[Olpc-za] How will OLPC work in ZA.

[Morgan Collett]

On 7/31/07, Jeff <jeff at wildcoast.com> wrote:
>
> On 27 Jul 2007, at 4:46 PM, lungis at iafrica.com wrote:
>> Hi All !
>> I would like to draw your attention to a current FORUM on ItWeb , where
>> people are talking about OLPC. Interesting perceptions and views. see :-
>>
>> http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/forum/default.asp
>
> Thanks for the heads up . . . but I am disgusted at the lack of journalistic
> integrity on ITWeb!
>
> I responded to the first comment about the ergonomics and went into some
> detail on the specs and how the screen folded over to become a reading
> tablet.
>
> Three days later my response has still not been posted - but all the bloody
> stupid trolls in the world have been.

Neither was my factual comment responding to misinformed moaning, posted.

> Be warned: ITWeb is not a FORUM. It is a blatant plagiarism trawler - and is
> potentially damaging to the OLPC movement in SA.
>
>
> Let's have some discussion and input somewhere where it's going to be seen!

I don't know whether the olpc-za list is somewhere where it's going to
be seen, but at least here you will find real information and informed
opinion.

I'm working for a company involved in the (software) technology for
OLPC, and I'm well aware that *everything* in the project is in its
early stages. Now that Intel has joined the project, for instance, the
Gen 2 laptops might be completely different to the current AMD-powered
prototypes.

What is available now might seem limited, but it is a step forwards in
a very exciting vision. Nicholas Negroponte might sound arrogant when
he says it is past the time for countries to be planning pilot
projects but they must go to the back of the queue and place their
orders. However there is simply nothing else out there that even
remotely approaches where XO and Sugar will soon be.

OLPC has five core principles: (1) child ownership, (2) low ages, (3)
saturation, (4) connection, and (5) free and open source.

As contentious as (1) and perhaps (2) are, there is nothing else that
can match (3), (4) and (5). Intel's Classmate PC hasn't a hope against
XOs with mesh networking, with built-in collaboration in every
activity, designed to function in a peer to peer manner with or
without Internet access, with a View Source button on the keyboard to
examine and modify ANY running activity or part of the system.

Not to mention the innovative power management - literally capable of
sleeping between keystrokes, powering everything off except the screen
and the mesh routing; the amazing 200dpi screen readable in full
outdoor sunlight; the new LiFePO4 battery chemistry which is lighter,
lasts an extra hour in full use and works fine in 60 degC heat; the
near-indestructible construction which survives "a 80cm 10-point free
drop onto a steel plate. The laptop, when dropped on the antennas,
withstands a 150cm drop. To put these data into perspective: a
standard laptop only passes a 45cm 10-point drop on plywood"; and a
software stack that will include live chat in any activity, video
calls, full encryption (with no VeriSign tax), full sandbox security
for running untrusted software distributed over the peer to peer mesh,
...

Oh dear, I've barely scratched the surface. I'd better stop now or
I'll be typing all day.

No wonder Intel paid their $2 million and joined up.

Run, don't walk, to watch this technical presentation of OLPC
technology with real insights into the education aspect:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4285568518538296189
You can switch off when the tech gets too heavy going - the non-tech
good stuff is all near the beginning.

And yes, I haven't mentioned the curriculum / teacher training / other
support cost issues etc - but this isn't a "where do we drop 50
containers of laptops" project. It will take time for each country to
consider, plan and roll out. The cost of bandwidth will need to be
addressed, particularly here - although the XOs will work fine without
it.

Regards
Morgan