5-year-olds repair OLPC laptops at Nigerian "hospital"

During the recent Greener Gadgets Conference in New York, former OLPC CTO (and XO challenger) Mary Lou Jepsen discussed the real-world difficulties with using the kid-friendly laptops, including the creation of an XO "hospital" used to repair broken computers. Apparently, in the crowded conditions of schools in places like Nigeria, the little green laptops have a tendency to be jostled around and even knocked on the floor from time to time. As there's typically no repair shops nearby, the kids have learned to fix the systems themselves, setting up a "laptop hospital" where they can repair what's broken using simple tools and cheap replacement parts. Mary Lou says the company designed the systems to be easily fixable, including extra screws embedded in the computers themselves, and allowing for quick changes of the LCD backlight and other components. The in-house repairs cut down on shipping, promote reuse, and increase kids' understanding of ownership and responsibility, thus furthering the OLPC mission, and making everyone generally want to hug.

[Image courtesy NotebookReview / Kevin O'Brien]

[Bill Koslosky, MD @ Feb 3rd 2008 11:59AM]

Why isn't something like this being done in the US? Could it be our entrenched litgiousness makes manufacturers fearful? Would if the public demanded it?

[Onetruebill @ Feb 3rd 2008 3:16PM]

This isn't being done in the US because we are too busy sending our computer repair jobs OVERSEAS TO 5 YEAR OLD AFRICAN KIDS!
The 20 year old indian and pakistani kids are going to be pissed off when they don't get these jobs.

[Jagannath A @ Feb 3rd 2008 10:38PM]

I can understand about callcenter jobs being outsourced overseas but how the fk do you outsource your computer repair jobs :S please tell me I will start an Indian Geek Squad :P

and by the time we lose all these jobs we would have become a developed country btw ;)


- a 22 yr old kid who answers your calls from across the planet

[polobunny @ Feb 4th 2008 2:50AM]

It's not really hard to repair a computer on the hardware side, so it's probably because I want to make money that I make it look hard. :P

[JLTate @ Feb 4th 2008 1:20PM]

Yes, and I bet they need "$5.00 FIVE HUNDRED US" from one of us so they can help transfer "$10 000 00 000 MILLIONS US DOLLAR $" into our bank account to escape from the OLPC repair sweatshop warlords.

[Ty @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:00PM]

Leave kids alone for 5 minutes and they can figure anything out.

[aguiluz @ Feb 3rd 2008 2:36PM]

Agreed with this:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/27/16-year-old-converts-gas-truck-to-electric-reminds-us-of-our-wa/

[Peppie @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:01PM]

...I want a hug.

The most I can do with my HP is just change out the hard drives. Yep, I can totally mod out my laptop.

[Mike10010100 @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:01PM]

I agree. It would be so much easier not having to wait to send the laptop back to the manufacturer to get it fixed. It would save money. But the manufacturers would lose control over their laptops, and wouldn't be able to make sure people are using their laptops only the way they want them to.

The companies are control freaks and always will be, until things like the OLPC start changing the world, in more ways than one.

[gyffes @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:15PM]

Can you say, "instant sweatshop?" I knew you could.

Too bad I haven't seen my XO since it died 2 days after arrival. Apparently BrightStar's not as good at repair as these 5-year olds.

[mattclarkie @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:16PM]

The problem is if Manufacturers didn't say that mods voided the warranty people would modify the laptops alot, I would.

Then if someone who doesn't know what they are doing shorted out some wires and caused a fire then the manufacturer would find it hard to prove they weren't the cause. But if they have a policy of OEM seals, then they can prove that the device had been tampered with, and therefore claim that they are not at fault.

If you want you can change pretty much every component, but only if you are willing to void the warranty. So it is up to you.

[Mobius_1 @ Feb 4th 2008 5:12AM]

Wait 4 months and then we'll probably see a mega-OLPC that plays Crysis (Properly and enjoyably)

[BrianB @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:19PM]

I got to hand it to these kids. They are the future of Africa. That's why I don't believe child labor is not a black-and-white thing.

[JDee26 @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:25PM]

I traveled around Western Africa for a couple months last summer and one of the things that made a big impression of me was the locals' ability to fix just about anything. Out of necessity, people over there seldom throw away anything electronic or mechanical. There was this garage that refurbished cars that were totally wrecked and a shop that fixed cell phones that were severely damaged. I dropped my cellphone in a puddle while I was in Nigeria but after 30 minutes in a little repair shop, it was working again.

