Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :)
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d... The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own. OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices—which will be stocked with electronic books—will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project’s roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning. The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child. Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-get-1-some-day-probably.ars>and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal friction<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds-over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars>, ideological conflicts<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olpc-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars>, and poor management<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-leadership.ars>. OLPC was forced to downsize half its staff<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sponsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars>and discontinue its software platform<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-staff-cuts-sugar-development.ars>in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor. After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets-into-the-tablet-game.ars>with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell’s off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups. The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It’s not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price. Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a PC Magazine report<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG>, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, *The Gods Must Be Crazy*, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane. “We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read,” Negroponte told The Register<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/>. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL>experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy. Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it’s not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte. The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial backing<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-marvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars>. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.
Holy guacamole. More money than sense. On 7 November 2011 17:51, Agosta Liko <agostal@gmail.com> wrote:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d...
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own.
OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices—which will be stocked with electronic books—will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project’s roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning.
The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child.
Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-get-1-some-day-probably.ars>and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal friction<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds-over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars>, ideological conflicts<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olpc-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars>, and poor management<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-leadership.ars>. OLPC was forced to downsize half its staff<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sponsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars>and discontinue its software platform<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-staff-cuts-sugar-development.ars>in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor.
After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets-into-the-tablet-game.ars>with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell’s off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups.
The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It’s not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price.
Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a PC Magazine report<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG>, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, *The Gods Must Be Crazy*, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane.
“We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read,” Negroponte told The Register<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/>. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL>experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy.
Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it’s not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte.
The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial backing<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-marvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars>. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/andrea.bohnstedt%40rati...
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt> Publisher +254 720 960 322 www.ratio-magazine.com Find/post East Africa careers<http://www.ratio-magazine.com/careers/index.php> Find/post conferences, workshops, trainings, other business events<http://www.ratio-magazine.com/businessevents/index.php>
What will stop enterprising businessmen from collecting all these laptops and driving to city centre to sell them? On Monday, November 7, 2011, Agosta Liko <agostal@gmail.com> wrote:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d...
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for
deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own.
OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable
devices—which will be stocked with electronic books—will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project’s roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning.
The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost
education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child.
Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far
short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal friction, ideological conflicts, and poor management. OLPC was forced to downsize half its staff and discontinue its software platform in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor.
After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen
laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell’s off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups.
The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based
on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It’s not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price.
Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit
event in San Francisco. According to a PC Magazine report, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane.
“We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that
have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read,” Negroponte told The Register. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy.
Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully
overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it’s not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte.
The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority
of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial backing. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.
Rad! You have just spilled my gameplan ... :) This article reads like one from theOnion On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 6:28 PM, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
What will stop enterprising businessmen from collecting all these laptops and driving to city centre to sell them?
On Monday, November 7, 2011, Agosta Liko <agostal@gmail.com> wrote:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d...
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for
deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own.
OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable
devices—which will be stocked with electronic books—will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project’s roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning.
The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost
education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child.
Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far
short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal friction, ideological conflicts, and poor management. OLPC was forced to downsize half its staff and discontinue its software platform in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor.
After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a
dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell’s off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups.
The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based
on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It’s not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price.
Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit
event in San Francisco. According to a PC Magazine report, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane.
“We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that
have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read,” Negroponte told The Register. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy.
Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully
overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it’s not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte.
The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a
majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial backing. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.
Hey Agosta, Some of the airdropped tablets could easily go badly astray and find their way into swamps, rivers, bushes, ravines etc. In this case the locals need to be mobilized well in advance to position themselves strategically, and also launch a massive man-hunt. Just also wondering if they would survive the crash-landing from that height. Finally, while the motivation/intention is really noble and we should all support it, I believe what Negroponte and his organization need is a genuine partner on the ground that they can work with to realize this dream. Have they ever visited Kenya.? Harry From: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Agosta Liko Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 5:52 PM To: harry@comtelsys.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :) http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d rop-tablets-from-helicopters-to-isolated-villages.ars The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own. OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices-which will be stocked with electronic books-will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project's roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning. The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child. Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-ge t-1-some-day-probably.ars> and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds- over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars> friction, ideological <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olp c-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars> conflicts, and poor <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-lea dership.ars> management. OLPC was forced to downsize <http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sp onsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars> half its staff and discontinue <http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-sta ff-cuts-sugar-development.ars> its software platform in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor. After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership <http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets -into-the-tablet-game.ars> with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell's off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups. The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It's not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price. Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG> PC Magazine report, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane. "We'll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read," Negroponte told <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/> The Register. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra's Hole in the Wall <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL> experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy. Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it's not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte. The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial <http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-m arvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars> backing. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.
