Pogue on the $100 Laptop
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
David Pogue for the NY Times: Laptop With a Mission Faces Its Biggest Obstacle
In November, you’ll be able to buy a new laptop that’s spillproof, rainproof, dustproof and drop-proof. It’s fanless, it’s silent and it weighs 3.2 pounds. One battery charge will power six hours of heavy activity, or 24 hours of reading. The laptop has a built-in video camera, microphone, memory-card slot, graphics tablet, game-pad controllers and a screen that rotates into a tablet configuration.
And this laptop will cost $188.
…
No, the biggest obstacle to the XO’s success is not technology — it’s already a wonder — but fear. Overseas ministers of education fear that changing the status quo might risk their jobs. Big-name computer makers fear that the XO will steal away an overlooked two-billion-person market. Critics fear that the poorest countries need food, malaria protection and clean water far more than computers.
This is fascinating. I have to say I’d have made the same mistake the developers may have made in thinking the biggest hurdle would be building a computer for $100. I think Pogue is right on the money here but hopefully some creative evangelism by people who are good at that piece (like Pogue) will help this cool machine do what it was built to do.
Of course, then there’s the other piece of this puzzle: is a computer like this or any computer the right tool for children in developing countries? Is it the right thing for us to push this kind of technology, even give it away, to small developing countries or shame governments into buying into it? I’m not sure and it certainly is worth thinking about.
Reminds me of the seemingly innocent anthropologist who goes in to study an isolated aboriginal people and without knowing it introduces the common cold, something they’ve never had.
Note: See one laptop per child.
It’s hard to fathom the true power of a laptop and the Internet. In Myanmar they just pulled the plug on Internet access to quell the protesters. Knowledge is power and these governments fear it.
Andrew, that’s certainly a timely and important way to look at it. I would never want to stop that kind of access but there are undoubtedly places where the culture shock of being exposed to the rest of the world might do some initial harm. There are places that are a bit further out than Burma.
I have worked a lot in rural areas in African countries and I think thym laptot programmes is a gond exemple of people coming in from the outside coming in thinking they know it all and can solve peoples problems by through techology at it. These kind of actions rarely lead to the desired result and in the worst case lead to a lot of disruption and harm (to people; I do not care too much about what it does to governments). Better spend that money on healthcare and education (like paying teacher salaries, etc.).
I agree David although one could make the case, like in Burma, that a laptop might give a citizen the information and so freedom to make better and more informed choices.
However, like you I question the “push” of this project.
Here’s one of the reasons I question general “push” of projects like these:
‘Unknown’ Peru Amazon tribe seen
About the Burma case, do you really believe a laptop is needed to give citizens access to information their government is unwilling to give them access to. I think that problem was already solved through word of mouth, flyers, underground newspapers, radio, etc. long ago. A laptop can only aid if internet access is available and uncensored.
Besides, I don’t think these people are trying to promote laptop as a way to spread democracy, but more as the solution to underdevelopment…
I agree David, but just because Negroponte et al have a narrow focus (education in developing countries) doesn’t mean once the thing hits the streets it can’t be used for other things.
I think it’s useful for folks in Burma to know (if they have access at the Thai border) that the rest of the world is watching (even if it’s not doing enough at the moment).