Fwd: [wplug] One Laptop Per Child

[Sam Al-Droubi]

Thank you for this reminder about the XO laptop.  It is a great project.  I am wondering what is suggested child age range for this laptop?  I could not find this information anywhere.  Does anyone know?



Greg Simkins <gregsim at telerama.com> wrote: Hi A Belser, 

I ordered my XO laptop on Day No. 1.  I had registered to be notified and ordered it immediately.  I read on http://olpcnews.com/forum/ that several folks have already received theirs.  I added my name to the frappr map that I found there (http://www.frappr.com/?a=basics&s=size&mvid=137440349626&origin=onsite).  I hope that it shows up any day now.  I have a grandson nearly 5 years old.  He was so excited 2 years ago when my wife gave him a Spiderman laptop which teaches him to spell 3 letter words.  Last year, I gave him a laptop from Radio Shack that was on sale - it was a bit more like a real laptop - had usb port, mouse, etc.  I haven't heard much whether he uses it.  I am hoping that OLPC XO will be a hit for him.  He may still be a bit young for it, but he is precocious (after all, he is my grandson).  


I saw an XO at the Ohio Linux meeting (www.ohiolinux.org) and was really amazed at how small it was.  When I first saw it in Popular Science, it looked pretty much like a regular laptop - the proportions, that is.  You need fairly tiny fingers to fit the XO keyboard.  


Oh - I also posted the Wall Street Journal article to slashdot and it got some good comments.  (see below)  


I hope this helps.  


Greg






 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Intel, Microsoft Despised the XO Laptop                            |
|   from the immune-response dept.                                   |
|   posted by kdawson on Saturday November 24, @15:59 (Education)    |
|   http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/24/2015229       |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
 
[0]gregsim writes "The Wall Street Journal today reports that the new XO
laptop, centerpiece of the One Laptop Per Child project, is
[1]stimulating an active response from both Intel and Microsoft. The
companies evidently feel threatened by the little upstart, intended to
help third-world children. (The XO runs Linux and uses AMD chips.)
Microsoft has cut their software to $3 each and Intel has designed their
own laptop called the Classmate to sell between $230 and $300, nearly
double the XO's price. Rather than defend the relative merits of his
creation, professor Negroponte is crying foul and (if the article is to
be believed) not even arguing the technical merits. The initial demand
for the XO has fallen well below Mr. Negroponte's projections as Intel
and Microsoft have successfully argued that their entries are superior.
45,000 have been ordered through the Give One, Get One campaign. I am
happy that I ordered mine — it will be a landmark model in any case."
 
Discuss this story at:
   http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/24/2015229
 
Links:
   0. mailto:gregsim at telerama.com
   1. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119586754115002717.html?mod=home_we_banner_left
 
      




Begin forwarded message:

From: Elwin Green <elwin15208 at yahoo.com>
Date: December 17, 2007 11:42:40 AM EST
To: wplug at wplug.org, abelser at post-gazette.com
Subject: [wplug] One Laptop Per Child
Reply-To: General user list <wplug at wplug.org>


 
Greetings,
   
  You folks were a huge help to me in my piece on Linux. Now I'm hoping that you can help one of my colleagues, Ann Belser. Ann is working on a story about the One Laptop Per Child project, headed by Nicholas Negroponte. If any of you has any connection with the project, whether it's having ordered a laptop, or having made some contribution to the software (however small), or in any other way - or if you even know anyone who has a connection to it, of any kind - could you drop her a line at abelser at post-gazette.com? She knows that I'm making this request, so you can use my name if you like. Thanks!
   
  Elwin G.
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Sincerely, 
Sam Al-Droubi, M.S.
saldroubi at yahoo.com
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