BBC Writer Blasts Dvorak and all Critics of “Holy” OLPC Program

Published on December 11th, 2007

Posted by John C Dvorak in Column fodder

Thompson accuses me of being “patronizing.” Huh? How?

BBC NEWS | Technology | Give me rice, but give me a laptop too

To make things worse Intel and Microsoft seem to have done everything they could to undermine the project, offering cut-price hardware and discount operating systems in an attempt to keep this remarkable machine, with its Linux operating system and AMD processor, at bay.

Now US journalist John Dvorak has weighed into the debate, dismissing the laptop as a ‘little green computer’ that changes nothing, and arguing that sending food aid to Africa is a better way to solve the continent’s problems.

Dvorak is so wrong that it pains me.

He misrepresents both the laptop’s capabilities and the plans for how it will be used.

‘Demeans people’

He ignores the educational uses and its sophisticated mesh network and acts as if the sole purpose is to get online, asking what benefit the “spam-ridden Information Super Ad-way laced with Nigerian scams, hoaxes, porn, blogs, wikis, spam, urban folklore, misinformation” has to offer.

And he demeans the people who will receive the computers, asking his readers if they will feel “better about the world’s problems, knowing that some poor tribesman’s child has a laptop”, apparently contrasting a “tribesman” with a real person like himself, safe in his Western affluence.

Yeah, that’s compelling logic. Take a cheap shot at me with a politically correct barb. Oh! Ouch!

No matter. I stand firm with my opinion.

You can read it here, if you have not already. I expected a few off-the-wall apologists for the project to take a few runs at me. Nobody likes a critic.

66 users responded in " BBC Writer Blasts Dvorak and all Critics of “Holy” OLPC Program "

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# 1 James said, on December 11th, 2007 at 5:24 pm

I agree with Thompson that your piece could be less condescending, but the underling points are perfectly sound. How anyone can argue that a $200 laptop is more benefical than about 100 other things for most scenarios is completely certifiable.

# 2 Esteban said, on December 11th, 2007 at 5:48 pm

Like many supporters of the OLPC, Thompson naively idealistic. Besides spending half his column bashing Dvorak, Thompson talks mostly about all the good intentions behind the program, without addressing any of the real criticisms.

For example, Thompson addresses the problems of theft, reliability, and corruption in one sentence. He says, “some will be stolen, some will break, some will not get to the people who need them. But that is not a reason to stop.”

Why is that not reason to stop? What safeguards are in place? Tell me please, Mr. Thompson, what are you doing to address these problems?

Alas, Bill Thompson makes no such arguments. Instead he bashes Dvorak, talks about how cool the technology is, and tells us that the needy need things.

Dvorak’s article, like most of his essays, was characteristically cranky. But at least Dvorak is putting forth a proper argument.

As for you Bill, take a rhetoric class and try again.

# 3 edwinrogers said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:02 pm

This is simply mis-marketing. If it were originally named, “one laptop per student (OLPS)” it might then have been universally understood as an education aid suited for third world communities, rather than as a contentious misdirection of good intention.

# 4 Eric said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:08 pm

Some of these elitist people just don’t get it at all. It’s like when Laura Bush went over to talk to Saudi Arabian women dressed to the nines in their black burka’s sporting pink ribbons about the dangers of undetected Breast Cancer. Gee, don’t you think the idea that these women can legally be blinded if their husbands even THINK they were looking at another man might a little more on their mind than a lump on a breast that Allah says they’re not even supposed to look at, let alone touch?

Let’s see, we have children starving, eating 3 bowls of rice and wheat paste and that new protien stuff that Anderson Cooper did a segment about on 60 minutes last month called “Plumpynut” and barely able to summon the energy required to make the basic walk to the local Doctor to get more food, yet we need to figure out a way to get them the latest funny video on YouTube to take their minds off it.

There are certain degrees of “not getting it”. This guy ranks up there with Barbara Bush when she said that the Hurricane Survivors “have it pretty good”, and when Marie Antionette, when told that the commoners didn’t even have enough bread to eat uttered that infamous phrase “…then let them eat cake.”

It must be nice living in a world where you can afford to be that out of touch of reality.

# 5 cmariotti said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:22 pm

For the record, Marie Antoinette did not say “let them eat cake”. http://ask.yahoo.com/20021122.html

Anyone that doesn’t see the whole one laptop per child scam as corporate push to create markets is blind. You can say at it basics, that it is a thoughtful idea, however, spending an extra 5 minutes on the idea quickly concludes that it’s going to create more consumers (which last time I checked, is getting us into a big mess).

# 6 Pop said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:24 pm

John, I don’t know if the OLPC project will succeed or fail, and I haven’t read Thompson’s article. I care more about your opinion (which I respect) than his.

But I read your article, though, and I think it shows your prejudice. At least in your piece, you come across as believing that there are only two kinds of people in the World: fat rich Americans and 6 billion starving people. Maybe that’s not what you meant, but it feels that way.

