Comments on: One Laptop Per Child Sucks

By: Josh Wex

Josh Wex — Wed, 16 May 2007 05:13:09 +0000

I don’t think it’s such a terrible idea. For example, the computers could hold the entire Wikipedia directory, help students to learn English, etc..

I like the fact that there is at least an opportunity to make a better living for themselves. You are right, that kid who gets a computer is going to be on it 24/7, but I know those kids are just as smart as any of us, and they are more determined to succeed.. So I have total faith that in the hands of the right child, they can learn & even one day make a living off the knowledge they got from that computer.

By: Kirk

Kirk — Tue, 15 May 2007 17:04:28 +0000

ianmack,

The real problem though, is that education helps only to a point. We won’t have everyone being rocket scientists and physicists and molecular biologists and then be exempt from the underlying problems of poverty.

Just look at Cuba. They have a highly educated citizenry, and yet they’re still poor. You can blame that poverty on political restrictions, but there’s still the need for the basic needs to be taken care of.

People need the basics of life, and no matter how complicated or “intelligent” the world gets, there will be a need for clean food and water. These are the real problems we should be tackling, not more information to everyone without perspective.

By: ianmack

ianmack — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:46:16 +0000

interesting rant, but i’d have to disagree with you as well. i believe the effect of one laptop per child will be much different. consider all the kids that have no access to proper school, of even decent text books. the internet is a gateway to the world’s library, along with much pointless entertainment. but that access alone has the potential to transform the poorest areas on the planet.

By: Kirk

Kirk — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:35:51 +0000

I’m not talking about today’s market. I’m talking about the market that will happen 10 years from now, when 20 or 30 million kids get their hands on laptops and see them as their liberation from the world. It just won’t work.

And just because you’re making fantastic money from computers doesn’t mean that it doesn’t come at a price. Sitting in front of a computer eight hours a day isn’t exactly what human beings were designed for.

I’m not attacking you, I’m wondering where these computers are supposed to be taking us.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:03:50 +0000

I dunno what your problem is, man, but lots of us make pretty fantastic money from the time we invested in learning to use our computers. I really don’t understand what held you up, or what your complaint is, but just because it didn’t pay off for you doesn’t mean the rest of the world’s kids are going to wind up just as disillusioned.