Birmingham, Alabama schools getting 15000 OLPC XOs

If you (or your kiddo) just happens to be a first through eighth grader in Birmingham, Alabama, you (or your offspring) will soon be playing with an XO during regularly scheduled class time. Mayor Larry Langford has recently announced that a $3 million deal was signed in order to bring in one laptop per child for the aforementioned grades, or 15,000 XOs in total. Apparently, the schools will become the first in the nation to receive heaps of the low-cost lappies, which were sold to the district at $200 a pop. As for logistics, students can expect to receive their machine on April 15, 2008, and while pupils will be allowed to take 'em home, the school system can and will disable any that inexplicably "disappear."

[Image courtesy of OLPCNews]

[chris @ Dec 5th 2007 8:03AM]

Birmingham city schools; closing ragged old buildings, attempting to enforce dress codes for teachers, manipulating no child left behind assessment results, losing students by the hundreds every year, but a knock off laptop will save them! The mayor's article yesterday is a "build it and they will come" speech. This will be another multi-million dollar deal wasted for birmingham city schools.

[Flashpoint @ Dec 5th 2007 1:37PM]

THE MOTHER OF ALL CRYSIS LAN PARTIES...

[Flashpoint @ Dec 5th 2007 1:42PM]

The reason why people in 3rd world countries and even in America are still starving despite the Billions of dollars sent towards them is simply because GOVERNMENT GRANTS, LOANS AND DONATIONS TOWARDS THE POOR ARE PUT IN THE HANDS OF GREEDY CORPORATIONS WHO NOT ONLY STEAL THAT MONEY, BUT DO THEIR BEST TO GET TAX WRITE OFFS in the process. They steal those funds in the form of hedgefunds, earmarks and other assorted names you probably hear most about when listening to congressional biographies.


What good is an OLPC going to do for children being raped,slaughtered in war and trafficked worldwide?

"well I'm not going to be able to eat tonight but at least my wifi connection is solid"

[monkfishbandana @ Dec 5th 2007 3:17PM]

Something...SOMETHING...is telling that these may not run Crysis very well. And by 'something' I mean 'everything'. And by 'may' I mean 'won't'. And by 'very well' I mean 'at all'.

[monkfishbandana @ Dec 5th 2007 3:18PM]

Sorry, last comment was @ Flashpoint

[CapnVan @ Dec 6th 2007 1:55AM]

@Flashpoint:

Your comment might have made sense if OLPC was a money grubbing corporation. But it's a non-profit. Which makes your comment pointless.

[spyyder @ Dec 5th 2007 8:18AM]

Finally proving once and for all Alabama is indeed a third world state.

[shanoboy @ Dec 5th 2007 8:26AM]

Yeah, so much for the OLPC being for third world children. How about some trailer park children instead!

[Gus @ Dec 5th 2007 9:28AM]

It's possible to be funny without being outright insulting, shanoboy, like the guy who you replied to was. Stop trying to cash in on other people's jokes with lame stereotypical jabs. There is plenty more to see in the South than what that terrible movie "Sweet Home Alabama" has to show. Grow up.

[shanoboy @ Dec 5th 2007 9:47AM]

@GUS
Hey, no hating intended. Sorry, it was a lame joke. I'm from Georgia, near Rome, a place probably more red neck than most anywhere in Bama! Heck, they still have Lynard Skynard concerts on a regular basis, secretly sponsored by the local chapter of the KKK I'm sure!

[Bill @ Dec 5th 2007 10:07AM]

Please don't use the racist term "redneck". It's a racial insult aimed at poor whites. Would you call Mexicans "wetbacks" or Italians "whops", etc.? It's all or nothing folks.

[Natedog @ Dec 5th 2007 11:13AM]

I honestly can't decide if any of these comments are serious or sarcastic, and it kind of scares me. I'm not quite the "deep south" being in Knoxville, TN, but I am very familiar with poor school systems. Laptops don't help, but living, breathing teachers do help.

[stankychicken @ Dec 5th 2007 11:34AM]

@ Shanoboy

Dude, I'm from Rome! Birmingham is a crock of shit, it is smaller than ATL but is ten times worse because they don't have enough rich people who pay taxes to keep birmingham looking good.