The fact is that there are about 5 billion people in between the absolute rich and the absolute poor: are not hungry right now, but they have no access to computers and really could use one, especially if connected to an educational program. Any computer, but normal PCs may be too expensive if you load them up. That’s all the OLPC is: one option. Not sure sure it’s the best option, but I sure support them for trying. If they fail, I won’t be ashamed of having supported them. The great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa said once that every endeavor is worthy if your soul isn’t small.

I know what I’m talking about: I come from Brazil, and there are lots of underprivileged people there, but they have food already. What they need is better education, and the government has a budget for education. Why not use that money to buy a cheaper computer that was made specifically for educational use?

Should all non-hungry people of the world stop all educational effort until everybody has food? Well, that won’t result in a better world, would it, since Agriculture and Engineering need highly educated individuals in large numbers?

You stop educating people and you will have to keep feeding them forever (or you may have to start feeding more of them more often), because you reduce or eliminate their ability to create wealth.

Give them a chance, please. They aren’t hurting anybody, and they are certainly not taking food from the hungry to give it to “richer” people.

# 7 Sean said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:30 pm

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Or, to put it another way:

Give a continent food and you feed them for a month. Teach a continent to be self sustaining (By giving them educational tools) and you feed them for a lifetime.

We’ve been giving charity to places like Africa for decades, and they’re not doing any better. But by all means John, keep sending them food instead of education. Just be prepared to do that forever.

# 8 TravelsTooMuch said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:47 pm

Sure. Let them eat rice, John.

Joining the world economy means communicating and interacting with it. It mandates understanding a broader culture than one’s own. You’ve traveled, John. You had the means. You were educated; your parents had the means. Some do not, and they’d forfeit empty bellies for a chance at participating in the real world, one that today uses cell/mobiles, computers, and has constantly running electricity– and real PCs.

Lots of people put their hearts and wallets into this one, just as those that put hearts and wallets into food donations hope their moneys are useful. Both are investments, one short, the other longer term.

You’ve been spotted, and correctly, for your lack of vision; it’s nearsighted– just like your glasses. Aim, shoot, ready, John. It’s a fact that you rarely find humility; perhaps your hardened heart will beat again one day.

# 9 B. Dog said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:49 pm

The legendary computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra is oft’ quoted as saying, “Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.”

There’s a computer in your wristwatch these days. You can give some kid a $1 watch and the kid can learn just as much from it as that green piece of junk, and the watch will last longer.

# 10 Mister Catshit said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:52 pm

#6, Sean,
Sometimes teaching a man to fish doesn’t do sweet eff all. Especially when the guy lives in a desert or near a fished out water source. Or the water is polluted.
Teaching someone to farm works great, when there is enough water. Or the well doesn’t dry up. Or the land doesn’t go barren. Or the seed wasn’t eaten because the last harvest was so bad. Or there are more people than the land will support. Or the implements can be repaired. Or there is fuel for the tractors.

Educating someone does no good if the person does not have the tools to work with. What you end up with is a group of people that can spell their name for the relief workers.

Most very poor countries have such severe problems that it will take more than simple computers to fix. Sure, teach them, just don’t count on these computers being the panacea to fix everything.

# 11 RockOn said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:53 pm

John Dvorak writes opinion pieces, I don’t agree with everything he says, but I enjoy his style of writing and respect his opinion. That Thompson fellow I feel did a hack job on John, but he probably really believes he’s changing the world and took John’s opinion as a personal attack. More power to Mr. Thompson Negroponte and the rest of them, I hope they do make someones life better, but I gotta’ side with Dvorak, I’d rather have a full belly than a peek at porn on the Interwebtubies.

# 12 Nimby said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:54 pm

I’ve spent the majority of my adult years working in third world and developing nations. Believe me, there are two kinds of kids who will use (as opposed to sell) these laptops: those who use them to explore all the “bad” things on the net and those who will be stimulated to explore the technology and be massively disappointed at these toys. A far better approach, in my opinion, would be to make vast supplies of desktop units available to schools. Outside school hours, the computer labs become subsidized net cafes. When this was done in Egypt, not only the kids but their parents began to show interest. The idea of actually giving each child something out of the Fischer-Price catalog strikes me as attempting to assuage a capitalist’s guilty conscience. Personally, I don’t see the innovations of the OLPC as being particularly groundbreaking. Sure a whole classroom of students can share a single dial-up connection. And wait an hour for the first page to draw. And who’s going to pay for the telephone? I’ve visited schools where the one and only telephone is kept under lock and key because the school doesn’t have funds to pay for it. There is so much else these places need before they need individual laptops. And those that can use these are able to afford better.

And, come on: starting in Nigeria? Do you have any idea how long it will take them to manage the scam email traffic on a shared dial-up?????

