[LINK] OLPC laptop

[Stephen Loosley]

At 03:59 PM 17/01/2007, Brenda writes:

> Ivan writes:
>
>> Has anyone actually worked out *who* the OLPC is actually aimed
>> at being delivered to? We are all making gross generalisations here,
>> in that we assume that only the very poor would be issued with the devices.

Quite right, Ivan. <quote>  OLPC chief technology officer Mary Lou Jepsen said the group, which is already fielding requests from some US states, was interested in working with Australian governments.  "We plan to roll out over time globally, and we'd like to extend to all countries," she said. "We don't want to ignore anybody." Dr Jepsen said Australian governments could agree to sponsor laptop purchases in developing countries in addition to buying machines for their own students.  "What's happening in some countries like Finland is that they're sponsoring kids in Namibia," she said .. "I have already started working on a $US50 laptop," said Dr Jepsen. </ quote>

> I recall in the very earliest days that the idea was to sell in lots of  $million to governments.  I would have thought then that each purchaser
> would have an intended audience in mind for their million dollar investment.  Presumably its a classroom/education program rather than a
> mum and dad at home investment. cheers brenda

Yes, that's the way it looks, Brenda. <quote> The One Laptop Per Child project - which is shipping hand-cranked laptops to Brazil, Argentina, Libya, Nigeria and Thailand - has sparked the interest of the NT Education Department, which will begin testing the machines when schools recommence later this month.  The machines are designed for use in remote areas .. The downside for Australian education departments - which have invested heavily in traditional branded laptops - is that the OLPC machines run the free Linux operating system, which is not compatible with Microsoft Windows. </ quote>

On the Oz-teacher list, NT teacher Marty, references News Corp, who are backing the scheme : http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21048174%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

Cheers all ..
Stephen Loosley
Melbourne, Australia


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