OLPC - "eaten my homework"

[Jeff Kinz]

On Tue, May 30, 2006 at 04:22:01PM -0400, Ben Scott wrote:
> On 5/30/06, Jeff Kinz <jkinz at kinz.org> wrote:
> >>   Books can rot or be damaged; so can equipment.  I doubt there's any
> >> real data as to which would be more durable in the target environment.
> >>  Lacking data, we can't say one way or the other.
> >
> > Given the number of times I've seen USB keys ...
> 
>   A USB key isn't anything like a laptop, even a rugged laptop with
> "no" moving parts (the hinge moves, and will be broken frequently, if
> my experience with laptops in "safe" office settings is any
> indicator).  That's not data, that's a bad comparison.
> 
> > The cost of producing a good textbook, even if the licensing/royalties
> > are zero, is very high.
> 
>   Source?  Numbers?  Hard data?
Family in the biz.  textbooks are a very different market that any other
printed matter.  They have stringently high costs because their
construction and content is different than anything else except coffee
table books., and yet their printing runs are tiny so the one-time costs
must be amortized over a much smaller number of volumes than regular
books.  That raises the per unit cost.

> 
>   While I've never printed a text book, per se, I have been near the
> production of other printed matter, and with sufficiently high
> volumes, costs go under a dollar, even with hundreds of pages.  Of
> course, I would expect a durable text book to cost more.  But even if
> it costs *ten times* as much, we're talking $10.

   Source?  Numbers?  Hard data?  :-)

> 
> > The virtual storage capability of the OLPC is, in some ways, nearly
> > infinite.
> 
>   And, in most ways, 500 megabytes.  The mesh network is a nice
> concept, but I don't really see it spanning the continent of Africa
> any time soon.  If it manages to sustain a working network in local
> communities, I think one can call that a huge success.

http://www.green-wifi.org/
Why Green WiFi? A number of non profit entities focus on addressing the
digital divide by providing internet access to developing areas. Green
WiFi addresses one of the biggest barriers to success: the lack of
reliable electricity in developing areas required to power the network.
Green WiFi has developed a low cost, solar-powered, standardized WiFi
access solution that runs out-of-the-box with no systems integration or
power requirements. All that is required is a single source of broadband
access. Green WiFi nodes can then be deployed on rooftops to form a
self-healing network that hops the source signal over a virtual
802.11b/g grid. Because these nodes require no fixed installation or
power tie-ins, these nodes can form an unplanned, mobile grid that can
grow or be relocated as needed. Green WiFi aims to compliment and extend
the power and promise of initiatives such as the UN/MIT One Laptop Per
Child (OLPC) project, Intel's World Ahead Program and other NGO efforts
dedicated to providing affordable computing capabilities to developing
areas by providing critical last mile access; last mile internet access
with nothing more than a single broadband internet connection, rooftops
and the sun.



> 
>   I say this mostly as a reality check; as I said, the cost of the
> electronic storage alone is likely to be insignificant.
> 
> > I'd say that the break even number could possibly be a lot lower than
> > 100 books.
> 
>   No offense, but that seems like pure speculation to me.  It could
> possibly be lower than 100 books if books are really really expensive
> and laptops are really really cheap and all the good things happen for
> the laptops and all the bad things happen for the books.  What if we
> look at it realistically?


100 text books, composed, printed, bound, distributed and delivered for about 1 dollar
each.  No offense but that looks very unrealistic.  You stick to your
speculation and I'll stick with mine. :-)


> 
> >>   Whether or not the 100 texts (printed or electronic) will actually
> >> make it to the people, or actually be used if they do make it, is
> >> another question.
> >
> > Yes, also we have no of knowing how much benefit people will get from
> > software that helps teach reading, math etc, or better access to other
> > knowledge and how many "book equivalents" that functionality is worth.
> 
>   There is lots of data available on CBT.  (How much of that data is
> unbiased (and not produced by those pushing CBTs), I don't know.)  My
> above comment was directed more at political issues and other
> unexpected problems.  For example, many people starve not because
> there is no food, but because various groups and factors prevent the
> food from being evenly distributed.  Or maybe the laptops just end up
> being used as light sources.  ;-)

Worlds most expensive Lamp!  :)


-- 
Jeff Kinz, Emergent Research, Hudson, MA.
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