Teaching children to use Windows is like teaching them to smoke tobacco—in a world where only one company sells tobacco. Like any addictive drug, it inculcates a harmful dependency. No wonder Microsoft offers the first dose to children at a low price. Microsoft aims to teach poor children this dependency so they can smoke Windows for their whole lives. I don’t think governments or schools should support that aim.

(Photo by cheetah100)

Unfortunately, it doesn't have a suspend-and-resume capability, which Stallman called "somewhat inconvenient." Nor does the battery charge while it's running, which he called "an annoyance."

"But it's worth it to you," I said.

"For freedom," he responded, "I will make a sacrifice."

I'm no fan of Microsoft's software or business practices, but turning to a machine wholly developed in China doesn't exactly scream "freedom" to me, either. CEO Steve Ballmer may be a tyrant, but even he bows to Paramount Leader Hu Jintao.

From: Mary Lou Jepsen
To: Paul Boutin
Subject: Re: A question from our readers
Date: July 29, 2008 4:27:25 PM PDT

Paul,

I visited remote Peru last spring. It's poor there, scant electricity, little wifi, and not really clean water in the most remote places. The latter led to a painful eye condition, that had me literally half-blind for several months. I'm happy to report that I'm on the mend, and the patch is off and my vision has much improved.

What I discovered: a patch is a kid magnet. I was very popular with the under-10 crowd when I sported it.

best,
- Mary Lou

Bender and Negroponte are quarreling over open-source software, a subject which one doubts the laptopless of the third world care about, if they have even heard of it. Negroponte wants OLPC's XO laptops to run Windows; Bender wants to adapt its open-source Sugar software to multiple platforms through his new nonprofit, Sugar Labs. Any platform, that is, except an XO laptop running Windows, since it appears that Negroponte's request that Bender adapt Sugar for Windows is what precipitated the dispute.

The OLPC Foundation is looking for a new CEO, Negroponte says. For that role, we nominate Helen Lovejoy of The Simpsons, the one who famously uttered "Won't somebody please think of the children?" At this point, a cartoon character could do no worse.

Which is nonsensical: One of PayPal's features is that it gives merchants a verified address. And why wouldn't they get in touch to complete the order? Apparently he "might have good news in February." Some customer service that is. Snafus like this prevent the OLPC project from being taken seriously. If you can't ship laptops to a few reporters in California, how can you deliver hundreds of thousands of laptops to developing countries? Of course, the nonprofit has no profit motive to spur it to deliver on its promises. The invisible hand has a way of providing visible results.

Yes, it was One Laptop Per Child's XO. The owner, who was being interviewed by some Web publication, told us that he "really liked" the OLPC and thought it had "great potential" to change the lives of children in the developing world. Then he went on a tangent about how the MacBook Air was too expensive and all we really needed was the OLPC because we could all load free software on it and then the world would be a better place. Then he started talking about how great socialism is. Welcome to San Francisco, but really, isn't he at the wrong conference?

Some more pics from the blogger lounge:

Pixel Qi will produce the cheap, low-energy, sunlight-readable display used in Negroponte's charity computer for use in laptops, portable devices, and mobile phones. The startup will also use its design expertise to create other low-power computer components. Jespen is the chief inventor of the screens, the most unique component used in Negroponte's OLPC. With the industry increasing focus on low-cost, energy-efficient components, Jespen may have the making of a successful business. However, the entrepreneur and engineer hasn't completely woken from the philanthropic dreams of OLPC. Pixel Qi will continue to provide Negroponte's nonprofit with screens at cost while pursuing its own goal of producing an even cheaper, for-profit laptop. At the same time, it may well make OLPC irrelevant. Greed is good — even when it comes to helping third-world children.

OLPC prez Walter Bender said that Intel's efforts to build an XO Laptop with one of its chips were "seemingly half-hearted" and that its brass was more interested in OLPC for PR reasons:

"The only thing they were interested in was ... helping them make marketing statements about how Intel's approach to learning was different from OLPC's approach to learning," Bender said. "They weren't interested in how we can learn together and make something better for kids."

