Did you order an OLPC XO-1 laptop through Give One Get One—only to find that it took forever to reach you? Oh, and what about the so-far-disappointing e-book software? Yes, the OLPC project has its negatives.
If only the organization had made the laptop available to more people in affluent countries and hadn’t been so Sugar-centric, we may well have seen better software of all kinds—from programmers eager to tap this market.
That said, here’s a real positive I’m delighted to pass on, the existence of grassroots repair centers—something for you to consider, if you’re thinking about participating in the next G1G1 opportunity, which might happen as early as next month if an OLPC News report still applies. Not everyone loves the XO-1 laptop—please be respectful of Ficbot and others who don’t!—but mine continues to serve as my flagship e-reader, thanks to the incredible screen technology.
Repair center directory—complete with a listing for Nepal
From keyboards to motherboards, you can get defective XO-1 components replaced without your being gouged—at places such as the OLPC-supported center in the Washington, D.C., area. The valuable OLPC Learning Club DC on at least one occasion has even arranged for on-the-sport repairs at meetings, and this apparently will be happening again. (Photo might be from a different meeting.)
To find the repair center closest to you—I see around 15 listings, mostly in the States but also as far off from the U.S. as Nepal, France and Holland—check an OLPC directory. Let’s hope that the number of centers will eventually multiply one thousandfold in developing countries, creating new business opportunities and encouraging the spread of practical technical skills. In addition, Mike Lee, the OLPC Learning Club DC leader, reminds us of the existence of an OLPC repair cookbook (XO-taken photo of him with his four-year-old daughter). So you could always buy a replacement and do the swap yourself.
Dreams, dreams
Rather disappointingly, OLPC hasn’t made new spare parts available to G1G1 folks. But the repair centers are certainly a good way to make up for this omission; let’s just hope that OLPC can likewise smarten up about issues such as e-book software, and ways to encourage its development by a wide range of programmers, while encouraging use of the ePub standard. I want the OLPC machines to be in the middle of the international e-book world, rather than off in a little K-12 ghetto, so that children, teachers and parents can have a wider choice of books. And that means the application of standards. Even people on the commercial site are intrigued by the XO-2 (photo). I hope that the silly kids-only mindset won’t ruin the XO-2’s chances the way the developing-countries-only approach set back the XO-1.
Over at OLPC, another good development is the appointment of Greg Smith, from Cisco, as a product manager. He is said to be well experienced in this area.
Related: OLPC wiki on the issue of if/when you can get Windows XP running on your G1G1 machine. My sense is that this will probably happen, even though it’s hardly one of OLPC’s top priorities. XP capabilities would make it possible to read DRM-infested bestsellers by way of programs such as Mobipocket.
Image: 4-year-old’s XO Teardown, a CC-licensed image from Isforinsects.
