XO: SO-SO future

-
XO Laptop

When I first learned of the One Laptop Per Child program 2 or 3 years ago, I was very, very skeptical. A $100 laptop for kids in developing nations? Meh. Don't children in developing nations have more important needs?

But on second thought, there already were many organizations addressing those needs. Perhaps it is a good thing one group tries a different tack.  So in November 2007, I signed up for the OLPC Give-One Get-One program.  That I could explore a new piece of hardware running Linux appealed to the geek in me.  That my then 7 year old son would benefit from the XO appealed to the father in me.  And that an XO  would be donated to a child in a developing nation appealed to the "do a good deed" in me.

But after winning me over, the future of the XO laptop seems cloudy. With several departures of key OLPC employees and the replacement of Linux with Windows XP, it appears that OLPC has lost its way.  It's not that the  children care whether their laptop runs Linux or XP; unlike grownups, their minds are remarkably flexible.  No, my concern is that XP, with its attendant viruses, patch Tuesdays, and increased hardware requirements over Linux, would prove to be a frustrating experience. 

The XO hardware was thoughtfully built for children in developing nations  -- durable screen, water resistant keyboard, mesh networking, low power consumption.  That same emphasis on children must be kept in mind regarding the software.


Comments

DNS said…
NICE blog
good to hear from you!
GOOD THINKING
1:21 AM
Michael Yam said…
Hi Denise!

Thanks for visiting my blog.

As for the XO, all is not lost... not yet anyway. There are stirrings on http://www.olpcnews.com/, but it's all talk right now. Time will tell.
10:43 PM
Johnny Blackburn said…
The XO laptop is designed to with stand extreme temperatures nonetheless, so computing on a hotsummer day outside is no problem for theXO laptop, though it would easily cause new latest laptops aconventional laptop to overheat.
2:34 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bookshelf: UNIX A History and a Memoir

-
Image
  A man page will give you, in black and white, specific information about UNIX. Brian Kernighan's new book adds color and depth about UNIX you won't find anywhere else. I'm not a gray beard (yet), but I imagine they would plow through the book knowingly, but at the same time, learn a few things. Those new to UNIX -- recent college grads or those experimenting with Raspberry Pi -- would be better off starting with Chapter 8 which describes more relatable events and the descendants of UNIX, including Minux and Linux. It's when they start to ask questions like "Where does UNIX come from?" and "Why is Gamora grep?" that they should start from the beginning: Bell Labs, 1969. Kernighan opens with a birds-eye-view of Murray Hill New Jersey, zooms in on the buildings, the offices, the significance of Center 1127, and offers a brief look at some of the key players there. As I progressed through the book, the two factors that made UNIX not just possible, bu
Read more

Bookshelf Classic: The C Programming Language

-
Image
My first job had me programming in Microsoft BASIC for the IBM PC (DOS).  BASIC worked well enough, but its limitations were clear.  The language was interpreted and therefore slow.  More importantly, it wasn't a modern structured language, and instead, relied on line numbers and the GOTO statement.  Anyone who has read Dijkstra knew  GOTO was a bad thing . Having learned a structured language in college ( PL/I ), using BASIC felt unnatural.  When a C compiler became available for the PC, I saw a chance to improve and modernize our software.  The problem was selling the idea -- a problem made harder because I wasn't fluent in C. "It would be a staffing problem.  Not many people know C, but we can find a lot of programmers who know BASIC," noted one manager. The argument was strong as my knowledge of C was weak.  But I knew that C, by design, was a small language and thus easy to learn.  "It has about 30 keywords," I proffered to another manager. U
Read more

Connections

-
Image
Opening a drawer in my hotel room in Toronto, I found this.  I worship at the altar of tech, but I imagine the reaction between two priests might go like this: Mormon Priest:  "At least we're wireless!" Catholic Priest: "And from the very beginning too!"
Read more