[strider_mt2k @ Dec 5th 2007 12:10PM]

DEVELOPING State.

Developing.

[rwebbart @ Dec 5th 2007 1:07PM]

@ shanoboy:
I know what people think when they hear "South" or "Alabama", but the vast majority of students in the Birmingham school district are Black. And, I can promise you that none of them live on farms or listen to very much Lynard Skynard. The major challenger in the election that just passed was either mixed race or a light skinned black man. There was a big controversy over an editorial cartoon that basically said he was too white to win the election. Next time you want to stereotype an entire area, at least know who your trying to throw the blanket over.

@ spyyder
Just an hour & 1/2 from Birmingham is Huntsville. They have the Highest Per Capita Income in the country (Population in excess of 50,000). Again, don't throw out a blanket stereotype if you don't know who you are throwing it over.

@ everyone
I get a little testy when people start bashing my state. For the past several years, I worked in a business where I traveled extensively throughout the country. What I have found from reading your news papers, and staying in your cities, is that we all have more in common than we would like to believe.

In recent years we have been loosing kids from the public education system to Private Schools in droves. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so, but I am just an ignorant "Red-Neck" from central Bama.

[hi2u @ Dec 5th 2007 1:30PM]

@rwebbart
Did you mean to say Huntsville had the highest income per capita out of cities with populations greater than 50,000 in the county rather than in the entire country? I ask because you just scolded someone for not knowing what they were talking about before posting and yet all evidence indicates your argument is entirely unfounded:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest-income_places_in_the_United_States#100_highest-income_places_with_a_population_of_at_least_50.2C000

Now, I realize that Wikipedia may not always be the most reliable source. With that in mind, consider CNN Money's report, which admittedly lists median annual household income instead of per capita income but does not include Huntsville anywhere near the top 100 in the country:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2007/snapshots/PL0137000.html

[rwebbart @ Dec 5th 2007 2:00PM]

@ Hi2u
Funny, my stat also cam from Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Places_in_the_United_States_with_notable_demographic_characteristics

But I only knew to look for it because I read it in another place in the past. I just couldn't remember what the source was, so I searched. After looking at your sources and the differences, I am guessing that all these lists are factoring more than just "income" into the equation.

[spyyder @ Dec 5th 2007 2:16PM]

@rwebbart

Doesn't make Alabama any less of shiat-hole. Maybe you like it, thats fine, but there is a reason the south lost the war, has some of the lowest standard of living, highest proportions of minorites, and still hasn't gotten over that racism thing. Have fun in the ol' dirty south. :-)

p.s When you are ready for a life upgrade, the north-east is always willing to take a few more

/you could'a chuckled and moved on, but you had to go there

[Ratchet the Lombax @ Dec 5th 2007 2:17PM]

Well I did live in the south until I moved to LA and the some of the people there did wade at the shallow end of the gene pool. I don't think Shaneoboy was insulting anyone because let's face it there are a lot of trailer parks in the south.

Also you are right people shouldn't use the term "redneck" the politically correct term is "Appalachian American"

[aaron @ Dec 5th 2007 2:25PM]

I live in Huntsville/Madison and it does not have the highest per capita of any city in the US. It’s most definitely above average and the suburbs even more so. We do have the second largest research and technology park in the United States and the 4th largest in the world. Engineers are a dime a dozen and you can’t even go to a fast food restaurant without overhearing a defense/nasa conversation. We are certainly not a developing region of the US and the average person is far above the national average intelligence level. That being said, we are in no way indicative of the average city in Alabama.

It is also interesting that number 56 on the 100 highest-income places over 50k is a suburb of Birmingham, Al…

[Gus @ Dec 5th 2007 3:25PM]

It's funny how northern liberals are accepting of everyone...except their own countrymen.

[rav97 @ Dec 5th 2007 9:07AM]

'the school system can and will disable any that inexplicably "disappear."'

They've cracked the iPhone lock, they've cracked the Windows Genuine Advantage check, they've cracked HD-DVD and Blu-Ray protection, but I'm confident that the XO's remote disable mechanism will be 100% tamper-proof!