Typical ignorance. They assume Africa is one large continent where all the adults have been killed off by HIV and the remaining populace is full of ravenous pot-bellied babies who will hungrily chase after the magical toys that will forever change their lives. This is where common sense seems to have taken flight, if people can get guns/ammunication etc into Somalia, Congo, Burundi etc, it can't be that hard to get a laptop into Nairobi... On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 10:10 AM, Harry Delano <harry@comtelsys.co.ke> wrote:
Hey Agosta,****
** **
Some of the airdropped tablets could easily go badly astray and find their way into swamps, rivers, bushes, ravines etc. In this ****
case the locals need to be mobilized well in advance to position themselves strategically, and also launch a massive man-hunt. ****
Just also wondering if they would survive the crash-landing from that height.****
** **
Finally, while the motivation/intention is really noble and we should all support it, I believe what Negroponte and his organization ****
need is a genuine partner on the ground that they can work with to realize this dream. Have they ever visited Kenya…?****
** **
Harry****
** **
*From:* kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke[mailto: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Agosta Liko *Sent:* Monday, November 07, 2011 5:52 PM *To:* harry@comtelsys.co.ke *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions *Subject:* [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :)****
** **
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d... ****
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own.****
OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices—which will be stocked with electronic books—will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project’s roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning.****
The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child.****
Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-get-1-some-day-probably.ars>and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal friction<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds-over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars>, ideological conflicts<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olpc-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars>, and poor management<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-leadership.ars>. OLPC was forced to downsize half its staff<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sponsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars>and discontinue its software platform<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-staff-cuts-sugar-development.ars>in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor.****
After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets-into-the-tablet-game.ars>with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell’s off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups.****
The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It’s not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price.****
Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a PC Magazine report<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG>, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, *The Gods Must Be Crazy*, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane.****
“We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read,” Negroponte told The Register<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/>. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL>experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy.****
Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it’s not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte.****
The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial backing<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-marvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars>. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.****
** **
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pkariuki%40gmail.com
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Warm Regards, Phares Kaboro Kariuki
Hey all, Don't we want these tablets? Whether they are meant to rain from the skies, or wash up on the shores of Mombasa, I believe we can persuade Mr. Negroponte to start with us. Who can make contact, Agosta..? Harry From: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Agosta Liko Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 5:52 PM To: harry@comtelsys.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :) http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d rop-tablets-from-helicopters-to-isolated-villages.ars The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own. OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices-which will be stocked with electronic books-will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project's roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning. The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child. Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-ge t-1-some-day-probably.ars> and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds- over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars> friction, ideological <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olp c-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars> conflicts, and poor <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-lea dership.ars> management. OLPC was forced to downsize <http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sp onsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars> half its staff and discontinue <http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-sta ff-cuts-sugar-development.ars> its software platform in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor. After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership <http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets -into-the-tablet-game.ars> with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell's off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups. The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It's not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price. Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG> PC Magazine report, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane. "We'll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read," Negroponte told <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/> The Register. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra's Hole in the Wall <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL> experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy. Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it's not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte. The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial <http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-m arvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars> backing. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.
I have been/am looking for Mr. Negroponte's email address. Anyone who can hook me up.? I will update, if and when tablets start raining down in the skies of Ebusiekwe. Harry From: Harry Delano [mailto:harry@comtelsys.co.ke] Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 11:02 AM To: 'Agosta Liko' Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions' Subject: RE: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :) Hey all, Don't we want these tablets? Whether they are meant to rain from the skies, or wash up on the shores of Mombasa, I believe we can persuade Mr. Negroponte to start with us. Who can make contact, Agosta..? Harry From: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Agosta Liko Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 5:52 PM To: harry@comtelsys.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :) http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d rop-tablets-from-helicopters-to-isolated-villages.ars The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own. OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices-which will be stocked with electronic books-will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project's roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning. The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child. Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-ge t-1-some-day-probably.ars> and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds- over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars> friction, ideological <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olp c-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars> conflicts, and poor <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-lea dership.ars> management. OLPC was forced to downsize <http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sp onsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars> half its staff and discontinue <http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-sta ff-cuts-sugar-development.ars> its software platform in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor. After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership <http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets -into-the-tablet-game.ars> with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell's off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups. The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It's not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price. Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG> PC Magazine report, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane. "We'll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read," Negroponte told <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/> The Register. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra's Hole in the Wall <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL> experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy. Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it's not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte. The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial <http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-m arvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars> backing. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.
