__/ [ Kier ] on Saturday 30 December 2006 10:44 \__
> On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:53:52 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> __/ [ B Gruff ] on Friday 29 December 2006 23:51 \__
>>
>>> According to the BBC (well, Bill Thompson, for the BBC, at least):-
>>>
>>> "The really significant change this year was the successful development
>>> of the Children's Machine, which started life as the '$100 laptop', a
>>> project to create a low-cost computer that governments can give to
>>> children around the world"
>>>
>>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6202947.stm
>>
>> Thanks goodness Microsoft is up to something different and better.
^
Oops. Typo.
>>
http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/30/gates-proposes-cellphones-as-alternative-to-olpc/
>>
>> Err...
>
> This isn't as stupid as it sounds. The other day I heard a news report on
> the radio about how many poor farmers (and other tradesmen) in Kenya or
> somewhere similar were using their mobiles to access feed market prices
> and other information useful to them, and that they were becoming
> essential items. Over here, they are as much fashion acessories as
> anything else, but there, they are becoming important tools for survival.
Well, they might serve a particular task at present. Many out-of-fashion
phone are being shipped to these countires. But are laptops currently used
there? If not, why? Could it be because there's no access to them or that
the price is too high? Cellphones are cheap.
Motorola chairman: Mobiles for under $15 likely by 2008
,----[ Quote ]
| Mobile phones costing less than $15 will be available in developing
| countries by 2008, Motorola Chairman David Brown has predicted.
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6131929.html
That doesn't make cellphones the best tool for the job though. You can't
properly use Wikipedia, for example, by punching 10 buttons.
If Gates' idea was so reasonable, then how come we heard nothing about it
since? If anything, more low-cost laptop initiatives have emerged since. And
Gates... well, he's running scared and his latest whack-a-mole swat is the
OLPC, which proves to be highly successful.
--
~~ Kind greetings and happy holidays!
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