Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
Search

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Slashdot Log In

Log In

Create Account  |  Retrieve Password

$100 Laptop Takes Flight in Thailand

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thu Aug 17, 2006 01:22 PM
from the all-about-the-benjamin dept.
Education Portables Hardware
EmperorKagato writes "Nicholas Negroponte's project for every child to have a laptop will come true for over 500 students in Thailand. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expects each child to receive a laptop instead of books as the books will be provided electronically. The laptop, mentioned previously on Slashdot, will now be brought to children in Thailand in October and November, with hopes for future shipments to Nigeria, Brazil and Argentina in 2007." This story selected and edited by LinuxWorld editor for the day Saied Pinto.
+ -
story

Related Stories

[+] Hardware: Working Model of MIT $100 Laptop a Hit 440 comments
capt turnpike writes "The One Laptop per Child association and its chairman, MIT Media Labs's Nicholas Negroponte, unvelied a working model of their $100 laptop at the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX) show, and the little laptop that might was a hit. It's got a version of Fedora Linux, is rugged, and each unit will work as part of a wireless mesh automatically. From the article: "However, as Negroponte put it in his address, One Laptop per Child isn't all about the laptops. The main goal is to tap into the ability of every child to toss away a manual and figure out how to make gadgets work on their own, thus helping children help themselves to learn." eWEEK.com also has photos."
[+] Linux: Proprietary Parts in OLPC Project Draw Criticism 247 comments
An anonymous reader writes "The Jem Report is running a story about the recent controversy surrounding the hardware used in OLPC laptops. Some devices require NDA's to write drivers, and some parts require firmware that cannot be freely redistributed. Richard Stallmann and Theo de Raadt oppose the use of such devices. Jim Getty defends OLPC's choice (de Raadts response). Jem Matzan has interviewed all sides and published the answers."
[+] First of the OLPCs Built 145 comments
eldavojohn writes "An announcement came Sunday that the first ten prototypes of the Linux-powered OLPC XO-1 had been completed in China. From the article, 'Quanta, the Chinese computer maker that won the international bidding for the project earlier this year, will assemble 900 OLPC machines that will be used for destructive testing and distribution to our development partners.' Let's hope that these first prototypes do not warrant any design changes and that the testing goes well so that countries that expressed interest (Brazil, Libya, Nigeria, Argentina, and Thailand) can start distributing them soon."
[+] Hardware: Thailand Government Cancels OLPC Participation 196 comments
patiwat writes "Thailand's new junta-appointed Education Minister has cancelled Thailand's participation in the One Laptop Per Child project and scrapped a plan to give a 2B1 laptop to every primary school student. He has also cancelled plans to roll out computers and a broadband connection to every single school in Thailand. The cancellation of half a million scholarships for needy students is being studied. He cited the lack of readiness of teachers and the need to focus on basic education standards. 'We will not focus too much on technology and materials. We will focus on substance,' he said. This comes on the heels of the cancellation of the Thai government's open source policy."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

$100 Laptop Takes Flight in Thailand 50 Comments More /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More
Loading... please wait.

  • Only 500 (Score:5, Funny)

    by -Neko- (67564) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:23PM (#15928459) Homepage
    There are only 500 children in Thailand?

    If not "a laptop for every child" is a bit short :D

  • where can I order mine? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ems2004 (814056) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:23PM (#15928460) Homepage
    Where can I order mine?

    • Re:where can I order mine? (Score:5, Informative)

      by joe 155 (937621) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:26PM (#15928491) Journal
      according to this site; http://www.laptop.org/index.en_US.html [laptop.org] you won't be able to buy one, although I had previously heard that you could buy them for $300 as a way of donating 2 to children in the 2nd/3rd world
      • I had previously heard that you could buy them for $300 as a way of donating 2 to children in the 2nd/3rd world

        There was a movement (I don't remember the links) that you could sign up for where you pledged $300 dollars for a laptop with the intent that the extra money would buy laptops for children. However, I think that the $100 laptop guys have yet to accept that offer.

      • Re:where can I order mine? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by 88NoSoup4U88 (721233) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:43PM (#15928656) Homepage
        Yes, and I seriously wonder why, everytime (after the announcement of the 300$-project) this story has come up after that, the editor hasn't bothered to keep including the link to that.

