It
breaks my heart to see such wonderful design work from so many talented
designers go to waste but the announcement that the One Laptop Per Child
Foundation is offering a 2-for-1 sale in the U.S. of the beautiful little
machine should mark the end of this grand—and deeply flawed—effort.
broke the most important design rule
Design from the bottom up, not top down. This was, almost in every way, a
traditional top down product development
Cell phones are far more popular as the means to connect to the net in much of
the Third World and cell-phone type devices rather than cute little laptops
might have made much more sense
a deal with Intel will give new life to the OLPC laptop down the road
this is a common theme in the integration of technology in general.
board members were hesitant to accept this "gift" for a variety of reasons. One was the stigma attached to the computers, which had been advertised as being for children in Third World countries.
surely someone would've given us a great deal in a computer that's on a system we're set up on,
could have used that money for teachers, or to hire technicians, to keep the existing program functioning, rather than introduce a program that is unfamiliar and that students likely won't be using in their lifetime,
XOs use the open-source Linux operating system
A common complaint about the XOs is how easily they are damaged, despite being designed for use in rough conditions
the battery charger burns out when it's plugged in for more than about an hour.
It doesn't have the bells and whistles to distract the kids,
The kids have access to all the free software online [XO users can download programs online at no cost]
main complaints with the computers themselves are their limited storage space—2 gigabytes—and slow operating speed.
"Mission Statement: To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning."
Eureka Public School's Technology and Learning Coordinator. Providing support to teachers and students in the inclusion of 21st century technology tools in their classrooms.