There are more than a billion children out there who possess raw talent that is completely untapped through lack of resources and opportunity. Africa and South America, it can be argued are the poorest continents in the world with people struggling to attain life's basic necessities. Would it be possible that these children in such dire straits could be given the opportunity to enter the global stage of technology and the information age as we know it in developed countries. The answer, as it would appear, is no. Primarily because technology is an expensive commodity in the world today, and some people may say the rarest of all in undeveloped countries.
Many believe that surely a child in Brazil or Egypt or South Africa could have the aptitude and brilliance in computers and programming as Bill Gates or Larry Page had. Surely out of more than a staggering billion of young minds in undeveloped nations, at least 1% of them would be able to engineer a computer or develop software if they had the opportunity, and did you know that even 1% would amount to 10 million children that could be great.
[...] In total there are 20 activities that come default with the laptop and more can be downloaded. It is evident that these activities and software are very different from that in a conventional laptop, experts say the reason being is that the OLPC team decided that children should not be taught to use applications like Microsoft Office because that would be training them to be office workers. Instead, and most people agree, children should use software that allows them to express themselves and be creative which is what all of these activities enable them to do. [...]
[...] Storage and Memory It is apt that instead of a large, bulky hard drive with moving parts the laptop uses 1GB of flash memory, similar to the memory used in some digital cameras. Some people may say that 1GB is too little, and in that vain the memory can be expanded using the built in SD memory card slot or by plugging in devices through the USB ports (such as flash drives and external hard drives). It can be argued that data is of the essence in today's world so the backing up feature is excellent and is done on an online system which is provided by search giant Google. [...]
[...] An example of this is earlier this year when OLPC founder, Professor Negroponte accused Intel of selling its own cut-price laptop - the Intel Classmate - below cost price to drive him out of markets. Most people agree that Intel had used such tactics to damage the OLPC project because the laptop uses a chip manufactured by AMD, it's fiercest and greatest rival. Some may say the OLPC project is definitely making inroads since it is ruffling the feathers of the big boys of the computer world such as Microsoft and Intel. [...]
[...] OLPC Project Imagine that , if by some God-like power or miraculous deed, every child in the world had a laptop computer. A world with truly One Laptop per Child. Imagine a child in the midst of brutal killing and civil war in Sudan or lost in the economical catastrophe in Zimbabwe, could actually be able to haul himself or herself out of obscurity and explore, learn, innovate and contribute to the global village and technological paradise that we live in. [...]
[...] Therefore the laptop uses electricity miserly and is robust to withstand exposure to dust and rough weather, while in the same breath it had to be light and easy to carry, as not to hinder the child. Appearance It can be argued that the XO is like no other laptop ever built. Most people would agree that the unique device can be distinguished immediately. Unlike, the dull shades of grey and black that laptops usually are, it is evident that the XO was designed to have a strong visual appeal to children. [...]
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