By Dan Ilett, 26 January 2006 11:00
NEWS
You might be forgiven for thinking that a laptop powered by hand cranking was an April fool's gag - or the IT department's way of punishing workers it didn't like.
But within two years, millions of lime-green $100 (£56) laptops, complete with wind-up handle, could be in use by poor children around the world.
At least that's the plan. The idea is being driven by Nicholas Negroponte, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who set up the not-for-profit organisation One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) in a bid to help the disadvantaged learn about computers and get access to the internet.
Last year at a UN conference with secretary general Kofi Annan, Negroponte unveiled the "Green Machine" prototype, backed by the likes of AMD, Google, and Red Hat.
But while his idea is certainly noble, will the $100 laptop bridge the digital divide between rich and poor?
Clive Longbottom, service director for analyst Quocirca, said: "It's feasible to build a $100 laptop but what sort of thing are we building? It's not going to be one you can play games or store a lot on.
"But then it doesn't need to. It'll have a browsing environment and be able to do some printing. We are not looking at putting Microsoft Office or Photoshop on it. It'll be something for searching and getting information back."
Supplying computers to children means someone has to support them, Longbottom said.
"You can't just ship 500 and say 'enjoy yourself'," he said. "You need file servers and secure storage. This was something that the schools in the UK found with shared laptops. It can take 10 minutes to get them out, 10 minutes to switch them on, another 10 to switch off and 10 minutes to put them away.
The $100 laptop is aimed at the developing world - but would a similar initiative be of use in the UK? Some critics argue that the digital divide is about more than cheaper hardware.
One way of judging the digital divide is by looking at the number of household internet connections in the UK - and it is clear that internet penetration varies around the country
According to research from broadband analyst Point Topic, the areas with the highest density of broadband connections are London and the home counties - with one in four households connected. The areas with the lowest connection rates are Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The government has pledged £50m to help provide every schoolchild with computer access. The Learning Foundation also encourages parents to contribute to a pool of school laptops that children can borrow.
UK charity Citizens Online would like to see every schoolchild in the UK with a laptop by 2010. It also aims to help connect everyone in the UK to the internet to bridge the digital divide.
John Fisher, CEO of the charity, said: "The $100 laptop that's quite a challenge. Anyone who launched anything like that here would probably change the dollar sign to a pound sign.
"I think there's a market for that though. The ads for computers all tell you how fast and whizzy they are but that's almost a turn off for people in that [disadvantaged] group."
Fisher argues computers still appear unfriendly and difficult to master for those who have never used them - and that as PCs get even more sophisticated some users will fall even further behind.
He said: "You then raise the entry level to computers. I just turned on my new laptop and got a blank screen. The sophistication that surrounds PCs is different. It's not like turning the telly on."
Government schools IT agency Becta (the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency), is reviewing spending on technology in schools. It is examining ways to save money so more children can use computers to access schoolwork at home.
Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Ruth Kelly, has said the internet could allow parents to "influence learning" to a much greater degree than has ever been previously possible.
But those families without computers could perhaps be left behind in the scheme, unless the digital divide is bridged.
Quocirca's Longbottom warned: "It'll be like everyone who earns more than £200,000 will get a Ferrari and anyone who earns less than £50,000 gets a bike just so you can say 'everyone's mobile." "The $100 laptop does nothing for the digital divide but does do something for the knowledge divide."
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Comments
There are 11 comments. Join the discussion
1. boney clair
I dont beleive there is any place for pcs at school until a decent standard of skills are
reached in the three Rs and other things that are essential to be able to understand and make the most of todays tech.
If kids start to early on pcs/laptops etc, should these things be unavailable or go down
they will lack basic manual abilities that they would then need to rely on.
2. John
boney clair obviously does not think very far ahead. Yes the 3 R's are crucial, but young people leaving school with no computer skills will be almost as disadvantaged as those that cannot speak our language.
3. Gordon Rees
Perhaps we all need the 3 Rs training if the mispelling of "believe" and incorrect use of "to" instead of "too" in Boney's contribution is an example of current skills !
4. anonymous
clearly a thinker not a speller!!
5. anonymous
I understand the point that B Clair makes. However, in addition to basic teachings, school's also need to prepare pupils for life in the real world and computer literacy is an essential skill within most working environments. Indeed it is often a prerequisite to even get onto a short list for many career opportunities.
IT skill should be as essential and in addition to the 3 Rs.
No point in proficiency with the 3 Rs if you cannot switch on and navigate basic computer programs and possess basic computers skills that are prerequisites to most occupations and work function's in today's world.
6. Simon Cox
Oh that's so backward boney clair.
To ensure that the future workforces of the UK children must be device savvy as soon as possible. Sure they still must learn the 3 (some say 5) R's but let them do it on a computer at thier own speeds.
As far as loosing skills goes who amoungst us knows how to create a fire, skin a dear and cook it in the woods? You don't seriously expect us to learn how to do that before we use a microwave next time?
7. Yes.
too
their
amongst
Now, all of you copy that list down and tomorrow we'll have a spelling test.
By some standards, none of you should currently be surfing.
WRONG!
8. Carl Chilley
I am not sure that I have got the quote quite right but...
"Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish and you feed them for life."
Without basic skills it does not matter what tools you give people, they will never utilise them to best advantage. I guess I am somewhere in the middle here as I agree with Bonnie C's call for better skills but also feel that computers have a lot to offer in the mastering of said skills. Only by going with both will you get the technically literate society for tomorrow.
My only fear here is that everything looks like a nail to someone with a hammer - there is so much where computers actually get in the way and hinder rather than help. Hence the need for the basic skills.
We need to bridge the knowledg e gap first before worrying asbout the digital divide: I believe that getting the first right will enable the second.
9. Richard
It'll produce good little consumers!
"...It'll have a browsing environment and be able to do some printing. We are not looking at putting Microsoft Office or Photoshop on it. It'll be something for searching and getting information back."
It sounds as if they want children to become good little consumers of (mostly official) information; rather than becoming creators.
Presumably in China etc. it'll "find" only government approved information?
How would this device interact with cheap digital cameras, camcorders, mobile phones or digital music devices?
How will children print from this? Running eg. an inkjet printer would cost much more than $100, per year.
10. Richard
It'll produce good little consumers!
"...It'll have a browsing environment and be able to do some printing. We are not looking at putting Microsoft Office or Photoshop on it. It'll be something for searching and getting information back."
It sounds as if they want children to become good little consumers of (mostly official) information; rather than becoming creators.
Presumably in China etc. it'll "find" only government approved information?
How would this device interact with cheap digital cameras, camcorders, mobile phones or digital music devices?
How will children print from this? Running eg. an inkjet printer would cost much more than $100, per year.
11. Richard
It'll produce good little consumers!
"...It'll have a browsing environment and be able to do some printing. We are not looking at putting Microsoft Office or Photoshop on it. It'll be something for searching and getting information back."
It sounds as if they want children to become good little consumers of (mostly official) information; rather than becoming creators.
Presumably in China etc. it'll "find" only government approved information?
How would this device interact with cheap digital cameras, camcorders, mobile phones or digital music devices?
How will children print from this? Running eg. an inkjet printer would cost much more than $100, per year.