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10 Responses to “1.30.08 – MARY LOU JEPSEN – 6-8pm”
What parameters will you judge whether the OLPC project is a success? is it whether or not the screen breaks? is it to what degree children in Brazil are familiar with the latest YouTube fad? When will you start to evaluate the success of the project, 5 years, 10 years, 50 years?
what elements of the design in OLPC can be applicable in consumer pcs? how can these elements change the environmental impact that disposed laptops currently have?
Some people have been criticizing “One Laptop One Childâ€, saying the affordable price tag is in exchange for an oversimplified computer and there for not as progressive as the media behind the project suggests. What is you response to these comments, and how do you justify why you chose to simplify the laptop the way you did.
where and how are the laptops manufactured? just the production alone of conventional computers generates an incredible amount of waste, and the parts end up toxic/non-recyclable. As the aim of the program is to make digital knowledge accessible to schoolchildren, the focus is both on minimizing cost as well as efficiency. can you briefly describe how you were able to produce a “cleaner” device and if there has been interest in incorporating this technology into more mainstream models?
Inspiring that the motivator of education behind OLPC (plus lots and lots of hard work) caused the Unintended consequence of green: Recalling Nordhaus/Shellenberger, since environmental degradation is a human problem, getting at the heart of human matters will cause more positive changes in environmentalism than dealing with individual ‘environmental’ problems/symptoms. OLPC is a remarkable example of this principle at work. Giving happiness to children along with the tools for possibility and creativity is probably THE most powerful way to positively influence the future of our world.
There is plenty of negative response to the OLPC project, particularly focused on the politics around the distribution and use of the computers. So, it was so refreshing to meet the OLPCs through Mary Lou Jepson’s hand in its creation, and to understand the innovation and advanced technologies that have gone into making them. Aside from the evident advancements that went into the development of the screen, such as the ability to be used in direct sunlight and to have the graphic quality of that of a laser printed document—neither quality is particularly standard on commercial laptops, OLPC’s greatest success from a technological standpoint is its modular quality. What I mean by this is usually successful computer design is associated with sleek exteriors and a discouragement of opening the laptop up yourself to reconfigure the hardware (there is a “genius bar†to fix computers for you, or you are enticed to buy the newer, thinner model). The fact that OLPCs were designed to be modular in that they could easily be taken apart and hardware updated or fixed creates an all together different, and maybe more successful attitude surrounding the technology within the laptop. The report about the girls who started the OLPC laptop hospital to perform these minor hardware adjustments is an instance of how attitudes around computer technology should be, even if not everyone is able to manipulated the physical aspects of the laptop, it is still understood that a “non-genius†will be able to do so, like the girls of the hospital. The technological advancements made in OLPCs are sure to find their ways into commercially sold laptops, but what might be more important to the current generation of computer users would be a return and refocus on the malleability of the hardware and the personal hand within the use of technology. Not to mention that it is in fact more environmentally sound to alter and update a laptop piece by piece as it is needed, than to scrap an entire computer in favor of a newer model.
I have mixed feelings about the projected benefits of every child on the planet growing up in front of a computer screen. I think the potential for the OLPC as a learning tool is incredible, but there should be some consideration for the negative implications of learning, communicating, etc, solely through technological means. I am not against the project by any means, but it seems to be more of a technological breakthrough than a humanitarian one. Several of the OLPC features are improvements on the current laptop models which leads consumers to believe they are being charged too much for their Macbook–but I don’t think that was ever a secret. I feel that the OLPC may be a mixed blessing: that it could educate an entire new generation of children and at the same time make this Brave New World even more dependent and inextricably connected to our electronic devices.
January 30th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Question for Mary-Lou Jepsen:
What parameters will you judge whether the OLPC project is a success? is it whether or not the screen breaks? is it to what degree children in Brazil are familiar with the latest YouTube fad? When will you start to evaluate the success of the project, 5 years, 10 years, 50 years?
January 30th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
What kinds of new media experiences (visual or otherwise) will provoke openness in environmental thought?
January 30th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
what elements of the design in OLPC can be applicable in consumer pcs? how can these elements change the environmental impact that disposed laptops currently have?
January 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Some people have been criticizing “One Laptop One Childâ€, saying the affordable price tag is in exchange for an oversimplified computer and there for not as progressive as the media behind the project suggests. What is you response to these comments, and how do you justify why you chose to simplify the laptop the way you did.
January 30th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
where and how are the laptops manufactured? just the production alone of conventional computers generates an incredible amount of waste, and the parts end up toxic/non-recyclable. As the aim of the program is to make digital knowledge accessible to schoolchildren, the focus is both on minimizing cost as well as efficiency. can you briefly describe how you were able to produce a “cleaner” device and if there has been interest in incorporating this technology into more mainstream models?
February 6th, 2008 at 2:17 am
Inspiring that the motivator of education plus lots and lots of hard work caused the Unintended consequence of green!
February 27th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Link to Mary Lou’s page at the Design Clinic:
http://x.environmentalhealthclinic.net/profile/MaryLouJepsonCyberProxy
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Inspiring that the motivator of education behind OLPC (plus lots and lots of hard work) caused the Unintended consequence of green: Recalling Nordhaus/Shellenberger, since environmental degradation is a human problem, getting at the heart of human matters will cause more positive changes in environmentalism than dealing with individual ‘environmental’ problems/symptoms. OLPC is a remarkable example of this principle at work. Giving happiness to children along with the tools for possibility and creativity is probably THE most powerful way to positively influence the future of our world.
March 11th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
There is plenty of negative response to the OLPC project, particularly focused on the politics around the distribution and use of the computers. So, it was so refreshing to meet the OLPCs through Mary Lou Jepson’s hand in its creation, and to understand the innovation and advanced technologies that have gone into making them. Aside from the evident advancements that went into the development of the screen, such as the ability to be used in direct sunlight and to have the graphic quality of that of a laser printed document—neither quality is particularly standard on commercial laptops, OLPC’s greatest success from a technological standpoint is its modular quality. What I mean by this is usually successful computer design is associated with sleek exteriors and a discouragement of opening the laptop up yourself to reconfigure the hardware (there is a “genius bar†to fix computers for you, or you are enticed to buy the newer, thinner model). The fact that OLPCs were designed to be modular in that they could easily be taken apart and hardware updated or fixed creates an all together different, and maybe more successful attitude surrounding the technology within the laptop. The report about the girls who started the OLPC laptop hospital to perform these minor hardware adjustments is an instance of how attitudes around computer technology should be, even if not everyone is able to manipulated the physical aspects of the laptop, it is still understood that a “non-genius†will be able to do so, like the girls of the hospital. The technological advancements made in OLPCs are sure to find their ways into commercially sold laptops, but what might be more important to the current generation of computer users would be a return and refocus on the malleability of the hardware and the personal hand within the use of technology. Not to mention that it is in fact more environmentally sound to alter and update a laptop piece by piece as it is needed, than to scrap an entire computer in favor of a newer model.
April 10th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I have mixed feelings about the projected benefits of every child on the planet growing up in front of a computer screen. I think the potential for the OLPC as a learning tool is incredible, but there should be some consideration for the negative implications of learning, communicating, etc, solely through technological means. I am not against the project by any means, but it seems to be more of a technological breakthrough than a humanitarian one. Several of the OLPC features are improvements on the current laptop models which leads consumers to believe they are being charged too much for their Macbook–but I don’t think that was ever a secret. I feel that the OLPC may be a mixed blessing: that it could educate an entire new generation of children and at the same time make this Brave New World even more dependent and inextricably connected to our electronic devices.