# 13 TIHZ_HO said, on December 11th, 2007 at 6:56 pm

Sean, yes that is correct but a tossing everyone a laptop is not the way.

Education is the start with simple and sustainable school system to educate the children.

How can one have a school sustainable system? Stabilize and reform the governments.

China during the Mao years is proof of that. Mao shut down the schools during the cultural revolution. If there was an equivalent of the $200 laptop back then would it had made any difference? No, not one bit. China needed to reform after Mao died and open up the schools.

See the point?

I agree with John on this point.

Cheers

# 14 bill said, on December 11th, 2007 at 7:03 pm

John is totally right on on this one. You really have to go to Africa and see how poor can really get. Laptops? how about electricity? a job? food? shoes? a pencil and paper for school. How about a government and police force that doesn’t prey on it;s own people? How about a little ammo for the AK-47 in the hut?

Come on!!!!

I’ve been there. My wife tried to teach school there. The people are just like us. In fact we are all from there… if you were really poor and had no shoes. would you really want a laptop… Well as long as it was a mac!

Happy holidayz!

# 15 jim h said, on December 11th, 2007 at 7:09 pm

It’s hard to predict the impact of something like the OLPC laptop – if millions of them actually got in circulation. It might be nil. But certainly many of the problems in really backwards parts of the world are rooted in simple and complete ignorance of a larger reality. If these little green things start to bring a new generation into some contact with that reality, the impact could be huge.

# 16 Greg Allen said, on December 11th, 2007 at 7:21 pm

I am quite familiar with the “poorest of the poor” that John refers to in his op-ed piece, having lived among them for a number of years.

I guess I mostly disagree with John.

That doesn’t mean that I endorse OLPC, since the devil is in the details and I don’t know the details.

It’s true that the dollar-a-dayers, on the verge of death millions have no need for computers. Those people need malaria medication, clean water, dental work, etc etc,

But there are hundreds of millions of less-poor who would use a computer to better themselves, but could not afford one.

# 17 flyingelvis said, on December 11th, 2007 at 7:24 pm

Thompson’s correct. Starving people need computers. Fish and chips are very satistying when one is hungry. In fact I think i’ll go have a nice bowl of transistors. Or not.

Thompson’s an idiot.

# 18 chuck said, on December 11th, 2007 at 7:28 pm

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

- in other words, instead of giving them $200 laptops, let’s use the money to teach them to fish (or grow food, or build wells for drinking water).

# 19 julieb said, on December 11th, 2007 at 7:57 pm

The OLPC is gonna flop, John is right about that. Where he is wrong is that we should be giving food relief to starving people. We have been doing that for a long time it doesn’t work. The food aid deflates prices of local crops and prevents farmers from producing. They need security (political and physical) and investments in small business. They need to build their own economy.

Will the OLPC solve the problem? I don’t think so.

However, I do want a eee PC. I don’t even need the damn thing. I just want to play with it.

# 20 gregallen said, on December 11th, 2007 at 8:11 pm

I worked in a project that used a survey of perceived need among a very poor tribal group in south Asia.

I tell you, they had a relatively sophisticated sense of how to better themselves as an ethnic group and that included being tech literate.

Me, the “rich” westerner, tended to encourage them to be less ambitious and focus on old-school trades and skills. But THEIR perceived need was to become participants in the new economy.

It’s in my training to seriously consider the perceived needs of a community since that’s where you are going to have the best success in community development. However, perceived needs can be the product of marketing or other unrealistic sources.

Anyway, this is why I don’t share John’s criticism of this project. I think these laptops would be welcome _IF_ they are designed right, and distributed properly.

This is a huge “IF” that I don’t have an opinion on. I can tell you this, though, — most western project to help the developing world fail.

It often because westerners just don’t understand the culture. Even worse, all too often, the project is really meant to enrich western the supposed helpers. (Take the “rebuilding” of Iraq. It’s clear now that this was really intended as a wealth distribution project to Haliburton and NOT the Iraqis.)

# 21 the man said, on December 11th, 2007 at 8:15 pm

#18 So are you saying that a computer can’t teach you to grow food and build wells-

Do you think that most people who buy one give one would contribute $400 with no personal return-

How is giving someone a computer a bad thing, if it helps, hurts or does nothing we won’t know if no one tries-

And Dvorak has been wrong in the past… some would say he made a career out of being wrong.

# 22 ECA said, on December 11th, 2007 at 8:18 pm

OK,
LETS be realistic HERE..
$100 US dollars..
In many other countries is CLOSE to 1 years wages for the Ultra poor.
Even if the Government of the country PAID for them. WHO has the ability to get to/FIND a school.
These will probably be given, if they GET to schools, the MIDDLE CLASS of those areas..NOT THE POOR.
If you THINK the poor are going to get these, than ASK, WHO is going to TEACH them, or the Teachers HOW to use them, how to configure them, HOW to fix them, how to MODIFY them..?
NOT THE POOR.. Who have NEVEr seen this tech, dont have TIME to use this tech, and dont have the Facilities to LOAD any BOOKS or educational Software ONTO THESE Machines..

