The OLPC (one laptop per child) project has announced it is going to release the XO-2 computer in 2010 in response to feedback from Government, educators and the children. They are aiming to price it at $75 (which is $25 below the previous recommended price of $100). This laptop will be smaller, use less power and will have a new touch sensitive display. Sounds great, doesn’t it…
In a previous post, I wrote about the feasibility of the OLPC project. It is essentially a western (developed) solution to a developing world’s problem. Now it seems there has been an interesting turn of events.
Microsoft is now involved in the project (supplying their XP Operating System) and while it might appear that the worlds biggest software producer might be a good person to have in your camp, it might be the straw that breaks the donkeys back…
Why, you may ask could it be a bad thing? Well, it pretty much means the end of the open-source aspect of the project (unless Microsoft is going well, ’soft’ on their stance on open source). The OLPC project was originally based on the concept of open source and the ‘learning by doing’ theory of education. Children in developing nations do not have access to many resources and sharing what they have might be key to quicker development and better learning. Lets hope Microsoft being on board doesn’t mean a change of direction for the OLPC.
We will be watching this space to see developments…
