Pogue finds the OLPC XO "absolutely amazing"

With the OLPC Foundation's "Give 1 Get 1" holiday promotion fast approaching, New York Times tech pundit and occasional crooner David Pogue decided to see for himself if the long-hyped XO lives up to its promise, and he's now delivered a full review of the not-quite-$100 laptop. While he recognizes some of the laptop's shortcomings (including a two-minute startup time), those proved to be insignificant compared to the laptop's many benefits, which he says "exhibit breakthrough after breakthrough." Garnering particular notice from Pogue was the XO's sunlight-readable screen, its mesh networking capabilities, and it's long-lasting (and, just as importantly, cheap) battery. He even went so far as to perform a few drop and spill tests on the laptop, which the XO apparently had no trouble withstanding -- check out the video also at the link below to see for yourself.

[Mike Klein @ Oct 5th 2007 4:13PM]

Does concept of planned obsolescence apply to OLPC?

Are the parts engineered to have limited lifetime? How replaceable/cheap are those batteries, etc.?

The fact they ruggedized it is a good sign.

[Kevin @ Oct 5th 2007 4:25PM]

You should effin watch the video. This should ease your troubled mind...and perhaps stop you from asking dumb questions.

[bob @ Oct 5th 2007 4:21PM]

The batteries are $10, you can get a $12 solar panel which recharges/powers the battery.

[Fuzzball @ Oct 5th 2007 4:31PM]

FTFA:
"In the places where the XO will be used, power is often scarce. So the laptop uses a new battery chemistry, called lithium ferro-phosphate. It runs at one-tenth the temperature of a standard laptop battery, costs $10 to replace, and is good for 2,000 charges — versus 500 on a regular laptop battery."

The article also states a $12 solar panel is offered that will either power the XO or charge the battery.

Personally I'm impressed with the laptop. I think they've done a great job with the hardware, software, and the targeted environment. I hope these will make it to the classrooms of these countries and would make a big difference as an educational tool for those kids.

[Mike Klein @ Oct 5th 2007 4:59PM]

@Kevin: I don't have time to watch videos. I need minions like yourself to report back...thanks.

[remrof @ Oct 6th 2007 3:26PM]

you fail dumbass

[Mike Klein @ Oct 6th 2007 4:09PM]

@remrof: You contribute so much to engadget...thanks...now go back to text'g your buds and not doing your homework like you should be.

[Jason Terhorst @ Oct 5th 2007 4:24PM]

David Pogue has now indeed completed his transition from serious tech journalist to dancing bear.

[RationalCenter @ Oct 5th 2007 5:04PM]

So how does reporting on one of the most breakthrough devices this year make him into a "dancing bear"? Is it not "real" journalism if the presentation happens to be entertaining while it informs?

[Herman Manfred @ Oct 5th 2007 4:36PM]

Can you imagine how fast rumors, news, free speech, porn can fly through a meshed network of thousands of OLPCs?

[chris fredette @ Oct 5th 2007 4:42PM]

I think the 2 for one thing is a mistake. In tech things are worth what they cost to make plus a small margin. That is what the market demands. When there are other, better choices out there for $400-$500 I don't think people will jump on this. Maybe Al Gore but that's just one guy.
The better idea would be to sell them for $200-$220 and use the profits to buy more laptops for other worldly kids. At that price point people would buy more than one as it would have a amazing price/point for a useful device. At $200 they would be cheaper than a wii and people would buy them like hotcakes just to play with them. You would crank up the volume very fast(lowering the cost) and would get a ton of free top class programmers(from the US) writing for it. As the OS improves the demand will increase as well.

[cmonkey @ Oct 5th 2007 5:13PM]

The Give 1 Get 1 program is limited to 25,000 XOs. You're delusional if you think they won't sell out of that within the first day.

The idea to fund the project is not to try to sell hundreds of thousands of them in the US at say $10 profit on each. The idea is to get governments, both in the 1st and 3rd worlds, to put out several million dollars (a pittance, compared to the average country's existing education budget, let alone a defense budget) to buy the 250,000 minimum order quantity (though the minimum has been dropped in some cases already).

Thus, the Give 1 Get 1 program is less a project for revenue than it is one to increase buzz about the XO and get more governments interested.