On the other hand, the market being flooded with ton of cheap laptops (which might be better than XO) for developing countries ultimately goes toward OLPC's goal to bring computers to everyone, so it's a bit off to say it is the One True Way, even if Intel really is a child-hating, PR-feeding douche. That said, we hope OLPC gets its act together soon. The only thing worse than a train wreck is one carrying the hopes and dreams of millions of children. Or something like that. [CW]

Darfur
Day has been lame. Stood in line for nine hours to get water for the family. When I got home, played this vocab game and won 30 grains of rice. Not sure how they'll send the rice to me. Bummer because I could have used some dinner. GTG, baby brother's crying again. Probably just his dysentery. God I do NOT want to change that diaper.

Nmwel, Vanuatu
We are so glad to have this computer! The entire village has spent hours laughing at the many videos on YouTube (Grandma Kalkot says hello to Dr. Diet Coke and Dr. Mentos the firework makers!).
The only problem is that due to our lust for the computer, we have abandoned our farms, our hunting, and all other useful work. Yesterday I caught one of the men with the laptop, hitting himself between the legs while watching a movie of a man and woman wrestling. I fear our tiny island community will be wiped out as we sit gaping at the green machine.

Nigeria
DEAR MOST EXCELLENT READERS, I HOPE YOU ARE NOT SURPRISED FOR WHAT I AM TELLING YOU. I HAVE ULTIMATE FAITH IN YOUR COMMENTING AS GENEROUS AND TRUSTWORTHY. MY FATHER, A COLONEL IN THE DIGG ARMY, DEPOSITED 5,000,000 PAGEVIEWS IN A BLOG POST, BUT HE WAS UNFORTUNATELY BANNED BEFORE HE COULD RETRIEVE THE FUNDS. KNOWING YOU READERS TO BE TRANSPARENT IN BUSINESS, I ASK YOU TO LEND ONE DIGG BY GIVING ME YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION, FOR A DEPOSIT THAT WILL HELP US FREE THE PAGEVIEWS. SINCERELY, BANGURA BANGURA.

Iraq
Got time between public hangings, so I have a moment to tell you about this great Facebook group I found, "In Honor of Mall Victims." It's in memorial to the nine victims of the senseless shooting in Omaha, America. There is good news on the group, such as that the mall has bravely opened less than two days after the tragedy, to defend people's rights to get 20% additional off a red tag sale price. I was so touched by the love of the Facebook users, many of whom bought teddy bear icons for the families of the victims, that I tried to invite my friends to the group. Unfortunately they were all killed by a suicide bomber last week.

Kansas City
Dear OLPC, I need to confess. Jealous that kids in developing nations were getting cooler computers than my mom's iMac (it's the cherry-colored one), I posed as an orphan from Madagascar to get a laptop. Now I'd like to return it, after I've read about the plights of the many children who need this opportunity to expand their world. Plus World of Warcraft lags like a bitch and my guild is pissed.

"Microsoft has always been working on Windows for the XO," OLPC's specially-designed laptop, Negroponte added. We don't begrudge the good professor for abandoning his open-source doctrine and revising history — his charity has learned to run itself more like a business in order to survive. Microsoft just happens to have more money at its disposal than most of the nations Negroponte has failed to sell his diminutive computer to.

What we are going to do is the following, and Jeff Bezos, bless his heart, he's got wonderful creativity for these sorts of jingles. He said you know Nick there's this expression, "Buy one and get two." Yeah, they see that. He said you've got to... have a jingle that says, "Buy two and get one." Bingo: 100 percent margin. So, we will release it in the United States and Europe on a buy two and get one basis where you pay whatever it is $300 for it, and what you're doing is you're buying one or more for a kid in Africa and when you walk around with this it will [be] like a yellow bracelet, it will be an expression, it will actually say that. [Sic.]

[Update: Previously, the post stated that OLPCs would be sold in North America and Europe. It has been corrected to the United States and Canada only thanks to commenter Wayan.]

Even while embracing reality, Negroponte clings to idealistic expectations: "Negroponte explained that if donations reached, say, $40 million, that would mean 100,000 laptops could be distributed free in the developing world. The idea, he said, would be to give perhaps 5,000 machines to 20 countries to try out and get started." These, of course, would be the same countries that have so far demurred on placing actual orders. Perhaps, it turns out, that for all the complexities of designing and distributing the laptop, the truth is simpler: None of his prospective customers are interested in Negroponte's machine.