Quote:
Originally Posted by BWinmill
The article was a bit amusing because Amazon managed to accomplish something that the OLPC project, or $100 laptop, didn't: getting cheap textbooks into the hands of children in developing countries (this was an argument for the project early on).
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Almost as amusing: they did it quietly with no press conferences, government negotiations, or pronouncements about how they would "save the world".
As a proper *pilot* program, they identified the strengths and (more importantly) the weaknesses of the tech *before* committing hundreds of millions of dollars to a massive airlift of tech toys.
The key lessons learned from this is that:
1- Just providing the texts offers a *big* benefit.
2- Even sub-optimal digital readers can do the trick.
3- Less capability might be more learning power and *less* distraction.
4- A purpose-built reader for this application needs to be ruggedized beyond generic OTA consumer products. Or, be built off plastic-substrate screens like the new LG line.
Pilot programs aren't for saving the world or even solving a problem; they are for finding out *how* to solve the problem.
This is a very successful pilot.
Now it is a matter of moving on to the next phase..