[chris fredette @ Oct 7th 2007 9:05PM]

If the limit is 25,000 then fine to rape the people with money to blow. Then reduce it to $200 for regular people.
And yea, the idea is to get more in the hands of poor people. My point again is the best way is to sell as many as possible and to get price as low as possible and get more money into the program to buy more free computers. My point is you will sell more, make more money, produce more for poor children, and get more of them into more hands at a lower price point.
Basically you use American money, capitalism, and a need to help others together. Instead of just a need. Think smart people.

[DigiPimp @ Oct 5th 2007 4:51PM]

Its amazing how many idiots still fail to realize these laptops were made with third world countries in mind, not the suburbs for spoiled kids who get bored with their other toys.

The two for one is a good idea because one will get sent to a third world country for sure and you'll get the chance to play around with one yourself, and then likely tell others about it or pass it along to a child here and give them a start on education.

[chris fredette @ Oct 5th 2007 5:06PM]

While I see your point you obviously didn't read into mine. I don't think people will by them at $400. Sure some will but not many. You assume there will be tons of people buying them for charity. That is not thinking like a business man.
Let's say the sell them for $220. A profit of $35. $185/$35 a 5:1 ratio. My bet is they make more money at this rate then at 2:1 because they will be so cheap people will think nothing to buy them. $200 would be like a magical price that would sell all they could make. This would make them money and make it a better/cheaper product to be distributed to your third world country's.
In summary $400=low sales $200=a instant hit.

[Dean Lowe @ Oct 5th 2007 5:22PM]

The one you give away is tax deductible.

[chris fredette @ Oct 7th 2007 9:05PM]

tax deductions don't make it free, but they are a nice bonus. I assume you can only deduct $200 because you are buying only one. I would rather see it be a $200 donation and we will send you a laptop as a gift.

[Matt H. @ Oct 5th 2007 4:57PM]

I like it.
The price/cost of them will go down as production cranks up. Look at how cheap laptops have gotten in 2-3 years.

Also by the looks of abuse it can take, the quality of the screen, battery and very cool mesh networking this laptop is unlike anything on the market. Its huge bargain at $200 when compared to a Toughbook or anything else that would take that abuse.

This device will open up the information age to the masses.

[millenomi @ Oct 5th 2007 5:32PM]

Technically it's incredible. Bundle propagation and auto-upgrade; the whole concept of the Journal; or even just the signing antitheft mechanism. They're well-thought and they could actually be the base for easier "serious" computing platforms in the future.

[Marino @ Oct 5th 2007 7:35PM]

Do these things have a USB port to plug a printer or external hard drive?
Is the only way to get your data out through the network?

[l0ne @ Oct 6th 2007 2:37AM]

They have USB ports too.

[mike @ Oct 5th 2007 6:10PM]

yes... revolutionary.

Now all of the underprivileged kids in 3d world countries can use the internet to find out about the vaccines they could have gotten for $200 instead of a janky-ass toilet-seat iBook-clone...

[rcastrousa @ Oct 5th 2007 6:30PM]

WOW if only the ibook were as revolutionary. go suckle on Jobs

[rawhead @ Oct 8th 2007 12:49PM]

And you think the guy that prefaced the original iBooks with "janky-ass toilet seat" is an Apple fanboy. Another proof that Apple haterz are just as bad as, if not worse than, Apple fanboys.

[hn333 @ Oct 5th 2007 6:14PM]

What button do I press to see the naked ladies?

[johnzilla @ Oct 5th 2007 6:27PM]

Something 50% of the world still uses open flames as the primary cooking method. But hey, at least they'll be able to send instant messages!

How about spending the $185 on clean water, medicine, and teaching people not to live in deserts instead?

[cmonkey @ Oct 5th 2007 6:49PM]

Education is the solution to all of those problems and a million others.

As stated by Nicholas Negroponte, the OLPC project is about education, not laptops.

[johnzilla @ Oct 5th 2007 7:35PM]

Education? OK, fine, but what good is knowing how to make a water filter if you don't have the resources and supplies to make one?

Sure, the OLPC will let everyone communicate and educate via a mesh network, but here's the thing: these folks in third world countries have been talking to each other for centuries and they're still in the state they're in, so what on earth is going to change when they can talk to each other faster via IM? Volunteers and aid organizations have been working with the poor and needy for decades without discernible progress, why does anyone expect that to change now that the poor and needy will be able to click on banner ads and learn what a ":)" is?