# 23 Greg Allen said, on December 11th, 2007 at 8:39 pm

ECA,

You raise valid issues that I hope the OLPC folks are considering.

Of course you can’t just dump of bunch of these on the developing world and expect people to figure out how to use them.

For sure, if you did that, the first thing the poor would do is sell them for five bucks in the market.

These computers need to be used smartly.

But, someone needs to develop a useful, cheap and green computer for the Third World before there can be programs to widely increase computer literacy.

This program might be just that.

A quick Google tells me that the OLPC is “connected” — that’s good. But will there be free or super-cheap ISPs for them to connect to?

# 24 David said, on December 11th, 2007 at 9:00 pm

I’m just going to come right out and say what I know everyone is thinking. I find the presence of a webcam in the OLPC highly suspicious. Especially when the object of the machine is to keep equipment costs as low as possible. And the webcam’s been part of the OLPC since the earliest prototype, before they even knew if it was technically feasible.

Why would children in the developing world possibly need a webcam to learn? It works like this. When you’re broke and starving and you need to eat, there’s not much you won’t do for cash. And what’s the easiest way to make money over the internet when you have a camera and no real technical skills?

Was the machine designed for this purpose all along? I’m not going to accuse any of the original developers of being pedophiles. I’m just saying it’s highly suspicious.

# 25 Sean said, on December 11th, 2007 at 9:17 pm

To say a starving child doesn’t need a laptop is a mute point; They’re not getting one.

From what I’ve seen so far, the laptops are not being sent to parts of the world where people are starving to death. They’re being sent to areas that are finally a few steps ahead of the grim reaper, and now they need an education to stay ahead of him.

Those saying “it’s just a computer” are being silly. A computer isn’t just a computer. It’s the full encyclopedia. It’s a dictionary, and thesaurus. It’s a telephone. It’s every newspaper in the world. It’s a math, spelling, and literature tutor. I could go on.

The best people to judge whether folks should get these laptops, are the people getting them. And they want them. Their governments want them to have them. If the people getting these laptops didn’t think they would do any good, they wouldn’t be asking for them.

# 26 pedro said, on December 11th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

People pushing ilogical things are either too naive to understand or have an agenda of their own and will not change their tunes.

This guy is one of those. In what group does he land? don’t know and frankly, don’t care to dig that.

An education does nothing when it’s given to people who live in a place where “I don’t care” is the rule

# 27 Richard Brill said, on December 11th, 2007 at 10:40 pm

John: Kick his A## !!!!

# 28 Brian Hayes said, on December 11th, 2007 at 10:49 pm

Muckraking is best when acerbic and incisive. Bravo for years of unrestrained commentary. But I am on the side of Thompson, not merely to defend OLPC, but to assert that there’s a difference between a critic and a curmudgeon.

# 29 John C Dvorak said, on December 11th, 2007 at 10:56 pm

I’ve been called both. At least there is an active debate here and on PCMag.com) …I do not see one on the BBC site. What are they afraid of?

# 30 Bill Thompson said, on December 11th, 2007 at 11:17 pm

Indeed, a debate is good – unfortunately the BBC site doesn’t automatically allow comments/feedback on every article but each column is also on my blog and comments are open (though moderated to keep the spam out) there.

Everybody likes and enjoys a critic, just not one who misrepresents the thing being discussed. Apart from not agreeing with you about the best way to help the poor countries of the world, I object to the way you characterise the OLPC and the project generally in order to make it look like you’re just being sensible and rational. I don’t believe the project is perfect, but I do think that it can make a difference as part of a wider strategy.

# 31 Richard Brill said, on December 11th, 2007 at 11:17 pm

ROTFLOL
“Looks Like a reconstructed left over hippie”

# 32 Bill Thompson said, on December 11th, 2007 at 11:22 pm

Hey – I object to that! I’m not reconstructed, I am *still* a hippie…

# 33 William C Thompson said, on December 11th, 2007 at 11:26 pm

John, I think the truth lies somewhere in between your two opinions. That said, Bill Thompson has deserved a shoeing for a long time. His columns are usually fatuous, “will this do?” pieces, stating the obvious, often accompanied by an oversized picture of himself with his smug pursed lips sticking out from an unkempt, oh-so-hippy beard. I unsubscribed from the BBC tech feed because more and more of his drivel kept showing up. Leave it John, he’s not worth it!

# 34 ECA said, on December 11th, 2007 at 11:31 pm

23,25..

A computer can be many THINGS..
But ask yourself…WHAT is the wireless connections in the African Belt?? NILL, NADA, ZIP, ZILCH, Zero.
How many nations have setup wireless Internet or CELL access..2-3?? HOW many charge for Access, and WHOM is paying??