        When this project is brought up (and it had its share of /. frontpage-posts), I always see a lot of posts of "I wouldn't mind getting my hands on one of them just for tinkering", and 300$ gives you AND good karma, and a very funny lil' computer.
        By keeping to mention the 300-dollar deal, I think it's easy for the editors to keep people aware of this possibility, and do their little contribution to which is, imo, a very good start in helping the third world countries partially keep up with the rest of the world.

    • Re:where can I order mine? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Kadin2048 (468275) <slashdot@kadin.xoxy@net> on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:38PM (#15928606) Homepage Journal
      Give it six months after the first really big deployment (not this one; this is just 500 units, basically prototypes) and they'll be all over eBay.

      Subsidizing the hell out of something and send it to the Third World is a good way to guarantee that it'll end up being sold right back to the First World, if there's any kind of demand.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by 4solarisinfo (941037)
      Your only real shot at getting one (legally) is in the form of a petition suggesting geeks would be willing to help fund 3 computers, if they got one (paying $300 for a $100PC and a warm fuzzy feeling). We discussed it here: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=19204 0&cid=15771034 [slashdot.org]
  • $100 Laptop Takes Flight in Thailand


    I know these laptops are built to be rugged, but is it really a good idea to send them flying through the air?

    • Re:Warranty coverage? (Score:4, Funny)

      by gardyloo (512791) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:36PM (#15928585)
      I know these laptops are built to be rugged, but is it really a good idea to send them flying through the air?

            It's all the rage. Jon-Benet's killer was apparently doing it there, too.

  • Anxious to see them in action (Score:5, Insightful)

    by OakDragon (885217) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:27PM (#15928497) Journal

    I am anxious to see these laptops in action. I have heard a lot of criticism that rather than laptops, the poor children of the world need clean water and nutritious food first. This is, of course, true. But such criticism supposes that all the poor are living in mud and filth. Not true - some have their basic needs somewhat met, and perhaps education is next on the list of needs.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by 88NoSoup4U88 (721233)
      ...and perhaps education is next on the list of needs. Very much agree with your post; I might even argue that education also helps in accomplishing the other necesities you pointed out (teaching them to fish, so to speak).

    • Re:Anxious to see them in action (Score:5, Insightful)

      by vga_init (589198) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:55PM (#15928782) Journal
      Right, but this is the way I see it: A lot of people blindly convert commidities into cash. If you consider the resources and labor that go into the production of electronics, you'll notice something--it's different! Electronics are made from plastics and metals in factories, by factory workers. Could these facilities produce food? Maybe...probably very poorly. Could these workers convert to managing a different kind of production? Sure, but they'd be less efficient!

      Furthermore, the facilities and workers for producing such laptops are in place, and they themselves cannot benefit 3rd world children in terms of food and water and health care. But can they contribute? Yes, they can, and that $100 going in exchange for the production of those laptops is not equivalent to $100 dollars worth of food! If things are balanced right, the value of the machines will be right and will not outweigh money spent on other items such as food.

      Food and water are essential, but it's unfair to say that the laptops would not be beneficial just as well. More pressing needs may exist, but every little thing helpful counts.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Locutus (9039)
      That's what I was wondering about when India made that statement about how they'd be better off spending money on schools and teachers. You got to wonder how some of those kid who are getting a decent education in India would react if they were told their schools can't purchase computers because a village with 10 kids needs a school and a teacher. THAT is effectively what they said when they dissed OLPC.

      It really shouldn't be and all-or-nothing proposal and you might think that OLPC should start marketing t

    • Re:Anxious to see them in action (Score:4, Insightful)

      by DieNadel (550271) on Thursday August 17 2006, @02:06PM (#15928879)
      This is completely true. I've taught at a poor comunity in South America whose members were able to provide for their basic needs, like water (pit) and food (familiar agriculture and livestock), but were clearly lacking in education.

      The problem lies basically at bringing the information to them, and a laptop like this would create a path for the information to flow (it could even be preloaded with classes' material) and teaching means as well (it could have educational and interactive software).

      I think that basic needs MUST be addressed first, but if you want these people to progress in the society, the only way to achieve this is through education.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by ThosLives (686517)

        The problem isn't so much 'bringing the information to them' but 'bringing the information to them in a way that doesn't take too much time away from meeting their basic needs'. This is why improving the base quality of living is so important.

        Here's a for instance. Let's say that a child in some part of the world has 16 waking hours a day, and it takes 12 of those to get food, clean water, etc. This means that there are 4 hours left for education. I am not convinced that a person can learn more in 4 hours

  • Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expects each child to receive a laptop instead of books as the books will be provided electronically.