When you get his address - I'd also like to give coordinates of where such weapons of mass instruction can be rained down...I think as as social experiment this could be intriguing and worth watching...(if anyone can picture the opening scenes of 2001 A space odyssey)... On 10 November 2011 10:07, Harry Delano <harry@comtelsys.co.ke> wrote:
** **
I have been/am looking for Mr. Negroponte’s email address. Anyone who can hook me up…? I will update, if and when tablets****
start raining down in the skies of Ebusiekwe…****
** **
Harry****
** **
*From:* Harry Delano [mailto:harry@comtelsys.co.ke] *Sent:* Wednesday, November 09, 2011 11:02 AM *To:* 'Agosta Liko'
*Cc:* 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions' *Subject:* RE: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :)****
** **
Hey all,****
** **
Don’t we want these tablets? Whether they are meant to rain from the skies, or wash up on the shores of****
Mombasa, I believe we can persuade Mr. Negroponte to start with us. Who can make contact, Agosta..?****
** **
Harry****
** **
*From:* kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke[mailto: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Agosta Liko *Sent:* Monday, November 07, 2011 5:52 PM *To:* harry@comtelsys.co.ke *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions *Subject:* [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :)****
** **
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d... ****
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own.****
OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices—which will be stocked with electronic books—will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project’s roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning.****
The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child.****
Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-get-1-some-day-probably.ars>and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal friction<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds-over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars>, ideological conflicts<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olpc-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars>, and poor management<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-leadership.ars>. OLPC was forced to downsize half its staff<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sponsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars>and discontinue its software platform<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-staff-cuts-sugar-development.ars>in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor.****
After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets-into-the-tablet-game.ars>with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell’s off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups.****
The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It’s not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price.****
Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a PC Magazine report<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG>, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, *The Gods Must Be Crazy*, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane.****
“We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read,” Negroponte told The Register<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/>. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL>experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy.****
Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it’s not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte.****
The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial backing<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-marvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars>. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.****
** **
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/francis.hook%40gmail.co...
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Francis Hook +254 733 504561
Sir Francis Hook, I understand from OLPC, that a project is underway in Kenya. Been directed to one in Watamu, Kibwezi, Bura and Pokot. Access this link to see some photo ops from the project http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Kenya. Am trying to touch base to get further details. Will definitely update those interested. For instance, you might be curious to know when to expect the squadron of choppers that are supposed to make a round trip of the country as they parachute the tablets. And so I suppose we will get to hear shortly of the dates and times and locations( gps co-ordinates, as you said). In the meantime, stay tuned.. Harry From: Francis Hook [mailto:francis.hook@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 11:29 AM To: harry@comtelsys.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :) When you get his address - I'd also like to give coordinates of where such weapons of mass instruction can be rained down...I think as as social experiment this could be intriguing and worth watching...(if anyone can picture the opening scenes of 2001 A space odyssey)... On 10 November 2011 10:07, Harry Delano <harry@comtelsys.co.ke> wrote: I have been/am looking for Mr. Negroponte's email address. Anyone who can hook me up.? I will update, if and when tablets start raining down in the skies of Ebusiekwe. Harry From: Harry Delano [mailto:harry@comtelsys.co.ke] Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 11:02 AM To: 'Agosta Liko' Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions' Subject: RE: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :) Hey all, Don't we want these tablets? Whether they are meant to rain from the skies, or wash up on the shores of Mombasa, I believe we can persuade Mr. Negroponte to start with us. Who can make contact, Agosta..? Harry From: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry <mailto:kictanet-bounces%2Bharry> =comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Agosta Liko Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 5:52 PM To: harry@comtelsys.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :) http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d rop-tablets-from-helicopters-to-isolated-villages.ars The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own. OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices-which will be stocked with electronic books-will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project's roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning. The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child. Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-ge t-1-some-day-probably.ars> and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal friction <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds- over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars> , ideological conflicts <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olp c-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars> , and poor management <http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-lea dership.ars> . OLPC was forced to downsize half its staff <http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sp onsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars> and discontinue its software platform <http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-sta ff-cuts-sugar-development.ars> in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor. After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership <http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets -into-the-tablet-game.ars> with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell's off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups. The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It's not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price. Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a PC Magazine report <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG> , he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane. "We'll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read," Negroponte told The Register <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/> . He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra's Hole <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL> in the Wall experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy. Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it's not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte. The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial backing <http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-m arvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars> . Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/francis.hook%40gmail.co m The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. -- Francis Hook +254 733 504561