Let me do it this way…
IF’ I gave you a Console that would PLAY every game ever made and display it in HD, AND the monitor as well. controlers and everything.
BUT, there are 2 problems..
1. THERE ARE NO PORTS on the machine to let you LOAD the games. NO DVD, NO USB, NO NET..
2. Its uses a special POWER plug, and is powered by 15,000 WATTS.

What good is it??

The best i can see this thing doing, is sending NOTES to each other around a Settlement or small(small) town..
AND,
If you do find a person/teacher that knows computers, and figures out the machine. they can send notes to each student, and ?? .. Math? english??(DUMB) History?? ONLY If’ that person had access to the data could they send/distribute it, or they would need to TYPE every bit into the machine.

I know!! It MIGHT make a good night light, for the poor.

# 35 MRN said, on December 12th, 2007 at 12:23 am

Looks like the OLPC is just an updated large scale implementation of the “BBC Microcomputer System” from the 1980′s era.

That might be why Mr. Thompson took the views presented in Mr. Dvorak’s column personally.

# 36 Sean said, on December 12th, 2007 at 1:07 am

“But ask yourself…WHAT is the wireless connections in the African Belt?? NILL, NADA, ZIP, ZILCH, Zero.”

Wireless internet (via satellite) is being setup in the communities.

Next.

# 37 eaze said, on December 12th, 2007 at 2:22 am

Fuuuuk the BBC!
If terrorists really did exist then they would of taken care of the BBC long before now!

# 38 Dallas said, on December 12th, 2007 at 3:38 am

John, The OLPC is a sacred cow because it is directed at the poor.

Attacking it, makes you an easy target for those wishing to express their “humanitarianism”. Since they cannot find something good they did, the alternative is to parade around anything “sacred” and defend it.

That is how religion works. Wonder why you have Sunday worshipers? That’s the parade.

# 39 sam said, on December 12th, 2007 at 5:57 am

It is not our place to do anything with Africans such as “give the man a fish for a day or teach him how to fish”. When the fictional star trek the next generation’s Captain Picard stated over again the prime directive comes to mind.

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In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive, Starfleet’s General Order #1, is the most prominent guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets. The Prime Directive dictates that there can be no interference with the internal affairs of other civilizations, consistent with the real world concept of Westphalian sovereignty. It has special implications, however, for civilizations still at a ‘pre-warp’ stage of development, since no primitive culture can be given or exposed to any information regarding advanced technology or the existence of extraplanetary civilizations, lest this exposure alter the natural development of the civilization. In addition to exposure, purposeful efforts to improve or change in any way the natural course of such a society, even if that change is well-intentioned and kept completely secret, are prohibited.

‘Pre-warp’ is defined as any culture which has not yet attained warp drive. Starfleet allows scientific missions to investigate and move amongst pre-warp civilizations as long as no advanced technology is left behind, and there is no interference with events or no revelation of their identity. This can usually be accomplished with hidden observation posts, but Federation personnel may disguise themselves as local sentient life and interact with them.

Europe endured many famines and harsh winters no body helped us. The engineered ukraine famine comes to mind Solomon Morel helped 20 million ukraine christians to their death.
Africans do not need to be remade their world does not need to be remade. Say no to tikkun olam.

These laptops won’t last long either. Think of all the waste and pollution. I would say they are going to be in a landfill by a years time but no probably just left broken in the street.

# 40 ECA said, on December 12th, 2007 at 6:01 am

Sean,
do you know the power needed to send a signal to a sat??
THIS dont have that much power.
Even if you used a 5 watt signal, you wouldnt get Far enough.
Even a low voltage, 40 watt, relay/Hub…Is going to have a HELL of a time.
You might as well use the OLD radio system and have a HUB near the location, you could get better coverage.

PS, WHOM is going to PAy for the sat? NOT THE POOR.

# 41 John H Jones said, on December 12th, 2007 at 6:14 am

Maybe it is a better idea to send food to Africa, but it probably would help more if America and Europe reduced the subsidies that mean farmers in poorer countries cannot compete. Also would help if African countries were not just seen as a source for raw materials and they produced more value added goods for export. That’s where the West could invest for a more equal and fairer future. If only we had the will to do it…

# 42 Mazinger said, on December 12th, 2007 at 7:52 am

Another opportunity for the super-rich to show their magnificence by throwing a bone at… er, I mean “helping” the super-poor.

Paradoxically, the former can’t exist without the latter.

# 43 Steve-O said, on December 12th, 2007 at 8:07 am

#40 ECA – The governments are setting up wireless Internet relay stations with Earth based satellite links. That is how they are supposed to get wireless Internet.

Whether it (OLPC) is a good idea or not I can’t say at this point but I watched the class using a bunch of them and they seemed genuinely excited to use them and they were learning how to do things.

