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Check it out–a year ago, Linux on the XO was annoying because it needed an external mouse and was a huge pain to install. Thanks to Teapot’s instructions over at the OLPCNews.com forum it was largely a breeze. I did have to change “/dev/mmcblk0p1″ to “/dev/mmcblk1p1″ to get one bit to work, but aside from that, it was pretty straightforward. My only problem now is working in Ubuntu–anyone know how to change the time on the clock? Can’t work it out at all.
Around this time, back in 2007, you may recall me freaking out about the new XO-1 laptop from OLPC I was waiting for. OLPC is the name of a non-profit that was created in order to design a laptop computer so cheaply that 3rd World governments would want to buy One Laptop Per Child in their country–get it? OLPC. Their plan initially was to make a laptop that would cost $100, which they'd then charge $100 for. I know–zero mark-up, these guys must be COMMIES! ;)
Sadly, they didn't quite make their target price, but $200 for a netbook as full featured, as this thing is, still ain't bad. Last year, OLPC announced a program called "Give 1 Get 1" or G1G1 and it allowed Americans to buy two OLPC XO laptops–they would get one, and the other would go to a kid in a 3rd-world country. Pretty cool, huh? So, naturally, since it was mixing gadgets with philantrhopy (and the XO is a great little piece of hardware) I had to support it.
Today, the program returns via Amazon.com. Check out http://amazon.com/xo to order now!
But you may be wondering just what the heck some poor kid in a village is going to do with a laptop? The answer is easy: learn.
The XO's onboard OS, called SugarOS, comes with a bunch of great educational applications (called "activities") that help kids learn about all sorts of things, from math, to music, to more. If the village has a single computer with Internet access, every XO in the village can access the same connection and can even share Internet connections amongst each other XO thanks to Mesh networking technology. Mesh allows each XO to connect and each XO user to share activities to encourage kids to work together (up to a kilometer away!).
But a laptop in the middle of the 3rd World?
The XO has a huge battery lifespan–one charge gives it about twice as long a run as my MacBook gets on it's battery. Part of this lifespan jump is thanks to the XO's dual mode laptop display which allows you to switch from back-lit-color to straight black & white with just a button-press. The B&W mode is perfect for outdoor settings. No moving parts also allows the XO to use less energy. Its case is durable and practical (it even has a handle) and is generally spill and dust proof. I know, I have one.
My only gripe about the XO is the OS. While I understand creating a non-windows, non-Windows-based lappie for kids (we want them to use computers in a positive way), I do feel that the OS limits the kids on how much they can do. While the laptop's processor surpasses that of my old, 1998 Toshiba Satellite's, I was not able to work on my novel and research on the web simultaneously on the XO. This is something I did every day for a year-straight on my Satellite. The good news is that it is possible to run Linux (and even Windows XP–though you wouldn't want to) on the XO. It alows you to pack a bit more punch and take a bit more advantage of the RAM. Of course, I say this as a computer-geek-extraordinaire–not as a kid in a third world country. Speaking of which, 3rd World kids seem to enjoy the XO just fine.
Why not drop $400 and let another kid get one?
Or get it at my Amazon store here:
http://astore.amazon.com/thepetecom-20/detail/B001GB87EI
Either way, any computer is going to beat the computer most of these kids are going to get. Make a difference and own the laptop that invented the netbook.
Ever since I saw my first James Bond movie, I’ve been in love with gadgets. Within a month of the Sony’s Walkman hitting stores I had one - well, it was a competitor’s model, but it still was a tape player you could carry with you. I was fourteen years-old. Two years later when Sony put out their portable, personal CD player, I got one. A couple of years after that, Sony put out their mini-Discman that played the smaller (and now defunct) three inch compact discs, again, I made sure to get one. Of course, this was all back when I was a kid. When asking for something for my birthday meant that I would usually get it. It was the Eighties, the economy was doing pretty well and I wasn’t in college yet. The summer after my senior year I managed to afford my own camcorder, which I proceeded to cover with comic book stickers. I quickly dubbed the device, the Batcam!
Then, 1989, I went off to school and the gadgets pretty much ended. My folks had enough financial worries just keeping me in school, I wasn’t about to turn around and ask them for any more high priced gadgets - especially since I was more interested in having enough money to finish my student films. Another thing happened in 1989, I saw my first Windows Laptop machine. It was glorious for it’s day - it was portable, it had a backlit monitor screen, point-and-click and everything! Of course, the most my Mom could afford was a DOS laptop which, while being bell-and-whistle-free, did manage to get the job done. But I never considered it a “gadget” because it there was no cool factor. It simply functioned and that was that. That was ten years ago.
Ten years later, in 1999, I finally got my finances under control as an adult and could actually say in all honesty that I was making more money than I spent. It was great - and not so great. I finally was able to buy that Windows based laptop that I had wanted since 1989. Better late than never, I guess! On top of that, I bought a CD burner which I LOVE. This year for the holidays everyone got my obligatory comics-drawn-by-me calendar on CD-ROM - which allowed me to spend a LOT less money on everyone. For Christmas my Dad got me a RAM card for my digital camera (did I mention that I got a digital camera?) that was too big for it, so I had to take it back to Best Buy. But there, I managed to exchange it for a brand new (but open boxed and therefore discounted) Palm Pilot IIIe!! That’s where I am now - what gadgets are left to me? I am infinitely happy in my new found gadgetness, but where do I go from here?
I know - if only we all had these problems. I realize it’s pretty lame of me to whine about this sort of thing, BUT IT’S MY DAMN WEB SITE!! If you don’t like it, TELL ME ON THE VENTILATION PAGE.
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