[mike @ Dec 5th 2007 9:18AM]

it's already been broken.

and maybe they should teach math instead.....

15000x$200 !=$3,000,000

That's a whole lot of wasted "extra" funds if you ask me.

[Steve @ Dec 5th 2007 9:35AM]

Yo mikey, what is 15,000 * 200 equal to? Perhaps you need the laptop for yourself.

[Gus @ Dec 5th 2007 9:38AM]

You're kidding, right? $3,000,000 is correct.

[Steve @ Dec 5th 2007 9:53AM]

My point exactly. BTW, I was one of the first to do the buy one give one. I'm sure my eight year old daughter will like the laptop.

[CW @ Dec 5th 2007 11:40AM]

Yes, the kids need safer schools, more and better teachers, and a strong curriculum. But just like kids in Peru, Nigeria, et al, it is critical the wee ones in Alabama develop their computer skills so they can participate in the Information Age with the rest of the developed world.

The laptop does that AND enables a collaborative and self-directed learning environment. For a price that's likely the school system's per child annual book budget, they can have all the books in digital format + access to thousands more, double handfuls of learning applications, Internet access, and access to each other. It's a lot more than just a laptop, folks.

The bundle >> http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/software-and-interface.php

If the school system takes on Negroponte's education philosophy in addition to the hardware, they may find they can do more and better with the little resources they have.

Shed your doubt and stop your bitchin'. Consider how you can contribute and get busy >> http://wiki.laptop.org/

[Matt @ Dec 5th 2007 11:54AM]

I'm with CW; no matter what you jokingly say about it, this is a good thing for a school system that badly needs the help. Langford is stepping in the right direction.

[Chris @ Dec 5th 2007 12:00PM]

For any non-Birmingham native like myself, the Mayor Larry Langford is the biggest idiot in our state. He will find a way to demolish this promising idea. He has been pushing for 3 years to build a multi-million dollar, retractable roof, super arena. I guess it's for the next football league that will ultimately fail, just like the previous 15.

[General @ Dec 5th 2007 12:07PM]

I don't know if I should actually admit to this, but I'm from Alabama. Montgomery, to be exact. I guess that I'll dispel all the rumors and misinformation. Despite what you've all been told, we don't have that much money here. I know, it's shocking. Yet we still owe our children an education of some sort. We're losing a lot of students in the public schools every year, but contrary to what you're all thinking, we're actually losing a high degree of those kids to private schools, not dropouts. The public education system in parts of this state are in an embarrassing disarray. Due to our lack of funds for- well, anything, really - we cannot afford to update the PCs in the public schools as often as we should. The OLPC program is being used for exactly what it's supposed to be - poor school districts. These kids will get a chance to learn computer skills that they'll be able to use later in life so that they too can get jobs that pay worth a shit. So this doesn't even come close to addressing all of the problems and deficiencies that exist in the education system here, but at least it's a decent start.

[LuhhMyStyle @ Dec 5th 2007 12:09PM]

Oh great!

I think my long lost multi-million dollar uncle will be emailing me from Alabama soon for a cash transfer request.

[jeffrey_with_ one_F @ Dec 5th 2007 12:26PM]

wow, who would have thought this thread would get the tard award of fLameness?

I Grew up in Alabama most of my life, and there is nothing more fulfilling than making fun of rednecks, who I can assure you aren’t just poor whites - that dichotomy spreads throughout the socioeconomic and racial landscape. Redneck isn’t an indicator of wealth, so much as it is an indicator of very poor, hate filled core values.

After reading this article, I thought, what a testament to how maladjusted the Alabama school system continues to be. They are getting the equivalent of a Hasbro toy computer to do serious education with. Most of these units will break quickly due to the cheap parts + child ownership. the whole thing will likely turn into a financial vacuum in tech support costs.

They could have bought real computers for another couple of million. What a waste.