    Reading DRM'd books on an 8 inch screen. Sweet! And all you have to do is turn the crank madly to see anything. These poor kids are gonna end up with right arms like Hell Boy.

    • Re:Ebooks for the poor (Score:5, Funny)

      by BigNumber (457893) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:30PM (#15928526)
      Must...Not...Make...Masturbation...Joke...

    • Re:Ebooks for the poor (Score:4, Funny)

      by XxtraLarGe (551297) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:35PM (#15928574) Journal
      These poor kids are gonna end up with right arms like Hell Boy.

      At least they could put a crank on each side so the kids can look like Popeye!

    • Re:Ebooks for the poor (Score:5, Informative)

      by mrchaotica (681592) * on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:36PM (#15928581)
      Reading DRM'd books on an 8 inch screen.

      The books are NOT DRM'd. The entire system is strictly freely-licensed.

      And all you have to do is turn the crank madly to see anything.

      It doesn't have a hand crank anymore.

      So, in other words, STFU because you're either ignorant or trolling.

      • The books are NOT DRM'd. The entire system is strictly freely-licensed.

        But if this projectd works in developing countries, the major publishers in developed countries will likely use the result to promote similar projects, except with oppressive DRM. You've all read "The Right to Read" by Richard Stallman [gnu.org], right?

        • They could, except I would expect the people behind the OLPC effort to refuse to sell the device to people who want to use it as a DRM'd ebook reader. Besides, if they wanted that then they could just ask Sony to make them one instead!

          And yes, I have read The Right to Read. In fact, it's one of my favorite tools to explain DRM to people, and I've cited it on Slashdot many times myself.

        • But if this projectd works in developing countries, the major publishers in developed countries will likely use the result to promote similar projects, except with oppressive DRM. You've all read "The Right to Read" by Richard Stallman [gnu.org], right?

          One problem with this, why would any non/undeveloped country buy into and use closed systems with DRMed media when they can get Open sourced for less?

          I read recently where in Africa a project is working that uses cheap computers and satellite receivers i

    • I suspect this whole deployment is more about saving government money (tens of thousands of textbooks cost a LOT more than $5000) than actually helping any kids. The kids will be stuck reading plain text books on an 8 inch screen and the prime minister will get a new palace.

      -Eric

    • Nothing wrong with a crank for power-- there are probably quite a few Dell laptop owners wishing that they had such sophisticated and reliable technology.
    • I don't think, or at least I've never heard, that any of the software on the system would support DRM.

      Nobody that I know of has ever proposed a good open-source DRM system, to the point where I'm beginning to think that it's impossible. DRM is security through obscurity; obscurity is anathema to open-source software; therefore it's very hard to try to implement DRM on an OSS platform, unless you use binary blobs or something.

      The use of systems like this, combined with strong licensing (if you could make the

    • And all you have to do is turn the crank madly to see anything. These poor kids are gonna end up with right arms like Hell Boy.

      Actually, the real models (ie: non-3d illustration) dont have cranks [com.com]:

      As initially envisioned, the laptops sported a hand crank on the side to generate power, but Negroponte has scrapped that idea because the twisting forces that would be bad for the machine. Instead, some form of power generation device, likely a pedal, will be attached to the AC power adapter, he said.

  • Laptops instead of books (Score:4, Insightful)

    by YrWrstNtmr (564987) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:33PM (#15928546)
    each child to receive a laptop instead of books as the books will be provided electronically.
    While good to get some tech in these kids hands, I can't help wondering about permanence. Without the printed page, past facts are easily changed to suit current attitudes. I know this isn't quite the case yet. But as we go farther down the road with ebooks, it will be a concern.

    Who are we at war with today?
    • Do you remember elementary school? The books you had access to at school were the ones that the school decided you should have access to. It's no harder for the school to say "only books that say ________ is evil are allowed" as it is to change e-books to say "_________ is evil."

      I think this is a non-issue here.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Kesch (943326)

      While good to get some tech in these kids hands, I can't help wondering about permanence. Without the printed page, past facts are easily changed to suit current attitudes. I know this isn't quite the case yet. But as we go farther down the road with ebooks, it will be a concern.

      You my friend are suffering from a mild case of Tinfoil Hat Syndrome. Electronically stored text is easily as permanent as a dead tree version. (Digital storage medium lifetimes aside). A pdf on my computer will not change its facts

  • Now when John Mark Karr kills children in his new country, he can get free laptops!

