Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"We need a digital camera that can be switched on and fire off that first shot fast. It's not a commonly tracked statistic on any review site, and nobody seems to have this information for every camera. We were hoping other readers could inform us as to what small digital cameras can fire off their first pics in under a second (ideally under half a second). It needs to be small, but mostly, just really quick in operation. Thanks!"
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