[CW @ Dec 5th 2007 2:37PM]

@Jeffrey_with_one_F:
I don't think you're talking about the OLPC laptops, though much of what you say would be true for a regular laptop. These are ruggedized for child use in environments with more hostile weather than Alabama: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/explore.php

The parts are NOT cheap, and I think that's why the ideal $100 price doubled to the $200 it is today. And this laptop is far beyond a Hasbro toy, despite the bright color and fun design: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/software-and-interface.php

About support: don't underestimate the kids. There are plenty of case studies where OLPC recipients do quite well providing their own laptop hardware and software support...they learn to be self-supporting, and there's nothing wrong with that: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Our_technology#What_about_technical_support.3F

[Rebekah @ Dec 5th 2007 12:36PM]

Wow. Amazing all the rude comments from people OUTSIDE of the Birmingham city limits with no children in the city schools. Coming from someone who lives in the city limits, and who has mentored a student from those schools: I hope these laptops help city students realize what a big world there is outside of Birmingham, and how great our city could be. Cheers to Langford for seeing an opportunity and acting on it. I'm excited to see city students have the same opportunities as suburb students, despite the lack of funding for city schools. We may not have a football program with unethical coaches and administrators who look the other way, but we DO have a mayor who looks our for our students.

[beat2049 @ Dec 5th 2007 12:55PM]

Wow. Can you actually believe that Langford looks out for anything other than his own personal interests? The man is a fraud. He shouldn't be mayor in the first place based on the fact that he doesn't actually live in Birmingham. He has poured the funds that the city actually has into worthless projects. How is he getting this money anyway? He could raise sales tax... and drive away customers from the stores in Birmingham City to stores in Greater Birmingham and end up loosing money in the long run. Or I guess he would use all the money Birmingham has for the Super Dome for education instead... if there was money for that too. Birmingham City schools need teachers, not laptops. Look at the successful school districts around Birmingham! Do they have laptops? Not really. They have good teachers, and supportive caring parents.

[Rebekah @ Dec 5th 2007 1:02PM]

Birmingham's problems go much further back than this year. I sincerely doubt that with this one decision Langford has bankrupted the city. And frankly, I'm not sure how buying laptops for city students is looking out for "his own personal interests"? Could you shed some light on that? Also, how is an increased sales tax going to "drive away customers from stores in Birmingham"? I didn't realize there were so many malls and shopping opportunities in the city limits. Of course, I would totally avoid going to a restaurant if I had to pay $2.49 instead of $2.24 for a $24.95 dinner in sales tax. I'm sure I would drive to the city limits and find the first restaurant I could that charged less for sales tax. It's worth the gas!

[Rebekah @ Dec 5th 2007 12:37PM]

In addition, I find it HILARIOUS that someone from Rome Georgia is making fun of Birmingham? Seriously? Come visit. I'll show you how fantastic this city really is.

[jeffrey_with_ one_F @ Dec 5th 2007 12:46PM]

Let me just add, Birmingham isn’t Sudan, Bosnia, or Peru. Moreover, it is NOT a third world country. It’s the largest city in Alabama, has an actual skyline (to an extent) is undergoing major renovations to improve some of the run down areas and is fully capable of putting more money into education. The city definitely has money rooted in old industrial riches and has several other thriving markets in the area.

Please don’t adopt the notion that the poor poor people of Birmingham - who swat flies away from their eyes, live in thatched roof huts, and who's little children are running around with distended bellies from malnutrition really need this sub-par crack-o-matic-computer to help them learn the interweb. That notion, like Justin Timberlake, is ridiculous. This is just another piss-poor decision made by the city to save money by buying cheap crap.

[Wwhat @ Dec 5th 2007 1:33PM]

I think people consider all of alabama 3rd world, it's not directed at a specific place in it.
And I think it's not just the amount of money that is indicated when it is described such.
And there's plenty of evidence to support such impressions, just look at their state laws and politicians, look at what polls show local views are, etcetera.

[CW @ Dec 5th 2007 2:37PM]

For all that skyline and other indicators of "progress", their EDUCATION system is far below national standard.

And what teacher is going to be attracted to that kind of teaching situation? What teacher is going to stay there? Some will, to be sure, but many won't. School teachers are in demand nationwide, so what incentive do they have to choose Alabama? Lots of school systems need more and better teachers, but getting them to come down there and teach is a challenge all its own...

