What is Digg?78 Comments
- gwjc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21Yeah, good on Thailand! Nice to see a country invest in it's future so efficiently. Too bad most of the schools here in the west still cling to blackboards and killing trees; Especially given how easily we could afford to do this.
- TheAttacks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Thus the reason why I plan on moving to Thailand. . . . Just kidding.
That's cool for the children there, it will give them a great opportunity to become familiar with technology. - TruthElixirX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13My mom's school is making great strides in electronics. It is a rural school, but has the fastest internet of any public school in the state (Oklahoma). All fo the teachers have a Mac Book Pro, and 80% of the classrooms have "smart boards" (Think electronic black boarD). The whole campus is wireless internet. 4th and 6th graders all have their own laptops in an experimental program.
- Aidenag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8This is great, i hope some of Thailands nieghbors get interested in this as well... they implement this well enough they could create a domino effect, and get alot of less fortunate nations to get wise to this idea.
- adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"Too bad most of the schools here in the west still cling to blackboards and killing trees;"
Those tree will KILL you and your family in your sleep! Strike first I say! - maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Very cool. This will certainly help to advance things over there even more! Kudos to Thailand
- hitkaiser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Could it be more of a political stunt?
Surely bringing technology to the new generation is a good thing, however, moving too fast with the wrong type of technology (hand driven? what if it breaks down, who fixes such a thing?) could hamper economic/social progress ! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@scruffydan
the only solution to poverty is education.
it might sound crazy to start with, but if you spend all your money just feeding and house people they will never rise above the level you provide for them.
these kids with laptops will be more educated and generate money, which helps everyone. - Scruffydan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I think Thailand could use this money more wisely.
There is still lots of poverty, and having every kid have a laptop seem excessive, and wasteful. If you want to get kids familiar with the technology then buy some computers for the schools, every kid does not need a laptop.
Also didn't Prime Minister Thaksin resign - tsuroki, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4School boards around here in Ontario still aren't able to provide a textbook for each student, and all of the computer labs are drastically out of date. In addition, internet access is severely limited - any form of open communication is banned outright, so all blogs/communities/etc. are filtered as "chat sites". This is what I deal with, and then I come hom to hear folks talk about digital classrooms and every student has a laptop.
With all of this innovation, I can't help but wonder, why doesn't my school have that? What is it that we're doing wrong? Why am I being forced to share a beaten up textbook from the 1970's with three other students?
It's always nice to hear that technology is being embraced around the world for education. I only hope that someday we can do the same. - dcipjr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3What's the capital of Thailand?..........BANGKOK!
- techietim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If they only did that over here...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Great! Now, maybe next they can work on doing something about that whole underage sex-slave/sex-trade problem. After all, what good is a free government laptop when you're a ten year old kid dying of AIDs from the American tourist who paid your pimp and raped you?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3sure it's a good move on thailand's front but what's a laptop without internet? they certainly would not need one each if it was only for word processing etc, they need printers too. and then paper and ink...
- abaker82, on 06/15/2009, -5/+8Wow, your an *****.
- Scruffydan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I know education is important, but laptops are expensive, and not every child needs a computer. Installing computer labs in schools would give students access to computers and the Internet but would cost MUCH less.
Plus there is ALOT one can learn without the need for computers. - DCMacHead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ Scruffydan
You hit the nail on the head with your "didn't Thaksin resign?" comment. There's a lot of people over there who are upset about corruption (a way of life there). This guy is very good at courting the rural vote and things like this help him.
I do think they'll make some good headway with this program, though I doubt it will evolve to the promised scale. I've been there a few times since the 1990s and each time I go back, I can see the country making economic progress each time. - simpleblob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's a political propaganda!
I live in Thailand and I know.The children of upcountry in some region don't even have an electricity. - stalefries, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually, they run a custom Linux distro with a whole lot of GTK+ based apps, a lot of which have been severely modified and simplified. Red Hat has a big part in this.
- supremechees, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i just came back from thailand. they arnt too fond of thier prime minister
- chess007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Exactly! @ Seumas
That is insance. But i'm sure its tourists from other countries also. - 0zzy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love Thailand, being that I am 1/4 Thai. Great place, and a laptop in Thailand is like 5 US dollars ;).
- samdu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3First - they won't be "Free." The people receiving them may not be directly paying for them, but SOMEone is.
Second - Tech is cool and all, but it doesn't make a bad teacher good. You can teach just as effectively with an old-fashioned blackboard and good old books. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3they will probably hook up a webcam and broadcast your next visit, you piece of *****.
- summerflow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I can't wait until my little brother come and says "OMG INSTALL GTA PLZ"
You know, majority of peoples here use computer for only entertainment, not to educate. - brokencity, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This is a great idea for all the students in mind, though i do agree that it is a political stunt. The students will probably end up adding to the growing number of pirates and Hackers, Which may or may not contribute to a much more successful generation.
Or they might just become Digg.com addicts like the rest of us. - Patented, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Bush's "No Child Left Behind"?
All Bush did was sign off on this bill, which was the brainchild of Teddy "Swim For It" Kennedy.
The tsunamis were Bush's fault though, his daddy stole Japan's tsunami machine back in WW2, and, and...
Nevermind. - nikolas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4My high school... both the teachers and students had iBook G4's and every room of the school had Apple Airports in them. (Louisville,KY)
- micklerlop, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3the real reasons to move to thailand are that everything except automobile is super cheap, bitches are darn hot, people are really friendly, climate is awesome during the 3-4 summer months ... and the list goes on.
