Quote:
Originally Posted by alex_d
But still, I think OLPC is a very bad program. I think giving children computers is a good thing, but the OLPC people have tried hard to take away exactly what makes computers boosters to intelligence and bridgers of a divide in skills.
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You are assuming that OLPC is about getting computers to kids. That's not the ultimate goal. It's getting information to kids.
PCs today are less learning tools in themselves and more of "internet terminals" - allowing people to access far more information than they ever had before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alex_d
This ASUS book with Windows XP would make the perfect OLPC.
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The Windows XP license exceeds the cost of the hardware. So that would be a very poor choice for an OLPC OS.
The
cheapest that I have seen Microsoft license Windows/Office for was $150. Which made the alternatives cost $500 for the Linux version and $650 for the Windows version of the PC. This was in Vietnam where $650 is a very large amount of money. Guess which version sold better?
Quote:
Originally Posted by alex_d
Windows is the only operating system that both has an easy learning curve and a lot of depth.
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That is a false statement.
I don't want to turn this discussion into a "Linux vs. Windows" debate. But I can tell you from experience that Linux is just as easy to learn (if not easier) and has far more depth than any Microsoft product.
Any OLPC system that uses Windows will be overpriced. And for any system that is effectively just an "internet terminal", it will make little difference which OS you use.