  • Taking flight? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Coopjust (872796) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:43PM (#15928665)
    Looks like Ballmer got to them first...
  • Not everyone that is poor in the world is starving to death and barely able to make any sort of living. Some people are just poor, their basic needs are met though, now they need education, that is what this laptop is for. Not the people that are literally starving to death or still have to worry about the plague.

    If your response was gonna be "why dont they worry about feeding them instead" you are an idiot, and should frankly just shut up.

  • And yet, here in the US... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by HoboMaster (639861) on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:47PM (#15928703)
    Public school children are mostly prohibited from having laptops in class, many private schools only allow laptops with special permission, and the private schools that use laptops still force their students to deal with paper textbooks. What I want to know is, when do we get "a computer for every child" in the US?
    • Public school children are mostly prohibited from having laptops in class, many private schools only allow laptops with special permission, and the private schools that use laptops still force their students to deal with paper textbooks. What I want to know is, when do we get "a computer for every child" in the US?

      If there were ever a case of apples to oranges, this is it.

      In the first place, for all we know the kids will be expected to put their computers away and work with the teacher much of the day -- ju

  • Sounds like a good idea, but questions remain (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Harry Balls (799916) * on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:50PM (#15928728)
    I understand these 500 notebook computers are merely a trial run, the actual quantity needed is probably around 5 million.

    I see some problems, however.
    The minimum wage in Thailand is just below $100 per month. That's right, $100.

    What if the notebook computer gets damaged through fault of the kid?
    What if the notebook computer gets damaged through no fault of the kid?
    What if the notebook computer gets stolen?
    What if the notebook computer gets sold by the kid / his [drug-addicted] [financially distressed] parent?

    A family with one minimum wage earner could be pushed into financial ruin by any of these events.
    • I would hope that if a child's laptop gets stolen/broke/whatever, that the would have alternatives so the child can learn without it (school desktop computers, textbooks, etc) until another laptop is donated. I really would hope schools wouldn't expect, or force, parents to replace it.
    • They're not meant to be bought by individuals or families, but rather by governments. The plan is to make them ubiquitous, so that they're a completely commodity - in other words, there's no point in stealing them, and there's no value in selling them.

      Yes, if they get busted, that's a problem - that's why they're as rugged as possible. Probably the kid just exchanges it for a working one. (If they break several, then you've got a problem kid, I guess...)
    • The minimum wage in Thailand is just below $100 per month. That's right, $100.

      And the minimum wage in the United States is just below $900 per month. How much does an entry-level Windows notebook computer cost? What if the notebook computer of a student in such a developed country gets stolen or damaged?

  • the only problem is... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2006, @01:57PM (#15928794)
    Replacing books with e-books causes all sorts of problems. No notes on the side of the page, no highlighting, harder to share / look on with a friend, harder to work collaboratively, harder to read at length, harder to transport.

    Books are *great*. Reading off of a computer screen is *terrible*.
  • 1) No one has seen the magical lowcost screen yet

    2) No one knows how the mesh network will work

    3) No one knows how hard the batteries will be to keep charged

    4) No one knows how usable the software apps will be

    5) Nobody gets a refund if any of these wishful thoughts fall through

    • Re:Untested tech = snakeoil (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fullmetal55 (698310) on Thursday August 17 2006, @02:11PM (#15928932)
      hence the 500 unit real-world test environment... if this was a 5 million unit deployment... I'd understand this post having validity... but this is a 500 unit deployment... a real-world test... I don't understand your getting irritated calling this "snake oil" because it hasn't been tested... well, this article is a bunch of propaganda about the product, based around the 500 unit test. don't call it snake-oil yet. let the real-world test go through its paces before you get defensive...
  • Okay, assuming there's "book reader" software, I wonder if the book reader will enable "writing in the margins" or otherwise adding user notes. When translating from a paper book to electronic, that's one functionality that might disappear which is often rather useful at times.

    Is there a repository of software to be loaded on these things somewhere? It would be interesting to see what goes into these things.

  • After work conversation... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mister Whirly (964219) on Thursday August 17 2006, @02:25PM (#15929060) Homepage
    "Hi honey. What a day. Do we have anything to eat?"
    "Um, no, but we do have this ghetto laptop."
    "Can you eat it?"
    "No."
    "That's great. Maybe we can look at pictures of food then."

  • Printing?? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Six Feet Pete (996179) on Thursday August 17 2006, @07:28PM (#15931465)
    How are these kids going to print stuff. The price of ink is higher than the laptop!!

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.