

   The Unintended Consequences of OLPC - nickb
http://gigaom.com/2007/11/26/cloud-client-computers/

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rms
Hopefully the superior screen technology of the OLPC will start trickling down
to other consumer devices. The specs on the black and white OLPC screen are
better than the kindle.

~~~
tlrobinson
Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, the OLPC XO is a far better device than the
Kindle.

Sure it doesn't have "free" EV-DO for buying ebooks from Amazon, but it runs
Linux so you can use _any_ ebook format you want (without paying Amazon). Plus
full web browsing and other (basic) desktop apps that you would expect from a
low end laptop.

...For the same price as a Kindle ( _including_ a donation of a laptop to a
child in a developing nation)

~~~
mynameishere
_For the same price as a Kindle_

I have the sudden urge to put things into perspective:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64> _each C64 had an estimated
production cost of only $135_

I just have a really hard time being impressed by any of this. Maybe I'm too
cynical, but it seems like they're aiming too low.

~~~
mechanical_fish
In case you're curious, the Inflation Calculator [1] reports that $135 in 1982
dollars is $289 in 2006 dollars.

That's the C64 _production_ cost, not a retail price. The MSRP of the
Commodore 64 was $595 in 1982 ($1272.61 in 2006 dollars).

[1] <http://www.westegg.com/inflation/>

~~~
mynameishere
By the way, everyone, I'm quite aware of how inflation works. The point is:
The C64 was roughly as good as any home computer of the day. The OLPC is
bottom of the heap, and I can pick up a used computer for 20 dollars that
would shred it.

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qaexl
PJ@Groklaw: "The Classmate looks to me to be just another laptop, only smaller
and cheesier looking, with a too small screen (it has a resizing feature, so
you can cram a normal amount of a page on it, which I'm guessing people leave
on all the time) and nothing a child would particularly enjoy by my reckoning,
other than the fact that any laptop is better than none, except the digital
pen, which is an optional addon, and I'm guessing those pens disappear or get
lost in no time. And indeed Intel doesn't market Classmate as something kids
will love. They market it as a laptop teachers and parents will find
reassuring, because it gives them the illusion of control. Now _that's_
significant. I just learned something about marketing. It's about dreams, not
about reality."

That was what bothered me about the criticisms of lack of teacher training for
the XO. It was not meant to be used by the teachers.

<http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071125113058548>
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=84054>

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jgrahamc
What's the deal with the second chart showing the search term 'Classmates' vs
a bunch of computer related terms. Surely nothing can be determined from that
chart given that classmate means something to non-nerds.

