Sky’s Blog

Wayne Hodgins has posted a good “current news” article that points to a number of other online comments on the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative (the $100 computer). Wayne refers to Jeremy Allison’s article “A laptop to change the world” and Wayne quotes Jeremy’s final statement from the article “If it succeeds, I think it will change the world in ways we currently can’t envisage.” The second I start thinking about that I recognize that the Sugar interface that’s being built for the laptop which tag-lined this way – “Sugar is the core of the OLPC Human Interface. Its goal is to turn the Laptop into a fun, easy to use, social experience that promotes sharing and learning.” is what might accomplish this.

And I’m going to emphasize those words “sharing” and “social” – I think that’s where the laptop will have its greatest effect (that is IF they really can keep these computers networked). Computers and networks are for communication as much as they’re for computing. Actually FAR MORE for communication than for computing. (When was the last time you executed a good floating-point operation on your computer? In fact, do you know what a floating-point operation is?) Nope, you use your computer for communication far more than you do for computing.

Keep your eye on Sugar.

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My friends are all over the map in terms of their opinions of the “$100 laptop” computer by the One Laptop Per Child [OLPC] project. They range from those who think it’s a total scam and rip-off (no link – anonymous for now) to those who are actively seeking to produce software for the computer.

But I was pointed at a really good “review” article today entitled The Laptop Crusade – Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 laptop is a sweet piece of engineering. But can it really change the world? By Tekla S. Perry in IEEE Spectrum online. It’s worth reading. [The picture at the left is the Sugar interface that kids will use to operate the computer and discover their communities.]

You may already know that my opinion is that the OLPC computer:

• Will actually work, and will be useful as a communications platform;
• Be somewhat “fragile” in the field, and difficult to keep operating;
• Cost more than $200 because nobody’s counting the cost of shipping, deploying and making it operational in the field.

All in all, I am positive about its potential and think that it’s worth tracking as the story unfolds.

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Y’all know by now about the “$100 computer” for nations where personal computers aren’t broadly affordable. Here’s a C|Net wrap on a number of other computers (most are proposals) designed to address this affordability gap.

(continue reading…)

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