Waiting for the OLPC

Cyrus Farivar has a piece on Slate today titled “Still waiting for that $100 laptop?“. He writes: “Negroponte’s plan to heal the world with laptops is well-meaning but fundamentally flawed. What good is a laptop in the middle of rural Thailand when electricity, much less Internet access, are spotty at best? Rather than getting laptops into the hands of every schoolchild across the world, why not start with an intermediate step? Probably because One Blackboard per Child or One Teacher per Classroom just doesn’t sound as sexy.”

You know, I have been a great believer in the “One Blackboard per School” idea myself and written about it here. Well, as it happened, Cyrus stopped by my place in Santa Clara yesterday afternoon and we had a brief conversation about OLPC and other matters. Today he has a brief report on BBC’s “The World” program on Public Radio International. Near the end, I explain why the OLPC could increase the digital divide. Listen here.

Author: Atanu Dey

Economist.

2 thoughts on “Waiting for the OLPC”

  1. I read your blog and thought I could tell you about something else which would be useful for seeing maps and directions in India.

    I am writing to tell you about MapmyIndia.com, a free interactive maps and directions portal for all India. See the map of connaught place, new delhi, get directions in mumbai from nariman point to juhu airport, and find nearby ATMs in kormangala, bangalore.

    As a company and individual enthusiasts, we dream only of solving the problem of reliable directions and navigation for India. For your blog specifically, you can map enable it by using our youtube-style embeddable maps, and links to specific searches (of maps, directions, local and eLocation) on MapmyIndia.

    Do give us feedback, suggestions, or get involved yourself by mailing me back at tarun@mapmyindia.com or marketing@mapmyindia.com.

    And if you find the different services useful, we would be grateful to you for writing and telling your readers about us.

    Warm Regards,
    Tarun Gupta
    The MapmyIndia Team
    For directions in India, just search print and go with MapmyIndia.com

    Like

Comments are closed.

%d bloggers like this: