Rich kids don't use the new telecommunications exclusively for videogaming - they've invented new social spaces, even new languages. Why should we think the less privileged will do any less?
Look forward to the unleashing of a wave of independent, creative learning. Expect to be as isolated from it as you are from what goes on in the cybermind of anyone borne to Gen X, Y or We.
The laptop features a string pulley to charge its battery, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera, wireless connectivity and Linux open-source operating software tailored for remote regions.
The display switches from color to black and white for viewing in direct sunlight -- a feature unavailable in laptops at least 10 times more expensive.
It requires just two watts of power compared to the typical laptop's 30 to 40 watts, and does away with hard drives, relying instead on flash memory and four USB ports to add memory devices. A minute of yanking on its pulley generates 10 minutes of electricity.
Negroponte said U.S. schools could receive the laptops by the end of the year in response to interest from 19 governors....
The laptops will enter mass production in September if the One Laptop Per Child Foundation that runs the project receives orders for at least 3 million devices, Negroponte said.
Formal orders begin in May but Negroponte said he thinks he has 2.5 million so far. The project will be delayed if he doesn't reach 3 million.
Jim Finkle, Boston Globe, April 26.
For under 200 bucks, these kids will own more computing power than Neil Armstrong took to the moon. With an internet conection they'll have access to most of the computing pwer in the world. It's only a matter of time before each kid finds what works for her.
And whatever way they start down the path to learning, they'll be on it.
If that's not the stuff of a revolution, what is.
It will be hard to keep up.