OLPC XO 3.0 tablet: an 8-inch tablet for $100, with Android and Sugar options for the children (update: pictures!)

The newer model is higher spec’d than the first one.. And it isn’t double the cost. Although higher spec’d doesn’t mean that much, coz the first one had a 330 mhz processor or so..

The world has more shades than that. This is for those that have food and water but not enough resources for a good education.

Come on, have some ambition. It’s almost impossible to have a discussion on technology in Africa, etc. without the “give them three square meals” mantra raising it’s head. We’ve leapfrogged fixed line telephony and are pioneering mobile, haven’t you heard? Just saying…

-I was objecting to the notion that the tablet’s designers weren’t concerned about overall UI. They built a custom OS from the ground up for the device. They also spec’d it to run on Android, because that allows the users to gain access to the same world of apps (productive and otherwise) the rest of us use. This would be the precise opposite of the “good enough for poor people” approach some posters have been suggesting is at play here.

-We knew it had a touchscreen (specifically an über-efficient PixelQi transflective display), and accessories for solar and kinetic charging. We also knew it was designed by two very smart men (Negroponte and Behar) specifically to be used by children in the developing world. One would presume the two of them thought it a good idea to make it at least a little durable.

But ultimately, the thing that really irked me was that the OP was really just a troll on Android wrapped up in false piety and fake concern for poor people. Nobody (nobody!) said it can’t run Honeycomb. Or ICS. It can likely run both…the Armada 618 is clocked at 1Ghz and it’s got 512MB RAM – there are Gingerbread phones (hell, Eclair phones) being upgraded to ICS with lesser specs than that. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because it’s not about what you want in a device. It’s about what is functional, reliable, and sustainable. This device is all of those things. And it’s cheeeeep. Cheap enough that it doesn’t really raise questions about the money being better spent on things like food (like an iPad would at 5x the price). People like to talk about the iPad as a revolutionary, gamechanger of a device. Well yeah, sure – in certain parts of the world. But do you think the iPad has revolutionized West Africa? (hint: it hasn’t). This device is meant to lower the bar for entry for education and Internet access in developing countries. It’s fundamentally different from the luxury devices we play with every day.

I get it, this is a gadget blog. We’re all used to reacting to gadgets based on levels of WANT. But this isn’t for you. It’s for someone else.

Doing something does not give you magic invulnerability to critisim, asshole.

As far as I remember, the companies involved in the manufacture of this did not regard the OLPC as a charity project. The manufacturing costs includes the profit made by the manufacturer. This is is very much justified, as these companies did not volunteer to do this for free – especially considering an extremely slim margin of pretty much any computer assembly and components. This was one of the biggest problem of OLPC project – the volume of order was expected to be in the hundreds of millions, yet the actual number turned out to be a few million. Companies doubled the price of the hardware because the volume was so low. It was a PR debacle for OLPC, but especially for Quanta – who got burned when the price hike got media attention (hence good intention going bad). This is part of the reason I am very much skeptical of anything that comes out of OLPC program, because it has no credibility from the past relations with their partners.

Don’t get me wrong, I really respect OLPC’s intention. And I’m reading in the comments that in some part of the countries they were indeed successful. As I’ve said to satan, people are entitled to their own opinions – and as for me, I take OLPC related topic with a pile of salt. But that’s just me – given my opinions about the topic, I prefer others look things up themselves :)

I totally understand your point. And I’m glad the concept of OLPC has been tried out, since the core concept was brilliant. I remember arguing for OLPC with my colleagues when the project was announced – and tried to convince others that access to information is the most crucial key to improving the lives of the poor. What I have not thought through at the time and am completely embarrassed now is how the government and financial reality is still at the heart of the problems of the poor – and did not realize that until the news of OLPC’s failure came pouring in a few years after it had started.

As far as me being harsh on OLPC – this is simply my opinion about the OLPC as a specific organization and its history. I just don’t turn blind eyes to their failings and am very skeptical about them anymore. I kind of understand Satan’s irate response – he says that I’m not part of it, and he’s right – I no longer support nor encourage OLPC program because of their reputation.

You could very well be right that the program just hasn’t been given enough time to work out the kinks. Who knows?

If you don’t care what people on the internet think then why are you, yaknow, posting on the internet?

You shouldn’t care what other people on the internet think about you, but with spelling and grammar skills like yours you should be ashamed of yourself. Your browser has a spell check for goodness sake.