[dundee] OLPC BBC report

[dreamisdead0 at gmail.com]

> Good idea, let's go! Oh wait... the OLPC is hand cranked 'cos the owner may
> not have electricity in their hut; its peer to peer network capable as
> there wont be any internet/network connectivity. I'm not sure what software
> I could write that could move their lives forward, do you? Does anyone? You
> see, this is what I have against the OLPC idea; I believe there are more
> important things the money could be spent on that really would make a
> difference to these people's lives. Corporate America do you want to help
> the African poor? Good! How about you drop the trade barriers then and make
> a real difference. OLPC is just re-arranging the deck chairs on the
> Titanic.

I agree that for a lot of countries and children, there are steps that could 
make far more difference than giving them laptops. For children struggling to 
get food or stuck in the middle of a conflict zone, I think they might have 
slightly higher priorities than learning to use a computer.

That said, I think there are places where the OLPC scheme can really help. I 
was in Ecuador they year before last helping to build a computer room for a 
school in a remote village. People there had food to eat, but they couldn't 
afford the building materials let alone computers, but the head of the 
village told us that learning English would be the only way these kids would 
get better jobs - in banks, in the growing tourist industry etc. 

It seems a lot of South American children are in a similar situation and 
having computers could make a world of difference to their future - but for 
the worlds poorest people I'm still not sure how great an effect the scheme 
can have.

Hazel

On Friday 18 January 2008, Gary Short wrote:
> -------- Original Message --------
>
> > From: Lee Hughes <toxicnaan at yahoo.co.uk>
> > Sent: 18 January 2008 00:29
> > To: Tayside Linux User Group <dundee at mailman.lug.org.uk>
> > Subject: [dundee] OLPC BBC report
> >
> > It's basicly says, well that the intel one is being more favour by
> > govements?
> >
> > I wonder why that is?
>
> Could it be because it is backed by a billion dollar corporation and not by
> some charity that could disappear overnight if the donations dry up?
>
> > right, lets get coding some apps for the OLPC platform, maybe that's
> > where the difference will lie
>
> Good idea, let's go! Oh wait... the OLPC is hand cranked 'cos the owner may
> not have electricity in their hut; its peer to peer network capable as
> there wont be any internet/network connectivity. I'm not sure what software
> I could write that could move their lives forward, do you? Does anyone? You
> see, this is what I have against the OLPC idea; I believe there are more
> important things the money could be spent on that really would make a
> difference to these people's lives. Corporate America do you want to help
> the African poor? Good! How about you drop the trade barriers then and make
> a real difference. OLPC is just re-arranging the deck chairs on the
> Titanic.
>



> Just my tuppence worth :-)