[rwebbart @ Dec 5th 2007 2:07PM]

@ hi2u & @ spyyder
Highest per capita income and median housing cost below $100,000
Housing cost was the factor, I was so irritated that I looked right over it.

I don't think that disqualifies my argument at all...

[b-rad @ Dec 5th 2007 2:43PM]

I live in Montgomery also and have for 26 yrs. I am mixed over this decision. On one hand, it is nice to have a cheap laptop that might be more reliable than Windows. I have never used that Linux or the version that OLPC uses. But I have used computers every since elementary school. Starting with Apple. They tend to screw up from time to time, cost money for sys admins, cost butt loads for spam blockers, etc.

One bad thing for the kid's is learning this interface then later or currently going back to Windows. They should start these at an earlier age before kids really pick up on computers. Also, according the comments that had this pc, why is it bad for an Alabama study to use these computers and its ok for Nigerian or Peruvian kid to use one. Doesn't a kid from a developing nation deserve a cheap Toshiba or Compaq as much as a Birmingham kid? The pc is a tool, doesnt matter too much about the brand name. It how it functions, how the kids interact with it, whether or not the kids are actually learning from it.

Birmingham is definitely not what it could be. There is a whole lot wrong with it and it's not as progress as similar metros with around 1 million, give or take. For example, Salt Lake City Metro is 1,018,826, Birmingham Metro is 1,100,019 but SLC has a nice light rail system that connects the city to the burbs, B'ham does not. (I wikied the population stats). That is due to many decades of good 'ol boy, racist lawmakers that have kept the state as a whole down by bad laws. Georgia and Florida grew due to better tax system for one example. Those states may have flawed tax laws but not as pathetic as Alabama's. The low property tax, while good on income, is bad for education and other services. The high sales tax directly cripples the poor and keeps them poorer by taxing groceries. Apparently Florida does not tax groceries. Birmingham, at one point had a population close to Atlanta due to the steel industry in the area. Birmingham and Alabama as a whole stayed racist, drove a way existing businesses and potential new businesses away. While, Atlanta because progressive and played down racism, so they soon became a larger business mecca. At least we are not as bad as Mississppi.

[jeffrey_with_ one_F @ Dec 5th 2007 3:32PM]

My point was that “every” case assigned that was an SLA hit was assigned on a day that I worked at the office and not at home. You stated yourself that there is no good reason not to touch initial contact immediately rather than waiting the 8 hours. So working from home is not the distraction and in fact when I do work from home I am even more motivated to meet SLA as indicated by these metrics. So I don’t see how you can think that is WFH related.

If anything all it stresses is that I usually wait until the end of the day to touch new cases, rather than touching cases as soon as I get them. I do that out of bad practice a lot of time, but often I am still researching the issue and cant figure out how to address a resolution.

[Wine Country Mike @ Dec 6th 2007 3:25AM]

I lived in Montgomery AL for five years. I could go on and on about the things that occurred in the public high school that my step-daughter had the misfortune to go to, but my real point here is that I am a network administrator for a non-profit organization dedicated to the goal of smaller classrooms with a computer-to-student ration of one-to-one. Our classes were project-based and students seemed to fair better than those going to larger public high schools. Computers in the classroom is a wonderful idea as long as the education is set up to utilize them in the proper manner. We built our education model on the idea of using desktops, rather than laptops. At the end of the year one of our schools who used laptops informed us that they will never do that again as they wound up being sold in pawn shops by both students and parents, the kids trashed them so bad that over half wound up being thrown away.Not to mention the 400 students and 150 staff hammering away wirelessly on the network at the same time. I think that the money would have been better spent in getting the pentium 4 desktops that are being recycled by gov't agencies, and then using Linux on them (another low cost alternative as Open Office is compatible with MS Office).

[Frank Burder @ Dec 6th 2007 2:38PM]

I think you should all shut your faces unless you are going to do something about it. :-)

[Interested in tech @ Dec 20th 2007 11:41PM]

I have just seen and used an XO computer. Please keep an opened mind! What an incredible tool for children. In a world where digital resources are so widely available, the XO can level the playing field. It is software rich and made to be used by little people. Is it perfect, of course not, is a tool that is cost effective? Yes!! I am envious of the potential it can have.