OLPC: One laptop per child
Last updated: August 5, 2008.
Many of us find our lives revolve around the
Internet, but what about
people in developing countries, who don't even have a telephone, never
mind a computer? The risk is that
as information and communication technologies (sometimes known as ICTs) become ever more central to
modern life, these people will be left further and further behind. The problem is sometimes known as the
"digital divide": a kind of invisible wall between the digital "haves"
and "have-nots".
What should we do about the digital divide? Most people have chosen
just to ignore it, but US computer pioneer Nicholas Negroponte and his
team have taken a much more practical approach. Over the last few
years, they've worked to create a trimmed-down, low-cost laptop
suitable for people who live in children where electricity
and telephone access are harder to find. Their project is known as OLPC: One Laptop Per Child.
Let#s take a closer look at what it's all about.
Photo: courtesy of One Laptop Per Child,
licensed under a Creative Commons
License.
What's different about the OLPC?
In essence, OLPC is no different from any other laptop: it's a
machine with input, output, processor, and memory—the key components of
any computer. But in OLPC, these parts have been designed especially
for developing countries.
Here are some of the key features:
- Low cost: OLPC is designed to cost just $100—much less than a
traditional laptop.
- Inexpensive LCD screen: The hi-tech screen is designed to work
outdoors in bright sunlight, but costs only $35 to make—a fraction of
the cost of a normal LCD flat panel display.
- Trimmed down operating system: The operating system is like the
conductor of an orchestra: the part of a computer that makes all the
other parts (from the processor chip to the buttons on the mouse) work
in harmony. OLPC uses Linux (an efficient and
low-cost operating system
developed by thousands of volunteers) instead of the more expensive
Windows system.
- Wireless broadband: In some
parts of Africa, fewer than one
person in a hundred has access to a wired, landline telephone, so
dialup Internet access via telephone would be no use for OLPC users.
Each machine's wireless chip will allow it to create an ad-hoc network
with other machines nearby—so OLPC users will be able to talk to
one another and exchange information effortlessly.
- Flash memory: Instead of an
expensive and relatively unreliable
hard drive, OLPC uses a huge lump of
flash memory—like the memory used
in USB flash memory sticks and digital
camera memory cards.
- Own power: Home electricity supplies are scarce in many
developing countries, so OLPC has a hand-crank and built-in
generator.
One minute of cranking generates up to 10 minutes of power.
Photo caption: Use OLPC like a computer—or turn it
on its side and read it like a book.
This photo, courtesy of One
Laptop Per Child,
is licensed under a Creative Commons
License.
Is OLPC a good idea?
Anything that closes the digital divide, helping poorer children
gain access to education and opportunity, must be a good thing.
However, some critics have questioned whether projects like this are
really meeting the most immediate needs of people in developing
countries. According to the World Health Organization, around 1.1
billion people (18 percent of the world's population) have no access to
safe drinking water, while 2.6 billion (a staggering 42 percent of the
world's population) lack basic sanitation. During the 1990s, around 2
billion people were affected by major natural disasters such as floods
and droughts. Every single day, 5000 children die because of dirty
water—that's more people dying each day than were killed in the
9/11 terrorist attacks.
With basic problems on this scale, it could be argued that providing
access to computers and the Internet is not a high priority for most of
the world's poorer people. Then again, education is one of the most
important weapons in the fight against poverty. Perhaps computers could
provide young people with the knowledge they need to help themselves, their
families, and communities escape a life sentence of hardship?
Further reading
Other articles on explainthatstuff.com
- Fair trade: OLPC is one way to tackle the divide between rich nations and poor ones; fair trade is another.
Other websites
Digital divide: are things getting better?
How many countries are online?
This chart shows the number of countries with access to the Internet
in each year from 1988 to 2002.
Although most countries are now "wired", that doesn't mean everyone is
online in all those countries.
Source: Redrawn by Explainthatstuff.com from
ITU World Telecommunication
Development Report: Access Indicators for the Information Society:
Summary, 2003.
Growing telecommunications networks are helping Internet use to take off
This chart shows that telephone access in developing countries is
beginning to take off, helping Internet access to take off too.
Access levels remain at much lower levels than in more developed
countries, however.
Source: Drawn by Explainthatstuff.com using
data
in Table 2, p3, Information and Communications for Development 2006:
Global Trends and Policies, Overview,
World Bank, 2006.
