One laptop per child and you

Dear SamMcKeon,

I believe the current policy is that taxpayers are entitled to a rebate of about $300 – the exact figure I’m not so sure, PER CHILD, for electronic gadgetry deemed necessary for school.

Ther are a number of taxpayers looking for valid ways of minimising their tax obligation, a number of those taxpayers do not have children.

Do some maths. Naturally more research warranted, but if you are willing to put in the time which you obviously keen to do, you could build a charity organisation bigger than CCF.

‘Fisher Price piece of junk’? It has self-healing mesh networking, it’s way more durable than anything else on the market but a ToughBook and you can read the display in direct sunlight. For the purposes/places it was designed for, it’s perfect.

I think one of the most interesting things to come out of the OLPC project is just how cheaply consumer grade laptops are actually made (all of them by one or two Taiwanese companies, under contract to HP, Toshiba etc) and just how mature the technology is for better batteries. We are all being ripped off, and most of us are either too stupid to realise it or to squeal about it.

As for tic-tac-toe OS.. If it’s good enough for Google, and places like oh, I dunno; airlines, banks? The only thing here that’s really tic-tac-toe here is you Woody.

in principle this sounds like a great project but i’m just wondering about some details and i have some additional comments about students (especially younger ones) and education.

do the laptops get given straight to the child ie to take home/keep? if so, am i cynical in thinking that some laptops will end up being misused by parents, in the same way the baby bonus gets invested in plasma tvs etc (sorry i know it’s a stereotype but let’s not pretend it doesn’t happen).

secondly computers in every school for use in school time by all students = fantastic and i wholeheartedly support. but using them all the time instead of books and paper – well call me old-fashioned (and i am NOT that old!) but i do think there is a real danger in this. imho it leads to laziness in not thinking for yourself (because it’s all too easy to just google an answer) and an ability to write legibly and spell properly (without using a spell check!). remember the akuna/woodstock sign people!!!

back in the 90s my school introduced a laptop for every student policy starting year 5 and 8. from memory at this point i was in year 10 so i had instead gone through school writing – so while my handwriting isn’t stellar (i blame bad genes) it’s ok. but my youngest sister who was in year 5 at the time got the laptop and used it from that point in all her classes and for homework etc – as a result her handwriting is that of a primary school student still!!

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

You could buy them all brand new Acer laptops for that sort of money, not that Fisher Price piece of junk with its tic-tac-toe OS.

what is wrong with the o/s? nobody complains about the eee pc these days…

and acer have released their own tiny notebook.

why is it, though, that CASE use and recommend Dell? shouldn’t they be throwing their support behind whitebox local manufacturers / assemblers?

as a not for profit, shouldn’t they be supporting the canberra region?

it is good to see where gordon urquhart ended up. Now there is an old school IT person. ah, the memories…

A footy or a bike and subsequent exposure to the outside world might be more beneficial

Again…Word!

barking toad said :

A footy or a bike and subsequent exposure to the outside world might be more beneficial

Yeah, it would be in terms of health. But this world (and the world of the next generation) is based on technology. If children aren’t given a solid grounding in technology and computing, they won’t be able to survive in an increasingly electronic society.

So, a football or a bike would work really well if we were trying to raise a generation of kids who see Todd Carney as a hero and have a burning desire to ride in the Tour de France. It won’t work so well if we want our children to grow up to be professionals. It’s not just the IT industry who rely on computers now – it’s every industry. A solid grounding in technology is essential for any career. Unfortunately you don’t get that by chasing a football around all day.

L (Three post nutbag! Wheeeee!)

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

You could buy them all brand new Acer laptops for that sort of money, not that Fisher Price piece of junk with its tic-tac-toe OS.

WMC – interesting point. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find an Acer laptop with MS for $175. If you find one, let me know?

L

$350 actually buys two laptops, toad.

L

One laptop per child? That’s a bit kev747.

And for $350?

A footy or a bike and subsequent exposure to the outside world might be more beneficial

You could buy them all brand new Acer laptops for that sort of money, not that Fisher Price piece of junk with its tic-tac-toe OS.