Just imagine if some of the children could do research that would help them make things with the materials they have on hand.

I say try it and see what happens. For a change it isn’t my money footing the bill (I hope).

# 44 John said, on December 12th, 2007 at 8:24 am

Congrats, John, on getting someone from a site as important as the BBC to take the bait!

# 45 John C Dvorak said, on December 12th, 2007 at 9:03 am

Yes, now I can go back on the street with my dollar bill-on-a-string.

# 46 chocolim said, on December 12th, 2007 at 9:39 am

Hi, i live in latin america, paraguay to be exact, and i just know that they are trying the OLPC to accept here, i am 100% agree with you, in the poor part of my country there aren’t doctors, the schools didnt have roof, i will be very usefull if the give then a schooll or milk insted a computer.
Here things are a lot of chepper tha in US, i think that for 2000$ you can build a school, not the best school of the world, be a better that they have.

Why the will want to use computer to people that need to know how to read first.

Sorry for my english.

# 47 pedro said, on December 12th, 2007 at 10:17 am

BTW, where’s scientology in all of this?

# 48 Jopa said, on December 12th, 2007 at 10:27 am

Screw OLPC. Let’s start with the basics – roads, sewer, electricity, gass, actual schools that teach, teachers, some medical care, sustainable agriculture… how about that?! HA?!?!?!?
You wanna give’em laptops? go ahead, fine by me. I think it will be better to teach them how to do the stuff I listed above – it’s not that hard, you just need to know how, have the will to do it, and then just to do it – with the materials and resources you have around you.
I do not expect to see an 8 lanes highway, just a nice 1 or 2 lane road. No huge water ways, just basic pipelines that MOVE water from the lake/river to the farmers that desperately need it and dying from hunger 10km away.
I don’t expect to see MIT or Harvard SPRING from the savanna/jungle/desert, just a nice little school that children can go and learn about the world around them, learn there are alternatives to their way of life. A nation is responsible for itself.
It’s those far left crazy bastards and their high tech dreams – they wanna feel good so they gonna send them Linux with an AMD cpu…… what a bunch of f*@!en condescending morons.
I hope Africa will do better bit by bit.
And by the way, I would send them a killer LAPTOP with some cool games and software just to inspire them!

# 49 Phillep said, on December 12th, 2007 at 10:54 am

The devil is in the details. Always.

Will a laptop help a starving child?

No, nothing will if it’s stolen by the “Benevolent Ruler for Life” or his lackeys. No amount of rice will help, either.

Since rice can be stolen, we should not send any, right?

# 50 bobbo said, on December 12th, 2007 at 11:03 am

What is a Curmudgeon anyway?

A curmudgeon’s reputation for malevolence is undeserved. They’re neither warped nor evil at heart. They don’t hate mankind, just mankind’s absurdities. They’re just as sensitive and soft-hearted as the next guy, but they hide their vulnerability beneath a crust of misanthropy. They ease the pain by turning hurt into humor. . . . . . They attack maudlinism because it devalues genuine sentiment. . . . . . Nature, having failed to equip them with a servicable denial mechanism, has endowed them with astute perception and sly wit.
Curmudgeons are mockers and debunkers whose bitterness is a symptom rather than a disease. They can’t compromise their standards and can’t manage the suspension of disbelief necessary for feigned cheerfulness. Their awareness is a curse.
Perhaps curmudgeons have gotten a bad rap in the same way that the messenger is blamed for the message: They have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor.

- JON WINOKUR

I’m still waiting for the Sam Kinison observation as well: “Move to where the fricking food is!!”

Finally, excellent thread. If you were Bill Gates Foundation==how could one best spend money to do the most good?

My answer is still cheap/clean energy. Everything seems to flow from or depend on that.

Some people wont give food or medicine or a clean water pump to the poor, but they will give a computer?

[From Merriam-Webster - curmudgeon - a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man. - ed.]

# 51 Jopa said, on December 12th, 2007 at 11:26 am

Why wouldn’t these two arrogant bastards from Google build a factory in Africa for water pumps and water pipes or even better invest in an existing african factory (it must be owned by africans though) and then distribute the hardware and materials to the places in africa they actually need it – for free! Send an engineer to teach them how to operate and do maintenance on the hardware, how to move water from a lake to the field where they need it to grow crops so they won’t die of hunger next time the rain is late?! How about that?!?!??!? Hey Larry and Sergey! Are you listening?!?!?!??!?????????

# 52 DeLeMa said, on December 12th, 2007 at 12:15 pm

#50 – bobbo –

On all points – a Big yup !

# 53 Sean said, on December 12th, 2007 at 12:48 pm

“do you know the power needed to send a signal to a sat??”

You misunderstood me. My fault. The communities are getting internet via satellite. The satellite dishes are plugged into normal wifi routers. The laptops are communicating with the routers. Same as in your home.

