$100 Laptop Gets Redesigned

Comments

• Windows -- optional, right? MakeSense on 05/21/2008 at 8:56 AM

  Posts: 77 Avg Rating:

  Why does every granny conversation about the optional Windows OS have to be included in an article? If it's optional, some will opt to not have it because it costs more. Done. Here's an interesting comment: "Proprietary software is under the power of its developer, and it puts the user under the power of the developer. This is like handing out samples of an addictive drug--not something that schools ought to do." Aren't most people who say such things ranting on street corners that the end is nigh? I can't even make sense of that jibberish. Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: Windows -- optional, right? johnalphonse on 05/21/2008 at 9:34 AM
    Posts: 78 Avg Rating:	Gibberish?  Can you just say "monopoly"? Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Wifi? SVE on 05/21/2008 at 10:59 AM
  Posts: 44 Avg Rating:	Does the new model still run the same software & allow local area networking or is it just an e-book reader? Rate this comment: (Reply)

• sweet dmm on 05/21/2008 at 11:54 AM

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  I love the dual-touchscreen concept.  It will allow so many new applications.  And if they can actually deliver that kind of power usage at that price...wow!  Plus, this web site regularly has articles describing noticeable advances in electricity storage -- either batteries or capacitors -- so a student might use this laptop all week on one charge.  Then you don't need to have a generator in each laptop. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Star Trek II touch displays / keyboards nekote on 05/21/2008 at 1:05 PM
  Posts: 120 Avg Rating:	A display that is a keyboard. A keyboard that is really a display. So much like the wall and desk / countertop versions seen in Star Trek the 2'nd Generation! So cool. Looks like each half will simply be a mirror of the other. Gonna' be a lotta' fun, ganging numbers of the basic unit into bigger widgets! Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	this is spectacular! mdjosephkim on 05/21/2008 at 10:38 PM
  Posts: 2 Avg Rating:	It's so great to see such advances coming out of MIT. Can't wait to see how this impacts the lives of children living in developing nations. Bravo! Rate this comment: (Reply)

• Not so good for typing but does that matter? bkf11 on 05/22/2008 at 2:11 AM

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  The first thing I thought when I saw this was that it would be hopeless for typing. I'm sure that will be the case and I hope they consider shipping them with external keyboards for older kids. Having said that & thought about it for a minute and I thought "how much typing will a primary school student really do?". Probably not much. They don't write big assignments or big emails. So it may well be that the dual screen concept is more useful than a screen + keyboard. It's hard to know without trying it for yourself. Certainly the 'book' form factor would be great for reading, well, books - which is one of the big reasons for the OLPC computers. Smaller is also better. Definitely cool Benjamin Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	2 touch screens? Tysto on 05/22/2008 at 3:04 AM
  Posts: 16 Avg Rating:	The OLPC is not a place for bleeding edge technology. If dual touch screens are a good idea, let it be pioneered by a high-end machine, proven to work and be of value, and then mass-produced to lower the cost. What next? A built-in video projector? Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: 2 touch screens? leonbloom on 05/27/2008 at 1:06 PM
    Posts: 1	This is hardly high edge technology. Litton Data Systems delivered hand held units with touch screens that put up a keyboard when required, before 1970. Leon Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Ironic hachi on 05/24/2008 at 1:09 AM
  Posts: 25 Avg Rating:	Ironic really, that this children from relatively third world countries will have better access to books and technology than those in my own country (New Zealand) have. Where are the first world governments buying it up? It makes it cheaper, and easier for everyone. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• $100 Laptop in Peru. rasummers on 05/26/2008 at 1:48 PM

  Posts: 1

  What a great opportunity for Peru and Peruvian children!! Congratulations to the Ministry of Education for it's far sighted planning. I visited my son and family in Lima this past February/March and became aware of the problems of the local public school system.  My granddaughter has been attending a good private school in Lima - an option not available to poor families. Let's hope the laptop project really takes off and succeeds. (My son has been working with a micro-capital organization and my daughter-in-law has been teaching advanced English to Peruvian lawyers.) Bob Summers,Sc.D.,'54 (AA-XVI) Rate this comment: (Reply)

• Not worried anymore imcampos on 05/29/2008 at 10:43 AM

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  Again, no mention of any relevant pedagogical experiment in the horizon involving these devices, reinforcing the perception that this whole endeavor is mostly focused on technology and new gadgets, as opposed to really improving  education. So far, people are being asked to believe (i.e., have faith) in the project's claims, without being given any empirical evidence. And that comes from MIT, where one would expect the scientific discipline of argument to be second nature. Never mind, now that Microsoft is on board, the journey ahead  is easily predictable, for the next release (there will always be) of OLPC Windows will require more powerful processors to support it, and everyone will have to replace the old ones "to keep up with  the new, wondeful technological developments". Government officials on tight budgets (actually, all Windows users) have been experiencing this cyclical phenomenon with ordinary PCs, and many have migrated to Linux as an obvious alternative. They now have a new, even stronger reason to be cautious about the (so far untested)  educational claims of the OLPC project, and this is really all I would ask of them. Rate this comment: (Reply)