OLPC

That stands for One Laptop Per Child – a project aimed at providing a cheap and robust laptop to children in developing countries. It’s aimed at bridging the so-called Digital Divide.

 

It’s certainly an ambitious project, and has caught the attention of both the UN and the geeks. And while I’m certainly not decrying the value of education alongside solving other problems like disease and hunger, I’m not convinced that this device will turn out to be the best solution. The phrase "cheap and robust" sounds too much like an oxymoron when applied to computers. Even when it’s "expensive and robust" it’s often the same – witness Apple’s problems with its iPOD Nano – they couldn’t make that robust, and it’s not even a proper computer, just a playback toy.

 

Lee Felsenstein dissects the OLPC in greater depth, and the prognosis is not good.