[Ma-linux] One Laptop per Child: Give one, Get one

[David A. Hammond]

This thread reminds me of when my daughter started junior
kindergarten at 4 1/2 years old (16 years ago).  The school
proudly told me that they had a computer lab that she would
be using.  I was in a hurry so I didn't get a chance to see
it.

After a few days, it dawned on me that it might be nice if I
could run some of the same things here that she was running
at school, so I started asking her about the machines there.
Among other questions, I asked her if the machine had a thing
that fit in her hand, with a wire coming out, that she could
use to point to things on the screen.  She said, and I quote
exactly, "Yes, Dad, it has a mouse."  (If I recall correctly,
it was a Mac from the Apples for the Kids program.)

Never underestimate the ability of young children to learn
new technology.

Dave

Theodore Ruegsegger wrote:
> Neeran wrote:
>> Does anyone know if it is appropriate for 3-4 year old kids?  I want
>> to donate one and also use this opportunity to buy a laptop for my
>> son.  I reviewed the site but was not able to learn more about the
>> software it comes loaded with.  Any input on that is truly
>> appreciated
> 
> Don't give up on the website! As I said, laptop.org isn't like typical
> websites but I'm pretty sure all you'd want to know is there.
> 
> Clicking the laptop icon reveals a menu including hardware and
> software. Each of those pages has links to detail pages like
> highlights, features, specs, etc.
> 
> Gregory pointed out that you can try it all out as a virtual machine
> to see what it's like:
> 
>> On this point: you can download a disk image and run the OLPC
>> software in QEMU.  It's faster on the actual OLPC, and you lose
>> sound and (obviously) the wireless but it is interesting
>> none-the-less.
> 
>> http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OS_images_for_emulation
> 
> I expect that, since I've been steeped in "traditional" computer
> interfaces for decades, and I'm old and brain-calcified to boot, this
> laptop will seem alien and unintuitive to me. But then, I'm not the
> target audience.
> 
> It's been a long time since I had a 3-4 year old kid, so I'm not sure
> whether a child that age could master all the features. On the other
> hand, it's intended to be a tool the child grows with. Many of the
> features don't require reading ability and would probably beguile a
> young child with colorful graphics, sounds, animations, etc. From
> there, it's a short step to engaging the child to create and
> collaborate.
> 
> Of course, this is all my conjecture since all I know about the laptop
> is what I've read. I guess I'll give the QEMU demo a try while I wait
> for the real thing to arrive...
> 
> Ted
> 
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