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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Hey all,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Don’t we want these tablets? Whether they are meant to rain
from the skies, or wash up on the shores of<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Mombasa, I believe we can persuade Mr. Negroponte to start with
us. Who can make contact, Agosta..?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'>Harry<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] <b>On
Behalf Of </b>Agosta Liko<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, November 07, 2011 5:52 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> harry@comtelsys.co.ke<br>
<b>Cc:</b> KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [kictanet] Lets all move to remote parts of Africa - The
laptops are coming :)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><a
href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-drop-tablets-from-helicopters-to-isolated-villages.ars">http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/11/the-sods-must-be-crazy-olpc-to-drop-tablets-from-helicopters-to-isolated-villages.ars</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has devised a bizarre plan for
deploying its new XO-3 tablet. The organization plans to drop the touchscreen
computers from helicopters near remote villages in developing countries. The
devices will then be abandoned and left for the villagers to find, distribute,
support, and use on their own.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte is optimistic that the portable
devices—which will be stocked with electronic books—will empower children to
learn to read without any external support or instruction. The strange scheme
reflects the OLPC project’s roots in constructivist education theory, which
emphasizes self-directed learning.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The OLPC project was originally founded to produce low-cost
education-focused laptops for children. The organization planned to sell the
devices in bulk to governments in developing countries, which would then
distribute them in classrooms. The plan was to leverage economy of scale in
manufacturing to bring the costs down, making the laptop cheap enough that
governments would be able to supply one to every child.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Although the ambitious project sold several million laptops, it fell far
short of its lofty goals and has been on life support for the past few years.
In addition to fundamental <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/01/olpc-angering-donors-give-1-get-1-some-day-probably.ars">logistical</a>
and technical failures, OLPC also suffered from <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/negroponte-developers-at-odds-over-future-of-olpc-platform.ars">internal
friction</a>, <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/04/exodus-of-key-figures-from-olpc-a-troubling-sign-for-project.ars">ideological
conflicts</a>, and <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/olpc-project-looks-for-new-leadership.ars">poor
management</a>. OLPC was forced to <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/g1g1-failure-and-reduced-sponsorship-behind-the-olpc-layoffs.ars">downsize
half its staff</a> and <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/01/olpc-downsizes-half-of-its-staff-cuts-sugar-development.ars">discontinue
its software platform</a> in 2009 (a separate organization called Sugar Labs
was founded to pick up where OLPC left off on the software) after its second
give-one-get-one fundraiser fell through the floor.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>After the staff cuts, OLPC dropped its plan to produce a dual-touchscreen laptop
and instead decided to focus on tablets. The organization showed off glossy
concept art of an impossibly thin XO-3 tablet at the end of 2009. Last year, it
announced a <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/05/olpc-partners-with-marvell-gets-into-the-tablet-game.ars">partnership</a>
with hardware component maker Marvell. OLPC pragmatically chose to adopt
Marvell’s off-the-shelf reference design instead of trying to pursue the
unrealistic form factor that was shown in the original XO-3 mockups.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The tablets that Negroponte intends to fling from helicopters are based on
that Marvell design, but with a few enhancements, such as solar powered
batteries that will allow them to be used in regions without access to
electricity. It’s not clear yet if the organization was able to successfully
meet its target $75 production price.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Negroponte described the helicopter drop plan at the Open Mobile Summit
event in San Francisco. According to <a
href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp#fbid=yj2DHk4jyPG">a
PC Magazine report</a>, he compared the project to the classic 1980 film, <em>The
Gods Must Be Crazy</em>, which depicted how an isolated tribe in the Kalahari
Desert might react to discovering a Coca-Cola bottle that fell from an
airplane.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>“We’ll take tablets and drop them out of helicopters into villages that have
no electricity and school, then go aback a year later and see if the kids can
read,” Negroponte <a
href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/negroponte_tablet_airdrops/">told
The Register</a>. He reportedly cited Professor Sugata Mitra’s <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HiWEL">Hole in the Wall</a> experiment as
the basis for his belief that dropping the tablets will encourage self-directed
literacy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Among the major challenges that the OLPC project was never able to fully
overcome during its laptop days were supporting the hardware in the field and
providing teachers with the proper training and educational material. In light
of the cost and difficulty of tackling those issues, it’s not hard to see why
the eccentric stealth drop approach looks appealing to Negroponte.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The obvious downside, however, is the sheer improbability that a majority of
the dropped devices will ever serve their intended function. It seems unlikely
that Negroponte will find governments that are willing to fund such an odd
boondoggle, though Marvell has provided some <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/10/olpc-gets-56-million-from-marvell-to-build-android-tablet.ars">financial
backing</a>. Perhaps somebody needs to air drop Negroponte a healthy dose of
common sense to go with his change-the-world ambitions.<o:p></o:p></p>
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