Sign In / Register
Make This My Home Page | Feedback |RSS
You are here: IE »   Story

Let them have laptops

  • Print
  • Mail This Article
  • Comments
  • Add to favorites
  • The extraordinary power of technology is so plainly evident in everyday life that nobody needs to be persuaded about its ability to transform human society — for better or worse. The World Wide Web and the mobile phone network are only two of the more visible products of the revolution in the information and communications technology. Unfortunately, it is easy to be seduced by the notion that technology is the answer to all problems. The truth is that technology can only address the technical aspects of a problem. If it is a sociological problem, for instance, technological solutions won’t help and may in fact make the problem worse.

    A high profile contemporary example of an inappropriate technical intervention is the XO laptop promoted by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project headed by the celebrated technologist and former head of MIT Media Lab, Nicholas Negroponte. The grand vision is to assist in the education of children in developing economies by providing each child at government expense with a laptop created especially for that purpose.

    Ads by Google

    The XO is a technological masterpiece of good design and fabrication. It costs around US$200 and has features suitable for use by children. It consumes power frugally, can withstand rough use, and can be used in hot and dusty environments. However, the OLPC promoters claim that it is not a laptop project but rather it is about education. Their goal is to bridge the digital divide so that children in poorer parts of the world can also have access to the digital educational resources through the Internet.

    ... contd.

    Next1234
    Comments
    Post comment

    Be the first to comment.

    Post a Comment
    Name:
    Email:
    Title:
    Maximum characters allowed     
    Comment:
    TERMS OF USE:
    The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).
    I agree to the terms of use.