[Ian @ Oct 5th 2007 9:56PM]

The education is not just limited to the internet. In many of these countries the cost of a basic textbook mean that they are using one outdated textbook for many students. If you take that same textbook and convert it into a .pdf or a .txt it becomes a lot cheaper because it doesn't take as much money for the cost of printing and distributing books. Education is the first step, yes these people still need to be fed, and they especially need clean water, but if this makes education for these children both cheaper than what their governments are currently paying and more useful, I am all for it.

[danman @ Oct 6th 2007 3:41AM]

i dont know about you guys but i have experience in living in a 3rd world because my country is one. it has always been a wrong argument to state that focus should always be given to food (ofcourse it is a very important need) rather than education. education is the thing that will empower the people and the youth to change their lives. OLPC wasnt made for people just to talk to each other, it was made for them to connect, collaborate and learn about the new technologies available today. most of the kids i've met (i work in an NGO that specializes in communciations and design) in the depressed areas havent even read books because, books produced for them either doesnt get published (corruption) or just disappear. and the cost for the production of publications is really expensive, so educational mats in digital format will be helpful for this kids, not only will this be cost efficient it will also give them information fast. in 3rd world countries storage has always been a problem (because the refugees always get dispersed), if you give them paper, pub mats, etc they will either get left behind or thrown away.

[Eric @ Oct 6th 2007 10:11AM]

How about getting a cheap reliable way to get information on how to get clean water, mosquito control, and IMing doctors without boarders for medical advice?

[rawhead @ Oct 8th 2007 12:56PM]

And of course you will be spending more than $200 on charity for third-world nations this holiday season, won't you? Cuz if yes, that's great, we need many different forms of support going to those countries, definitely not JUST OLPCs.

But, if not, then why don't you shut the fuck up. Wether or not the OLPC will have as much impact on educating children in third world countries as Negroponte wants, just the fact that it exists and that there are thousands of people who are willing to contribute to its dissemination will do infinitely more good that you bitching here about how ineffective the program is.

[johnzilla @ Oct 8th 2007 1:41PM]

Actually, rawhead, in time and money combined, I donate several thousands of dollars each year to a couple charities and have done so for many years. The difference is that I donate my time and money to local charities, right near my home, because I see no point in teaching someone on the other side of the world how to have fresh water when the guy living a couple miles from me can't read or a family I know well is in a shelter because there aren't any jobs.

Everyone is still ignoring my point: knowing how to build transportation is useless unless you have the raw materials to actually build transportation. Knowing how to build a water filter or a well pump running off of solar is useless unless you have the money to buy a solar panel or the pump or whatever. And getting raw materials means having an infrastructure.

Example: India and Bangladesh are arguably familiar with PCs, education, technology, etc. Yet how are freighters and container ships recycled? They beach the ship on dry land, and thousands of people (most of them unable to read or write, and most of them barefooted with no safety devices of any kind whatsoever) proceed to dismantle these ships with their bare hands and some rudimentary cutting torches. Environmental controls? Nope. So much for education.

The pyramids were built without PCs. The great cathedrals of Europe were built without PCs. Rome's infrastructure was built without PCs. Knowledge (and education) can be transmitted by word of mouth and simple documents, this has been true for thousands of years and isn't any less true now in the Internet age. Claiming that PCs are needed in order for people to be educated (or "educated better" or "educated faster") is absurd.

I'm all for technological innovation, and the OLPC is a pretty nifty device, I just don't believe that people are taking human nature into account here. The idea that PCs are needed for technological innovation is absurd. The idea that everyone who has an OLPC will immediately and forever use it to benefit their neighbors and their community is also absurd...most people are going to use it for gambling, porn, and trying to get laid, just like millions of current Internet users. Rich or poor, in the end people are still people.

[rawhead @ Oct 8th 2007 3:33PM]

@johnzilla

And you're not getting my point either. It's great that you donate a lot of money to local charity. And I mean that sincerely. But, as someone who is not going to donate anything towards the education of children in third world nations, this program and its contributors will do infinitely more good (because any number divided by 0, your contribution, is ∞) than you will.

Also, as an addition, I could understand your point if this program will actually take away from charity that would have otherwise gone to supplying them with clean water, food, etc. But I think that this program appeals to quite a different demographic than your run-of-the-mill philanthropists.