Weird. I agree with the more money than sense comment. I mean, why not give one person in targeted villages 10 laptops, and distribute them to children, or something? I do not get the dropping them from planes concept. Rigia On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 9:27 PM, Harry Delano <harry@comtelsys.co.ke> wrote:
Sir Francis Hook,****
** **
I understand from OLPC, that a project is underway in Kenya. Been directed to one in Watamu, Kibwezi, Bura and Pokot…****
** **
Access this link to see some photo ops from the project http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Kenya. Am trying to touch base****
to get further details. Will definitely update those interested. For instance, you might be curious to know when to expect****
the squadron of choppers that are supposed to make a round trip of the country as they parachute the tablets. And so I ****
suppose we will get to hear shortly of the dates and times and locations( gps co-ordinates, as you said)… In the meantime,****
stay tuned..****
** **
Harry ****
** **
** **
*From:* Francis Hook [mailto:francis.hook@gmail.com] *Sent:* Thursday, November 10, 2011 11:29 AM
*To:* harry@comtelsys.co.ke *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :)****
** **
When you get his address - I'd also like to give coordinates of where such weapons of mass instruction can be rained down...I think as as social experiment this could be intriguing and worth watching...(if anyone can picture the opening scenes of 2001 A space odyssey)...****
** **
On 10 November 2011 10:07, Harry Delano <harry@comtelsys.co.ke> wrote:****
****
I have been/am looking for Mr. Negroponte’s email address. Anyone who can hook me up…? I will update, if and when tablets****
start raining down in the skies of Ebusiekwe…****
****
Harry****
****
*From:* Harry Delano [mailto:harry@comtelsys.co.ke] *Sent:* Wednesday, November 09, 2011 11:02 AM *To:* 'Agosta Liko'****
*Cc:* 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'****
*Subject:* RE: [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :)****
****
Hey all,****
****
Don’t we want these tablets? Whether they are meant to rain from the skies, or wash up on the shores of****
Mombasa, I believe we can persuade Mr. Negroponte to start with us. Who can make contact, Agosta..?****
****
Harry****
****
*From:* kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke[mailto: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Agosta Liko *Sent:* Monday, November 07, 2011 5:52 PM *To:* harry@comtelsys.co.ke *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions *Subject:* [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The laptops are coming :)****
****
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-d... ****
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute, support, and use on their own.****
OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable devices—which will be stocked with electronic books—will empower children to learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme reflects the OLPC project’s roots in constructivist education theory, which emphasizes self-directed learning.****
The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that governments would be able to supply one to every child.****
Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years. In addition to fundamental logistical<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-get-1-some-day-probably.ars>and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from internal friction<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds-over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars>, ideological conflicts<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olpc-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars>, and poor management<http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-leadership.ars>. OLPC was forced to downsize half its staff<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sponsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars>and discontinue its software platform<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-staff-cuts-sugar-development.ars>in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor.****
After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it announced a partnership<http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets-into-the-tablet-game.ars>with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt Marvell’s off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups.****
The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to electricity. It’s not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully meet its target $75 production price.****
Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit event in San Francisco. According to a PC Magazine report<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG>, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, *The Gods Must Be Crazy*, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an airplane.****
“We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can read,” Negroponte told The Register<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/>. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra’s Hole in the Wall<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL>experiment as the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed literacy.****
Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it’s not hard to see why the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte.****
The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some financial backing<http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-marvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars>. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.****
****
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/francis.hook%40gmail.co...
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.****
****
** **
-- Francis Hook +254 733 504561
****
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/warigia%40gmail.com
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 1:20 PM, warigia bowman <warigia@aucegypt.edu>wrote:
Weird. I agree with the more money than sense comment.
I mean, why not give one person in targeted villages 10 laptops, and distribute them to children, or something? I do not get the dropping them from planes concept.
People, I seriously doubt they will actually "drop" them from planes. That seems to be hyperbole. I think the idea is that a helicopter 'airlift' can bring the gear to remote areas, thus bypassing centralised governmental distribution which some have claimed has hampered the OLPC project. -- Cheers, McTim "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there." Jon Postel
participants (8)
-
Agosta Liko -
Andrea Bohnstedt -
Francis Hook -
Harry Delano -
McTim -
Phares Kariuki -
Rad! -
warigia bowman