[geeks] $100 One Laptop Per Child - grist for the mill

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 @ 21:18 -0600, Mike Hebel said:

> So a person desparate to make his life better would not work to learn?

Are they desperate to do that?

I submit that a large part of their problem is that they don't take
advantage of opportunities.

Historically that's one of the first problems to be solved in almost any
troubled community.

> These are to be sold to GOVERNMENTS and ORGANIZATIONS not directly to the
> people themselves.  In theory the people get them for free.  Produce
> enough of them and the country will likely overflow with them so even the
> most corrupt governments won't be able to control them.

Well, this thread also mentioned purchases by individuals.

Governments will do what they do with everything else: use it for
warfare and the rich, and the people will never see it.

Organizations... they are the better method of distribution.

> > To me, if the people solved their fundamental problems--slavery,
> > genocide, civil war, unchecked disease and causes thereof, near total
> > lack of national will, and so on--and created a stable civilization,
> > they probably would not need anyone's help getting laptops.
> 
> You work for the Federation Temporal Adjustment Division don't you.  Or at
> least you love paradox...
> 
> One FUNDAMENTAL solution to solving the above problems you've mentioned is
> EDUCATION.

I used to have a neighbor from Nigeria. He used to tell me stories about
life over there. I think most of the people on this list have some
serious illusions about what it is like.

What he told me is that "computers for the people" has been a holy grail
in africa since he was a kid. He talked about similar programs using
timesharing systems in the 70s. Same basic goals as we've been talking
about here, just a different level of technology. Central systems in
stable cities, with cheap terrestial communications as far out as they
could afford.

As time went on there would be new projects every few years as
technology changed.

The fundamental problem observed is that without stability of everyday
life, it is difficult to make use of a lot of modern tools like
computers.

Now, I'm not saying it never worked, because it did.

However, where it worked they first made sure that the people had
hands-on education, indoctrination in community will, survival skills,
and basic knowledge of local organization.

This was done hands-on and in person.

When that was done, they made good use of things like computers
and other tools.

When that was not done, the money spent on technology was wasted.

You appear to think that this hands-on approach can be replaced with a
$100 laptop, and I don't agree.

> Sorry if I sound harsh here but I grew up being told that I would never
> amount to anything.  They told my mother that I was never going to be
> anything but an idiot or basic working slave.  Now, the way I see it,
> you've already decided the same thing about these people.  And that makes
> me angry.

I said nothing remotely like what you are implying above.

I said I don't think the laptops are their priority, and you are
implying that I said they can't make it.



-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny." --
Unknown]