At least for African children in general, and Nigerian children in particular.
The $100, now $150 laptop per child idea just will not go away!
(I wonder what the cost would be when it is finally released.)
On the one hand, you have all these do-gooder types with their notions of educating the horde – their words, not mine – of poor children worldwide.
A worthwhile vision, but totally bereft of common sense.
Why not further condemn the kids to even more mediocrity? And marginalization.
How?
By the use of an operating system used by only an estimated 5-8% of the world’s computing population, that’s how!
While it is nice and welcome to see Negroponte schneider those dictators/tyrants/despots who run the countries where these poor kids live into thinking it (the $100 $150 wanker laptop) is a good idea, in what way does it benefit the already disadvantaged souls?
When they get into the workforce, what OS will they be conversant with?
But, hey, everyone in the First World thinks it is a “Good Thing”.
Right!
NO, IT IS NOT!!!
The Microsoft proposal, centering on communications, is a much better idea despite the fact that it isn’t getting much traction right now.
Communications, and access to the vast collection of knowledge on the Internet is the key to freeing these people from their current problems of poverty invariably brought on by their indifferent and cruel governing regimes.
The dictators love this idiotic idea, since it makes them seem concerned about the educational deficiencies of their juvenile populace.
Nigeria, population 150 million or so, will purchase 1 million OLPCs. I’m guessing the population there in Nigeria is in decline or something as the number being purchased is so low as to render the program for Nigerian kids completely and utterly useless. For goodness sakes, if the ratio of school-age kids to adults is even 33%, won’t they need about about 50 million units?
However, with these ivory tower dwellers always screaming the number 1 million units for Nigeria or mentioning the number of millions being ordered by countries, it seems to give legitimacy to this incredibly stupid idea.
However, when we leave their reality-distortion field, we realize that the numbers are a hoax; an elaborate deception engineered to trick current supporters into thinking that the idea is being fast-tracked globally, and also a ruse aimed at converting fence-straddlers on this hare-brained idea.
BTW, it might also be a good idea to ask/compel those corrupt banking nations, of which the most corrupt, both in banking, and indeed, the world, is Switzerland (where else do all dictators stash their loot?) to stop cooperating with those dictators, and give their ill-gotten gains to educational programs focusing on each dictator’s country.