One Laptop Per Child: A Dream of Equality of Opportunity

The second part of the post title comes from a Martin Luther King Jr. quotation.  MLK fought for a more equal world.  But that is hardly possible if some are in the 21st century dominated by information technology, and some are trapped in an earlier era.  How can children in the third world even begin to bridge that gap? Enter One Laptop Per Child.

The laptops are designed to be 

• extremely inexpensive ($200)
  
• durable (e.g., sealed rubber keyboard)
  
• easy to power (e.g., can use sunlight to view screen)
  
• easy to use (simple apps, open source software) 
  
• easy to network (rabbit antennas—see below)
  

Until the end of 2007, it was possible to "buy one--give one", so that $400 purchased one for you, one for a child in the third world.  There are still options to donate a laptop for $200—this is what I chose to do.  (I suppose I should mention there has been a dispute between OLPC organization and Intel.  This is unfortunate, but of secondary concern.) 

Let me just focus on one feature of the laptop that really impressed me.  It has two rabbit antennas.  One is for connecting to WiFi, and thus the rest of the world.  The second allows the laptops to communicate with each other.  If one laptop is in range of WiFi, they all are.  There is file sharing software so they can work on a document together.  MLK would have been pleased.

 

[photo source]

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Barack Obama for US President

I debated whether I should endorse a presidential candidate in this blog.  Much of the time, I hope to present information and let you form your own opinion.  I think all of the candidates for US president have their plusses and minuses, and I could understand someone sensible supporting almost any of them, for one reason or another.  I could also understand someone being opposed to any of them.  But one has to decide.   I am for Barack Obama.

I considered putting the endorsement behind the 'read more' link.  But in the end, I decided to give you my opinion.  If you want to know the reasons for my endorsement (including Barack's position on research), please read on.

Given his background and his rhetoric, I believe Barack Obama has the best chance to heal the wounds caused over the last seven years.  He has an amazingly heterogeneous background, and he brings a thoughtful, hopeful, peaceful message.   He has progressive positions on healthcare, workers' rights, and the environment (though so do many of the other Democrats), and seems able to achieve advances through pragmatic compromise.  He also supports increasing the research and education budgets -- what the US needs in this information society.  

“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.”

— Barack Obama Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, IL 02/10/07

I also think Barack has a good shot at winning in the general election.  (I think it is crucial that the next US President be a Democrat, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the Republican candidates have not repudiated the policies of the current administration.  A vote for them is to some extent a vote in support of the last seven years.)

 

I was worried at the beginning of the campaign that Barack was not experienced enough to run a national campaign, but the campaign has stretched on so long that he has had time to learn.  His positive pragmatic message appeals to independents.  Finally, he does very well in head-to-head match-ups with his possible Republican opponents. 

It should be noted that I am posting this the night before the Iowa Caucuses.  I hope my endorsement stays relevant, at least through super Tuesday!

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