One Laptop Per Child Project Expansion
Catherine Pastorius gives an update on the situation
Intel withdrew its funding and technical help from the project One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) on 4 January, 2008, six months after they joined the OLPC Board of Directors (1). OLPC founder, Nicholas Negroponte, said, “It’s very unfortunate what happened with Intel… our goal is to get this laptop to as many children as possible.” (2) Intel violated its written agreement with OLPC several times and continued to disparage the XO laptop in developing nations that had already decided to partner with OLPC. (3) (4) The mission of OLPC is to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves via a custom-built, XO laptop, which stands for kiss and hugs, for under US$100. The actual cost is US$188 (£93) because mass production has only begun. (1)
OLPC ran a “Give One, Get One” program in North America, allowing the public to buy two XO machines - one for themselves and one for a OLPC project elsewhere. OLPC said the project’s success raised $35 million in November and December 2007 and helped it to launch programs in Haiti, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Mongolia, and Afghanistan (1). OLPC President, Walter Bender, said, “Funding for the laptops varies from federal and local governments (e.g., Uruguay and Peru); private-sector donation (e.g., Mexico and India); foundations (e.g., Cambodia, Rwanda, Afghanistan); donor nations (e.g., Ethiopia); to development banks (e.g., Haiti). “(5) He denies any plans for the “Give One, Get One” program in Europe; however, OLPC announced on 14 January, 2008, plans to launch an OLPC-US program aimed at reaching the poorer children in the US(2). The US spends about US$10,000 per child at primary school compared to only US$20 Bangladesh.
The XO laptop is sold at a lower cost than competing laptops, such as Intel’s Classmate PC, Eee PC, and Sinomatic, and is 10 times more efficient. It was built to be handled by children in rugged conditions and the screen is readable in bright sunlight. It is fully recyclable (contains no lead or mercury) and it is easily field repairable with a screw driver and cheap parts. (6) MOUSE Squad, a student-driven technical support help desk program, is providing OLPC hands-on data of how students would interact and repair this new technology. (7) In areas without electricity, the laptop can run on solar and human power, such as a hand crank, a foot pedal, and a pull-string recharger. It comes with a processor built by Intel’s rival with free and open-source software, rather than Microsoft’s Windows and Office software. (1) However, Negroponte said, “We are working to get a dual-boot system.” (2) which would give users the option of either software at an increased price.
OLPC is focusing on learning; however, a laptop can facilitate much more than education and entertainment. A laptop with an internet connection is a world of connectivity; it is a million printed books and a telephone connected to a billion other people. To a community, it provides internet access in places that did not have it before; this is an opportunity to disseminate important information, from proper hand-washing and personal hygiene to the use of mosquito nets and how to prevent HIV. Health care workers can access the World Health Organization’s Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) and up-to-date information, as well as pass on vital statistics to the regional health administration offices. A local doctor or assistant can have access to physicians and hospitals in a city. With its video camera capabilities, the laptop can enable telemedicine, bringing medical diagnostics and treatment options, which may, otherwise, be inaccessible. Bender said, “We have on-going efforts along a number of fronts, including some programs with World Health Organization funding, but to date, none of that material is ready.” Bender said that OLPC welcomes such efforts, but they are outside of OLPC’s core mission and recommends new uses for the laptop be deveoped in the field. (6)
The laptop can be used to train health professionals as well. In November 2007, the University of Minnesota Medical School partnered with a Liberian medical school to provide basic science lectures and training to a desperate Liberian medical students that they do not otherwise receive due to lack of teachers in their country. No other partnerships like this exist in the US. The University of Minnesota Medical School is piloting the program in January 2008 by donating laptops which creates a network at the school with a digital library of materials, including the University of Minnesota Year 1 and Year 2 basic science curriculum (online recordings of lectures and notes), access to HINARI, and e-books. This program will give over 100 Liberian medical students the same basic science foundation that US medical students receive, helping to build a sustainable medical community in Liberia.
Many villages in developing countries are lacking basic needs, such as food, water, clothing and shelter. In addition, sanitation, power, telecommunication, medicine, trained health workers, and an available doctor must take priority over a cheap laptop per child. However, as long as there is an infrastructure for learning, laptops are an powerful and efficient way for governments and communities to reach children, disseminate information, and possibly create economic, political, and social stability in the future.(6) This is a great resource for the developed and developing world.
Catherine Pastorius
University of Minnesota Medical School, class of 2010
Minneapolis
USA
Past0030@umn.edu
(1) One Laptop Per Child. Accessed 7 January 2008. <http://www.laptop.org/>
(2) Barber N and Nystedt D. “Video: Negroponte’s plan for OLPC in 2008: $100 laptop’ proponent discusses the year ahead” PC ADVISOR. (14 January 2008). Accessed 15 January 2008. <http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=11823>
(3) Markoff J. “Intel Quits Effort to Get Computers to Children.” New York Times. (5 January 2008). Accessed 7 January 2008. <www.nytimes.com>
(4) Thomson I. “Negroponte slams Intel over OPLC.” (8 January 2008) Accessed 8 January 2008. <http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2206721/oplc-slams-intel >
(5) Lemon S. “OLPC Considering ‘Give One, Get One’ Offer in Europe.” (6 January 2008) Accessed 7 January 2008. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141082-c,notebooks/article.html
(6) Bender, Walter. “Lancet Article” E-mail to the author. 13 January 2008.
(7) Mouse.org - partnerships. MOUSE squad. Accessed 14 January 2008. <http://mouse.org/programs/partnerships.html>
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