- arpad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Another fan of Catch-22.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll be able to get them on Ebay not long after they're shipped. After all, it's not capable of doing the two things people mostly use computers for anyway: communication and entertainment. I know, I know. It has WiFi but to do much with it requires a municipal WiFi grid and I don't see that happening in Phnom Penh any time soon let alone the countryside.
So if it doesn't do something compelling enough to hang onto then it'll be converted into cash.
It's not something I'm happy about but I think Negroponte's so dazzled by the technology, and the prospect of having some streets named after him, that he can't or won't see the problems. That's most clear when you see his response to the predicted problem of theft: make them in eye-watering colors.
If Negroponte had a lick of sense he'd send these gadgets where they might do some good, the schools, instead of handing them out willy-nilly, hoping good will result.
In much of the third world the cost of textbooks is a serious expense and even distribution isn't a trivial issue. With the OLPC that becomes, largely, a non-issue.
The teacher gets a CD in the mail, pops it into his USB CD drive which is hooked up to the OLPC, and the contents of the CD get distributed to every OLPC that requests the data via their WiFi connection. At some point in the future the teacher's OLPC graduates to being a file server, maybe with a solar array, maybe with kids taking turns on the bicycle/generator.
Putting the OLPCs into schools doesn't do away with the theft problem, in fact, in one way it makes it worse by concentrating the machines, but once they prove their worth by giving the kids access to decent textbooks they'll become important to the parents of the kids. Theft of the OLPCs will be seen as damaging to the future of the kids which'll give the parents a good reason to see that the OLPCs not be stolen.
At that point the OLPC goes from being a goofy gee-gaw handed out by the government to uncomprehending citizens that can be converted to cash but a means of getting an education.
Oh yeah, one final wrinkle; you'd start at the colleges and high schools and work down from there.
Unburdening the colleges and students of the cost of textbooks while simultaneously making timely textbooks easy to acquire means that the kids who have the most invested in an education will have first crack at the OLPCs. No one will have to explain beyond "free, current textbooks" to make them enthusiastic adopters. - allenb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I should be happy simply that the children of Thailand are going to get laptops - but I'm even more happy that it looks like the OLPC project is going to succeed, provided they can actually produce the product at the price they're aiming for.
I know a lot of the places this laptop is being aimed at have more important troubles - like lack of nutrition and clean water - but access to the Internet is such a wonderfully enabling technology. It's about time everyone had access to it.
I know it's petty - but I'm also very pleased that Microsoft has no involvement in this project. - micklerlop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1people still have to pay $30-40 for ADSL (512 download and 128 upload). Most people in small cities can't even afford this.
- MiloMindrbindr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Oooo i cant wait to snag one of these up on ebay the first day theyre released. Cus you know thats where half of these things are going once they hit the streets in thailand.
- sneakerelph, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6what the hell do you need a computer for?
oh, right, making useless comments on websites.
*****. - BlogCruiser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I thought this was great and went to the website from the link too. I guess China and Brazil are looking like they are onboard with the program too.
- nusuni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It is kind of odd how this is happening so close to the re-election date. Anyways, it is good to see technology spreading around the world. Will be interesting to see what the future of the $100 laptop will be.
- pcdave79, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sounds like the "One Laptop per Child" progam is well underway and almost ready to launch . . . depending on its success in Thailand . . . we'll see if other countries adopt the program . . . .
- sm1l3, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4agreed, this is a great and ambitious plan. Some of these kids will (hopefully) contribute to the success of future generations.
Maybe we should start pumping some money into our own public education? - Crowforge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well to be fair they'll get our jobs eventually
- CyberGlitch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Unless he plans on using the laptops to replace textbooks, they will be a total waste of money.
- mennis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What if you are conjoined?
- ArcusOfSV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ill bet they end up on EBay
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1nice move at first sight..but think, will prove to be a disaster in sometime..
firstly, not all villages have electricity..laptops dont run on battery forever..
secondly, what elementary education requires is basic knowledge, which can be taught with books..children are supposed to be taught by a teacher, and rural teachers are not computer savvy, so while the laptops remain, education shall continue as per convention... - hunchback, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What if the parent and children do not understand english, or just plain illiterate even to read Thai?
In Bangkok (and i suppose elsewhere in Thailand) there are street beggers that are little kids, what are these kids gonna do with a laptop? Their ring leaders are going to sell those laptops that's what, or just get stolen.
I'm skeptical this will help the poorest kids there, they first need to have a home! An environment where they are not being exploited, then they need to be able to read and get a proper education, how can you study if you need to work most of the day? Computers after all cannot do everything. - SteveR4376, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In a country where poor, rurual families sell their daughters into the sex trade, does anyone think that these free laptops won't be sold or traded as soon as they are given out?
- Crowforge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Goodbye scriptkiddies, hello competent Thai hackers.
- summerflow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not really, you can get 2Mbps for like $15 in Thailand but don't mention the line quality...
- ckirsch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Pom poodie pasa thai nit noi ta mai kow dee toi rai krab.
There is too much poverty in Thailand for the government to go out giving every kid a laptop. That money could be better spent. - chess007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Read "Batman The Ultimate Evil" by Andrew Vachss.
- JayRod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm for this all the way, but what about theft. And the fact that somebody will be poor and end up selling it away.
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