[Marino @ Oct 5th 2007 7:30PM]

I think the fact they are selling them for $400 is very smart. People don't like giveaways. Not even dirt poor third world people. They think giveaways are JUNK. But if you tell them that people in America pay $400 for this stuff, then they'll think it's worth something and they'll take good care of them.

[DigiPimp @ Oct 5th 2007 7:40PM]

I guess I never realized how dumb the people reading and commenting on this site were until now. Go kill yourselves.

[Tony @ Oct 5th 2007 9:21PM]

wonder how it would be for just a surfing checking email computer?

[Trevor @ Oct 5th 2007 10:20PM]

Typo: "it's long-lasting battery" --> "its long-lasting battery"

[Mr. Picklesworth @ Oct 6th 2007 1:56AM]

Good Lord, I just realized the XO's processor is as powerful as the server I'm using to this day. Time for a new computer :P
That desktop / server, by the way, (I still use it as a standard desktop, occasionally, when I feel patient) has been very beneficial in my learning about web technologies. Claims of the XO being an unnecessary learning tool are completely unfounded, probably generated by people who believe computers were only built for games. 433 mHz is enough for a powerful LAMP server, an SSH server and the tools to develop locally using said server -- all while chatting with Pidgin and browsing the web.
These specs are, by no means, weak.

Besides that, the mesh networking here is extremely good. It would be a revolutionary learning tool /anywhere/!

[Eric @ Oct 6th 2007 10:13AM]

Don't forget they are designed for people who are going from nothing to something. Remember your first car? Was it a Lexus? Was it better than walking?

This whole discussion seems like a trollfest to me.

[Evan Parker @ Oct 6th 2007 2:50PM]

My first car wasn't a Lexus, and it was better than walking. However, if I didn't have enough food or water, I really couldn't have cared less about having a car.

This is in addition to the fact that laptops are really fucking poor educational tools. Why can't we just send one laptop to a teacher along with a blackboard? What are these kids going to be learning that pencil and paper won't suffice?

[Matt H. @ Oct 6th 2007 4:57PM]

This program opens up freedom to massive amounts information by each student that couldn't be accessed by any other means; as well as communication and access to computer technology directly.

Just imagine if only the teacher had the laptop... thirty kids are to peer over her shoulder to see what is happening or read books? It would defeat the purpose entirely to just give one per classroom.

Food and clean water? In countries in Africa were this is a problem there is are many charities that have been working on these pressing issues for decades. Feel free to give to them, United Way has been a favourite of mine.

As for the education problem it is vast and impedes the escape from poverty. The OLPC program may be able to elevate the next generation by providing them with the knowledge and power, by means of information and communication, to better themselves and their future.

[Mike @ Oct 7th 2007 4:30PM]

What is kind of funny, ironic, sad... is that we see this product which is centered around durability and efficient power usage as necessary only for the third world. So, the message seems to be that some day they too will have enough wealth to waste resources (of any kind) wantonly. Hahahaha... and then icing on the cake is that we view this as educating them... While it is entirely clear that we need some educating ourselves.
Actually, it's products like this which really point out how unimaginative and unfulfilling the western free market is in terms of the products it delivers. Not that I have a better way mind you.
Of course outside all of that... this XO laptop is a great idea I think and a breakthrough product it its own right. I'd like to have one. Even more so, I would like to have some of its features in my next fully blown laptop.

re: what's being learned that couldn't be with paper/pen? An entire paradigm and relationship with both technology and community cooperations is potentially learned. Perhaps the naysayers are right and it will be meaningless. But we won't know until it is tried. There objection that the money should be put to more traditional charity uses falls somewhat flat in that those approaches have been tried for decades with little to show, in the way of bootstrapping these societies, for the effort in most cases. Not that those efforts should be abandoned by any means.
re: the business model. I think the idea put forward above that cheaper sales in western countries of individual machines might do better in the long run is an interesting one.

re: getting into kids hands. I worry that these things, even being cheap for what they are, will have too much value to make it to where they are being sent in many cases. And like the corruption and theft of books and such mentioned above.... many of these things will go to those that already have power and wealth in those areas.
I bet many more than the original 25,000 available to the west will show up on e-bay (or someplace) at some point.
I hope not... but I think it will be a problem.

- m