It’s no different than how millions of people in The States do it (Although I think satellite internet is a little sketchy).

# 54 Sean said, on December 12th, 2007 at 12:58 pm

You people make it sound like these communities can have either a laptop, OR food/medicine, which I don’t think is the case. They’ll get both.

People who contribute to food programs will continue to do so. People who give to the OLPC program might not have ever given anything to food programs.

The communities aren’t losing anything. The OLPC program isn’t stealing away money that could have been spent on medicine.

# 55 estacado said, on December 12th, 2007 at 12:59 pm

Apart from AIDS, now add Carpal Tunnel to it.

# 56 Canucklehead said, on December 12th, 2007 at 1:06 pm

my two cents worth

Thompson is right

Dvorak is wrong

If you want to attack a waste of money, how about “military aid”

Negroponte already tested the scheme using normal laptops in Cambodia many years ago.

# 57 Badtastic said, on December 12th, 2007 at 1:12 pm

Has anybody considered the “end of life” implications for the OLPC from an environmental perspective? I mean, what happens to all that cadmium inside all of those batteries not to mention the heavy metals within the electronic components of the innocent looking OLPC when the thing inevitably dies?

Do we responsibly offer to take back the broken laptops for proper recycling, with the same enthusiastic fervour that colored our judgment in the first place, or will it by then conveniently be considered “Their problem” ?

If this hasn’t been taken into account, then we’ve simply replaced one problem for another.

Peace / Badtastic
(Sweden)

# 58 Phillep said, on December 12th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

Sean, for years I’ve said I would never donate food to a 3rd world country. I would be willing to donate a single shot rifle, if I thought it would get into the hands of an average citizen instead of one of the local tyrant’s lackeys.

Africa can grow all the food it needs and has plenty of mineral resources even yet. There’s plenty of places for hydro power. Many of the people are ingenious and hard working (where chronic sickness does not cripple the work force). They have three problems, bigotry against people who are not members of their own tribe, acceptance of warlords and the corruption that goes with warlords, and superstition.

In other words, Africa’s problems are social and political.

I suspect these laptops will go a long way toward decreasing all three problems.

More rice will just give the warlords something to sell so they can buy guns and fighters.

# 59 ECA said, on December 12th, 2007 at 2:58 pm

53,54

AND you still have the same problem..
HOW are you going to get power to run a server and wireless??
Have someone STAND THERE and crank the server??
Whats the wireless RANGE of this server?? 40 miles?
And THEN you need ANOTHER ONE, and ANOTHER ONE…

# 60 Sean said, on December 12th, 2007 at 5:10 pm

@ECA – You should really try reading their wiki sometime. You might be a smart guy and all that, but the project is being run by some of the brightest minds in the industry. I think they can figure this stuff out.

# 61 TIHZ_HO said, on December 12th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

#45 “Yes, now I can go back on the street with my dollar bill-on-a-string.”

Uh, John better use a Euro-on-a-string I don’t see many people bothering to pick up a dollar these days.

Cheers

PS: 1 Euro = 1.47 U.S. dollars (Cripes!)

# 62 ECA said, on December 12th, 2007 at 10:50 pm

Sean,

Iv seen some of those BRIGHT ideas of the past..
Nuke plants, that were built by the Lowest bidder, comes to mind. Which has led to Many problems in the USA, and alot of BAD News, and a HATE for Nuke plants.

# 63 B. Dog said, on December 13th, 2007 at 3:24 am

Somebody did a review of the thing.

# 64 Ultra dumbed Down said, on December 13th, 2007 at 2:42 pm

“Yeah, that’s compelling logic. Take a cheap shot”

Cheap shot Dvorak!

That’s rich coming from you. You’re using this story to enhance your status at the expense of others. It shameful, how you used loaded questions to make your morally vacuous points.

I think BBC have re-edited this report so here is the original:
[QUOTE]
The BBC seemed to of re-edited the story. So for the giddy Dvorak hags have a read from a real journalist than the car salesman Dvorak.

BBC SOURCE:

Give me rice, but give me a laptop too
XO laptop
The XO laptop is being field tested in Nigeria

Criticism of plans to get technology into the developing world is misplaced, says Bill Thompson.

One of the best things about being on the World Service radio programme Digital Planet each week is that I get to hear about interesting technologies from many different countries and explore the impact that computers and the internet are having in people’s daily lives.

We often follow stories as they develop, coming back to them from time to time to see if early promises have been kept or bold predictions have been borne out.

It’s been nearly three years since Nicholas Negroponte came onto the show to talk about his plan for a low-cost laptop for the developing world.

He wanted to build it for under $100 and sell millions to governments who would then give them away to schoolchildren.

Later he set up the One Laptop Per Child project to do this, and we’ve come back to the $100 laptop many times, and in December 2005 we saw the prototype launched at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia.

