Epistemology

Tue Nov 27 09:10:53 EST 2007

Sorry - wrong Subject in my last response.  Apologized to the wrong
thread.  But it was 3 am ...

Begin forwarded message:

From: Carolyn Turbyfill <cturbyfill at mac.com>
Date: November 27, 2007 2:59:21 AM EST
To: open oltpwiki <Olpc-open at lists.laptop.org>
Subject: [Olpc-open] Mea Culpa  and Epistemology Fwd:  tabula rasa

I received the following criticism which is entirely legitimate:

"You seem to be attempting to shut down criticism on the basis that you
know the needs of third world country better than they the person
complaining. I would certainly accept your opinions a lot more readily
if you showed that your own opinions were informed rather than
egocentric.

To paraphrase, Tall897 said that the XO was good for developing
countries but that the Asus was better for people that already used
computers. Is that actually incorrect? I haven't used either machine,
but I would believe tall because the XO is specifically targeted at
children in developing countries.

I would be keen to hear your response to Tall's comments, but not in a
way that puts him down and doesn't actually address the issues."

So here is an attempt on my part to communicate better:
I  am sincerely asking an epistemological question.  (Epistemology:
a branch of philosophy  that investigates the origin, nature,
methods, and limits of human knowledge.   http:// 
dictionary.reference.com).
Do you truly understand the target customer?  What infrastructure  
does the
customer have in his environment?  Would the customer prefer that a  
high cost,
high end solution that he probably won't get - or would it be preferable
to get a  lower cost, low footprint, no infrastructure required   
laptop where every kid
in the area could get one and they could collaborate?

Who do you or I presume to have the right to speak for?  Personally -
I've been doing high tech development for 25+ years and I don't  
consider myself
representative of any customer, much less an olpc target customer.
But really - all of our opinions don't really matter.  The user is  
always right.
How many target users of the olpc laptop are on this mailing list?

However - when SkyNet takes over and wipes the worlds infrastructure,  
the
OLPC laptop may be the only thing that still works :-)

As for my own third world experience:

I lived in Bangkok, Thailand from 1960 to 1964 - and travelled all  
over Thailand.
(I read "The Ugly American" when I was 12 years old:  http://   
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_American.)
Shortly thereafter - I returned to America and got a huge dose of
reverse culture shock (we moved into a small town in North Carolina)  
- before it had a name.

I lived in Zambia from 1965 to 1967.  While in Zambia there were
months when writing and toilet paper was rationed
and people were deported or arrested for saying the wrong thing.

I lived in South Korea (as a Peace Corps volunteer working with
Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) patients from 1978 to 1980.
(This is also when President Park  was assasinated
and General Chun came to power.  Again there was martial law.)

I spent time in Russia from 1992 on.  My last visit was last year.
The changes in Moscow are incredible but they do not necessarily
indicate a change in standard of living for people in the countryside.

I'm leading a People to People delegation to China in December to
network with Chinese Women in Technology.  But I'll be large cities  
and don't expect to
get a real sense of what life is like for a factory workers or  
farmer.  In fact - I just got around to checking
out the  4 star hotel's I'll be staying in and for the most part -  
except for cultural differences, I could be
traveling in Europe.

I apologize for letting my frustration come through.  I've seen
plenty of cultural ethnocentrism even among educated and well off  
engineers.
And truthfully - the news media can also be phenomenally ethnocentric  
- and
this is even a bigger source of irritation for me.
But you can understand   a different culture and not know what
poverty is like.  My experience seeing poverty up close and personal
is a humbling and heart wrenching  experience.
It was the discovery of pain, death and poverty that set Buddha on  
his lifetime quest
for enlightenment.  http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/data/shoseki/ 
50einga.htm:
"According to legend, Prince Siddhartha one day ventured out of his  
castle from four gates-in the directions of east, south, west, and  
north-and on each occasion he encountered an old man, a sick man, a  
dead man, and a spiritual man. The image below represents the scene  
in which the prince leaves the castle from the south gate to see a  
sick man. The prince, who had been protected from the outside world,  
was deeply struck by this sight of illness, as he had never seen a  
sick person before?"

I believe the olpc project is one of truly good intentions and dogged
execution.  It has also become a disruptive
technology in a wonderful way.  It is one of the things I wonder
about when I look at reconstruction attempts in
war torn countries.  The west tries to help set up centralized
infrastructure, power, water, that is subject
to sabotage and also takes a lot of time and work.  Most of the
beneficiaries are powerless to be part of the change.
There are so many technologies that can allow us to decentralize:  ie
letting kids network their own
computers without having to have a satellite uplink in a remote
area.  (Has a lovely HAM radio feel to it.)
OLPC is a bottom up approach.  Foreign aid tends to be top down.

For all of you working on this project,  you have my admiration and
thanks.

--Carolyn

Begin forwarded message:

From: Carolyn Turbyfill <cturbyfill at mac.com>
Date: November 20, 2007 7:50:53 AM EST
To: open oltpwiki <olpc-open at lists.laptop.org>
Subject: Re: [Olpc-open] tabula rasa

I'm a big fan of OLPC.  3 years ago I started working on trying to get
internet access for women in Afghanistan (they can't go to internet
cafe's
unless the cafe has hours set aside exclusively for women).  I was
beyond
delighted when I found out about the OLPC project.  I will be
raising some
money and purchasing some laptops.

For those of you who are thinking in high tech competitive terms, I
suggest:
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Paperback)
by E. F. Schumacher (Author) "One of the most fateful errors of our
age is the
  belief that "the problem of production" has been solved..." (more)

I have spent a great deal of time in poor countries - and to quote
my husband,
with whom I worked with Hansen's disease (Leprosy patients) in the
Peace Corps,
"poverty means there is nothing" - no resources, no opportunity.  I
worked with
deformed and chronically ill people who worked harder every day of
of their life
just to get by than I've ever worked.  A hardy laptop that doesn't
require batteries
and is a bit slow - this is so seriously not a problem.

Regards,
Carolyn Turbyfill
Fairfax, Virginia

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Carolyn Turbyfill
cturbyfill at mac.com
11449 Rothbury Square
Fairfax, Va 22030
Cell:  503-381-2808
Home:  703-865-6410
Cell:  703-598-7141
Work:  703-225-2513
Work Fax:  703-225-2501

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