Comments on: One Laptop Per Child

By: J1

J1 — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:02:14 +0000

I think they’re pretty spiff. I just hope they can get out to everyone. I’ve heard that charity groups are strangely resistant to the idea.

As for the repair issue, if there are enough of these laptops near the one that’s broken, then the users could at least get to documentation on how to fix things.

By: Donna

Donna — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:42:58 +0000

It’ll happen. But they’re designed to start from to be as rugged as possible, to minimize that as much as possible.

Besides, they don’t run Windows, so that should cut down on the tech support tenfold… ;)

By: `jen

`jen — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:41:04 +0000

hmm… and what happens when the laptop needs to be fixed?

i mean, my mom in Saskatchewan doesn’t even have access to decent tech support. and i’ve seen microscopes in medical clinics in Zambia worth several zillions of dollars (and a big “DONATED BY THE US GOVERNMENT” sticker slapped on the side) that sit unused because some thinga-ma-jigger broke and no one fixed it.

just a dash of pessimism. sorry. ; ))

By: rebecca carpenter

rebecca carpenter — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:28:31 +0000

Hi Donna,

Thanks for your post about the new XO laptop from the OLPC campaign. We at Razoo really support this kind of creative solution, so much so that we’re including it in our “Good Travels” contest.

The “Good Travels” contest encourages travelers to do good while one the road. As part of the contest, five 2nd prize winners will receive the new XO laptop (and 5 laptops will be donated to children in developing nations).

(By the way, the grand prize of the contest is a trip for two anywhere in the world to put good into action, via ResponsibleTravel.com.)

You can learn more about it and enter here: http://beta.razoo.com/good_travels

Cheers,
rebecca

Razoo. Come Together, Change Your World.
http://blog.razoo.com

By: Donna

Donna — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:48:04 +0000

I’m seriously considering getting one for my sister. :) Her birthday is two weeks before Christmas… seems like a reasonable gift. :)

Check out the wiki, too. You can download the software they’re using and emulate it locally, even if you can’t play with the hardware yourself.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:45:08 +0000

We’re thinking of doing the give one/get one as our Christmas present. Jeremy is really into the program and also really wants to check out the technology himself. We need to ask if we can send ours back to them once we’ve goofed around with it a bit, I don’t think it would be particularly useful for us here.