‘Radical rethinking’

We have watched as the prototype turned into the XO-1, a radical rethinking of what a laptop should be, with a brand-new user interface, a low-power chip from AMD, the Linux operating system and a low-energy high contrast screen.

And earlier this year we heard schoolchildren in Nigeria tell BBC reporter Jonathan Fildes how excited they were to have their own computers, what they planned to use them for and how good they were.

Bill Thompson
Perhaps Dvorak’s just afraid that a Nigerian schoolchild, empowered by the technology entrusted to them, will take him to task for his patronising attitude, or perhaps even turn out to be a better journalist.
Bill Thompson

Politics ‘stifling $100 laptop’
Audio slideshow: Laptops in Nigeria

Not every promise was fulfilled, of course.

The computers cost around $180 to make, and instead of millions there are only a few hundred thousand being built in the first year, largely because governments have gone back on the promises they made to buy them in large numbers.

Even the Nigerian government has yet to decide whether to commit funds to the project, and is watching the trial at Abuja’s Galadima primary school with interest.

To make things worse Intel and Microsoft seem to have done everything they could to undermine the project, offering cut-price hardware and discount operating systems in an attempt to keep this remarkable machine, with its Linux operating system and AMD processor, at bay.

Now US journalist John Dvorak has weighed into the debate, dismissing the laptop as a ‘little green computer’ that changes nothing, and arguing that sending food aid to Africa is a better way to solve the continent’s problems.

Dvorak is so wrong that it pains me.

He misrepresents both the laptop’s capabilities and the plans for how it will be used.

‘Demeans people’

He ignores the educational uses and its sophisticated mesh network and acts as if the sole purpose is to get online, asking what benefit the “spam-ridden Information Super Ad-way laced with Nigerian scams, hoaxes, porn, blogs, wikis, spam, urban folklore, misinformation” has to offer.

And he demeans the people who will receive the computers, asking his readers if they will feel “better about the world’s problems, knowing that some poor tribesman’s child has a laptop”, apparently contrasting a “tribesman” with a real person like himself, safe in his Western affluence.

Dvorak is a controversial, opinionated and immensely influential technology writer, based in the US but read around the world thanks to the same internet that he dismisses as unsuitable for those living in poverty.

His comments matter because he may influence those with the power to change people’s lives, especially in governments considering investing in the XO-1, yet he chooses to use his platform to criticise a self-penned parody of the computer and its planned uses.

There are sensible criticisms to be made of OLPC and its work, but Dvorak simply misrepresents their position when he dismisses the whole project as arguing: “let’s give these kids these little green computers. That will do it! That will solve the poverty problem and everything else, for that matter.”

At WSIS in 2005 I talked to OLPC’s chief technology officer, Mary Lou Jepsen. She led innovations in the screen design, energy consumption and user interface that have resulted in a computer to transform the relationship of the world’s poorest children to the networked economy.

‘Hold back’

She also understands the need for the laptop to fit into the larger development agenda.

The point is not that computers or internet access are as important as clean water, good healthcare, effective education and safe housing.

It is that access to computers and the network can make it simpler and easier to deliver those other things, just as access to electric light can vastly improve the quality of people’s lives.

No one starting a business in the rich world would do so without relying on computers and the internet, so why should we hold back those in the poorer countries?

Dvorak seems to have fallen for the Intel and Microsoft line that something they aren’t involved with could not possibly be all that good.

The XO-1 is powerful, effective and designed to be used by those with little experience of new technology, and even those who are less than fully literate.

Yes, there will be problems. The computers need to be properly integrated into the educational curriculum; power supplies and stable network connections have to be provided; some will be stolen, some will break, some will not get to the people who need them. But that is not a reason to stop.

A century ago campaigners for a working wage were adamant that just having enough to live on was not enough, that there should be space for culture and enjoyment in life, and in 1912 strikers at a textile factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts are said to have rallied around the slogan “We want bread, but we want roses, too!”.

Well, we need to give the poor of today’s world rice, and housing, and water, and healthcare, but they need the laptops and all that they symbolise too.

Those who argue otherwise, like John Dvorak, would condemn the poor countries to another century of want and dependency by depriving them of access to the technology that has already transformed life for the rich and privileged.

Perhaps he’s just afraid that a Nigerian schoolchild, empowered by the technology entrusted to them, will take him to task for his patronising attitude, or perhaps even turn out to be a better journalist.

It wouldn’t be hard.
[/QUOTE]

Source: BBC

# 65 duke said, on December 14th, 2007 at 5:57 am

You’re an ass Dvorak.

# 66 JAFP said, on December 14th, 2007 at 4:46 pm

I totally agree with Bill Thompson.

Dvorak, I have enjoyed your podcasts in the past taking your typically big-fat-rich-american type comments and attitude as being a parody.

Having read your article I see that it is not. Shame.

Regards,

Joseph Parkin

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