[Olpc-open] some details about the next versions of the XO hardware

[Edward Cherlin]

On Sat, May 17, 2008 at 11:19 AM, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky
<znmeb at cesmail.net> wrote:
> Tomeu Vizoso wrote:
>> "All of the lessons learned from using the XO have been applied to the
>> development of the XOXO tablet computer, and to an interim model, the
>> XO 1.5, which is to be introduced in spring next year. Negroponte says
>> that it will be "faster, brighter, cheaper and even less
>> power-demanding," and that OLPC is soon to announce new partnerships,
>> which should speed up its progress."
>
> I would hope that some of the lessons learned include:
>
> 1. A not-for-profit organization can not effectively compete with a
> profit-making multinational corporation.

I have written to contradict this view in the past, and expect that I
shall do so again soon. OLPC is a profitable non-profit, a major
anomaly, but not the first of its kind, which is Grameen Bank. OLPC is
also a non-profit that attracts investment from the likes of Google
and eBay, another major anomaly. Pierre Omidyar put $100 million of
his own money into microfinance, so they are ahead of us there, too.
We do not distribute profits to shareholders, since there are none, by
definition. We pay profit forward, not back, to those whom the laptop
empowers, and again by being able to invest further in their future.
Thus begins the virtuous cycle.

Nicholas Negroponte does not understand all this, which should be no
surprise. Bill Gates doesn't get it either.

> 2. Educational software is a big business.
> 3. Money talks.
> 4. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

True, but irrelevant. Economics as currently formulated cannot deal
with the value of free (Zero-cost, liberated) goods and services.
Freed software is a huge business, creating trillions of dollars in
value at nearly zero cost, and freedom talks. Have you ever tried
Stone Soup? It isn't free, but it makes an excellent and most
satisfying lunch at remarkably low cost.
-- 
Edward Cherlin
End Poverty at a Profit by teaching children business
http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay