[Air-l] One Laptop Per Child

[Peter Timusk]

hello all like the idea of using Linux in the developing world, the  
cost of learning computing (reflect on what it cost you/we all know  
how to use computers) which others have pointed out and maintaining  
computers also has to factored in. Thus giving can cost more. In  
computer consulting my brother calls this the cascading effect. You  
buy a digital camera and find out you now need batteries and memory  
cards.

and what about power to run the laptops. I have often read "who needs  
a computer if you don't have fresh water to drink". Also I have read  
many studies that suggest access is not an end point. Look at our  
wikipedia discussion to suggest that Internet access alone does not  
work but lessons in Internet quality need to be taught.

Apparently when Linux was used in Africa... vast amount of time  
configuring and learning to use the systems was required so users  
gave up and went to windows. This is the same in Canada too imho. No  
digital divide there. Not that free software is bad in fact it is  
quite good and I would like to suggest more people should be using  
quality free software.

I think the 100$ laptop is a way to make computer users in the  
devloped world feel something is being done whereas disaster relief  
has probably more utility in a utilitarian calculation.

sorry I am rabbling

Peter




On 6-Jun-06, at 11:18 PM, Ellis Godard wrote:

> Jarek wrote:
>> I think that "giving" cannot be equated with "empowering."
>
> Sure, giving is neither synonymous with nor sufficient for  
> empowerment. But
> to suggest that because of this program "a global divide...will  
> emerge" (as
> if it didn't exist now) suggests that giving is DISempowering,  
> which is
> quite a leap - and, on balance, almost certainly backwards.
>


Peter Timusk,
B.Math statistics, B.A. legal studies
M.A. legal studies applicant
just trying to stay linear.
Read by hundreds of lurkers every week.