OLPC’s growing closeness to Microsoft could have a major positive—more interest in the K-12-optimized laptop for use in U.S. schools and libraries.
It’s up to Bill Gates. Will Microsoft and the Gates Foundation, which he and his wife control, kindly adjust to the idea of econo-computers?
If so, given the importance of the Microsoft brand name to many educators and librarians, then this could significantly speed up adoption of the machine. And that in turn could be catnip for e-bookdom in some ways—since, as shown here, the laptop can double as a tablet, with the right ergonomics for books.
The political terrain
Certainly it would appear that U.S. politicians are eager, and now OLPC itself is suggesting that the laptop for developing countries might also reach the States after all. Voila! TeleReaders, so to speak—in line with the vision of the early ’90s.
Here are relevant details from the Associated Press: “Whether the XO machines might someday land in U.S. schools has been an open question. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced at one point that he wanted to buy the machines for students in his state. Some time later, Negroponte said Thursday, One Laptop Per Child decided not to work with American schools because ‘we’ve designed something for a totally different situation’—meaning kids in poor countries.
“Now, he added, that might change, since 19 state governors have shown interest. One of them was then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. When Bush first e-mailed and casually signed ‘Jeb,’ Negroponte needed to ask his brother, former national intelligence director John Negroponte, whether the query was legitimate.”
The Bush angles
Notice the Bush angles? With all his disasters abroad, George W. Bush could benefit handsomely from a major K-12 and library initiative at home. While this administration is hardly my favorite personally, TeleRead is a nonpartisan effort, and I’ll welcome all kinds of follow-through, whether at the state or federal level. My feelings about Microsoft’s involvement are the same. As much as I dislike DRM and the proprietary standards for operating systems and e-book formats, I’ll keep an open mind.
The TeleRead biz model for the hardware: The idea isn’t to buy every library user in creation a laptop but buy enough loaner units to help seed the market. Meanwhile, yes, compared to p-textbooks, laptops already make physical sense for schools. The rest of us would benefit from lower prices for the hardware. In addition, with super-cheap, super-easy hardware to use (meaning a better interface than the current linux or Windows alternatives), governments and companies could rely on the Net even more than they do today.
Detail: It’s entirely possible that the machines wouldn’t come via Negroponte’s efforts directly but rather from those of Quanta and other manufacturers. Remember the distinction between OLPC machine and OLPC-style laptops. Until I saw the AP article, I wasn’t so optimistic about OLPC-distributed machines ending up in the U.S., but now Negroponte himself seems to be putting out feelers.
