Tope Famayegun, a colleague and Time To Get Online training partner in Lagos, Nigeria, asked a poignant question in an email to our all-trainers mailing list today:
Does anyone know what has happened to Professor
Negroponte and the $100.00 Laptop per Child Project?
I was struck by this since she is in Lagos and probably held the laptop as it made the rounds in the audience during Negroponte’s speach at the Digital World Africa 2006 Conference in Abuja.
Since Nigeria signed up to be in the first round of recipients of the device, I’d be interested in hearing more from our Nigerian colleagues about how the project is unfolding there. In any case, the advice I gave Tope I thought would be useful to post up here for those interested in following the issue - and to remind all of us working on ICT4D that we should be tracking this project more closely.
The best way to learn about Negroponte and his laptop is to do a google search for OLPC (one laptop per child) - you will see links at the top to OLPC resources, which includes a wiki with a wealth of information about the laptop.
As you probably know, Nigeria has signed up to be one of the first countries to receive the laptops. I also googled OLPC Nigeria and came across this very interesting (independent I think) blog.
Personally I am fairly skeptical about the OLPC project, and have referred to it as a “dam project with bunny ears” in my own blog. The cost of entry is very high, and it isn’t possible to buy one - maybe that’s my biggest gripe about it.. I don’t get to have one! In any case, most of my questions about it remain unanswered, though I also have not been paying very close attention to it all the time.
Kim actually got to see and hold the laptop (or a model of it I think) at the Digital World Africa Conference in 2006 - you were there, Tope, so what did you think of it then? If you come across one of the laptops in Nigeria, or some projects using the laptops, I would love to hear about your experiences about the device in practical application. I very much hope it lives up to the hype.
The olpcnews.com blog is terrific - I did some reading there this morning after today’s exchange with Tope. Notably, I came across a post discussing OLPC Nigeria’s Progress with XO Computers in Classrooms with some lovely photos of Nigerian children using the computers in the classroom and also some rather biting criticism about the cost of the OLPC Nigeria program - supposedly 13% of Nigeria’s annual budget - and a lack of empirical data about the impact of the program. Interesting!
And one more link before I leave this alone for the moment. In the comments of that very interesting post above about Nigeria’s progress with OLPC in the classroom, there is a link to Nicholas Negroponte at World Bank Group at olpctalks.com, another blog devoted to following OLPC developments.
This is an interesting blog post because it’s fairly recent (May 31, 2007) and is a direct transcription of Negroponte talking about the project. An Audio recording and sides are also available so you can hear it in his own voice.
As the editor of OLPC News, I can confirm that we are independent of OLPC. I can also confirm that its 73% (not 13%) of the Nigerian government income to do One Laptop Per Nigerian Child. And that’s before the most recent price increase: http://www.olpcnews.com/sales_talk/price/olpc_uruguay_205_dollars_laptop.html
Hello Tobias,
I really don’t have an update on the OLPC; I will refer to the link you made available.
However, from what I understood much earlier, due to the operational cost of producing the laptops, a single unit purchase might not be available for $100. The government (of Nigeria) is expected to play a significant role in the acquisition of the laptops in bulk purchase manner. Only then can each unit come down to the proposed amount. So what i would like to find out is the level of discussion with the Nigerian government towards achieving this. The OLPC is a catalyst no doubt, however, there is a catch. It’s a BUSINESS, not charity as most of us might think. This is my opinion.
Ooh! Maybe I DO get to have one! According to Reuters, Non-profit may launch $350 laptop by Christmas. Looks like they are hoping to sell the device to raise money to lower costs for their third word clients. This is a really interesting development - since the cost of the $100 laptop has been inching closer to $200 in recent months. I really want to have one so may consider it even though the $350 consumer market price is remarkably close to an iPhone.
Interestingly, OLPC seems to be offering the laptops in single units now (http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php), so I might have to get one for Tobias for Christmas. I’d be curious to find how they identify the recipients of the donated laptop, however, since their business model seems to depend on large orders. Curious.
Last year I read from the web that there was one Nigerian Computer Engineer who made a lap top poweful as Apple computer.
Where is he? How come we haven’t read anyting about him?
My organization were planning to tryour his product.
Blamo
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