Not only did it seem make me realize Americans ( and Westerners) were totally wasteful (throwing away working or slightly damaged items just to get something 'new'), but many of us just don't have the knowledge to survive is our best buys and tech support centers were taken away. Personally, I think we need to bring something like the OLPC to America. We need to get electronics, computers and practical science into the hands of our kids so that they can become interesting in and see the value of working with their own hands and brains.

Alright, I'm done with the soapbox.Wait, not yet: Go Giants!

[r3loaded @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:22PM]

There's a simple reason that we throw stuff away rather than fix it - with high labour costs, it's cheaper just to buy a new one. Our microwave oven broke a few months ago - all it needed was to have the magnetron fixed and it would have lasted a few more years, except for the fact that repairing it would have costed more.

Major downside to living in a developed country.

[markatlnk @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:26PM]

With only a 30 day warranty, voiding it is not that much of an issue. I have had mine for 4 weeks and I love it. It does have the keyboard issue, and the original software still needs some work, but it is getting there. Being a Linux fan, the yum install commands get me everything else I need. I do wish the keyboard was a bit better for me, but that is not what it was designed for. If you have one, get the dev key and install the latest joyride builds. They work much better. I think this machine even if it never takes hold will change the industry because of its display tech and low power modes. This thing only takes 6 watts when running.(after battery is charged).

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:42PM]

Am I missing a video or something? What's making people so excited here?

Looking at that motherboard, I can tell you no one is going to be repairing it in the field. Replacing an 0402 resistor in a field of other ones is hard enough, lifting a QFP or BGA chip and replacing it takes specialized tools and it still hard to do right.

I'd like to seem some close up pictures of the connectors used, as those would be the key. A lot of the connectors used in laptops aren't meant to be unhooked and rehooked (and the flexes don't like it either), so perhaps they've done a great job on that here, but I can't really tell from the pic.

Why isn't this done with other devices? Because normally no two laptops have the same parts in them anyway. You couldn't swap displays or backlights. And these parts don't break very often anyway. Adding connectors where there aren't any otherwise likely decreases the reliability due to the possibility of the connector breaking or coming unhooked.

I mean, what usually goes wrong with your laptop that you could fix by swapping parts anyway? Besides the battery.

[shifuimam @ Feb 4th 2008 11:14AM]

"Because normally no two laptops have the same parts in them anyway. You couldn't swap displays or backlights."

Untrue.

Every laptop on the market today uses the same form factor for the optical drive, regardless of what you may think. The plastics may be a little different for how the faceplate/bezel attaches, but the data connection to the motherboard is identical across the board. The only difference is the cable or caddy used, but the drive can easily be removed from that.

LCDs are almost universally made by Samsung and LG these days, and the LCD side of things - the data cable and the inverter cable - are standardized across the board. LCDs use either a normal wire-and-pin design, or a ZIF ribbon cable. Hard drives and RAM are, obviously, standard form factors, as are things like Express Card and PCMCIA, and MiniPCI and miniPCI-e.

The only components that are significantly different from each other can be the trackpad/trackstick assembly, keyboard, and motherboard (and the plastic/metal housing). But you'd be surprised how much of this stuff is actually pretty standard; the only differences lie in the cables and the connections on the motherboard - even then, some of that is becoming more standard these days.

When you drop a laptop like this one (with no hard drive) the one thing that is really likely to die is the LCD assembly - the display itself and/or the backlight. This article is very unlikely talking about a situation where a resistor dies and has to be replaced. We're talking about regular wear and tear here.

[Wwhat @ Feb 4th 2008 5:16PM]

The reason it seems a standard is because there are only 2 or something factories making laptops I understand, the labels are sand in the eye.

[KC @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:45PM]

I think that the original article is BS and is just a way to generate publicity for the OLPC. It does not even describe which part the 5 year old repaired. It could be just re-installing a missing icon, or maybe the kid just popped a key cap back on to the keyboard. If it was really significant repair, I am sure the article would have described what was repaired, and how it was repaired.

[markatlnk @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:47PM]

I would expect displays to break, and they can be swapped with another XO that has had a different failure. If a school has 100+ units, there will be all sorts of failures over the years. This thing is designed to last 5 years. The disassembly is done with only a #1 phillips screw driver.

[cjc @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:53PM]

My god, it takes a month to RMA the damn thing here in the US (I had the stuck ALT/CTRL key problem), and there's no tracking once it enters the service company's facilities. I should have just shipped it to Africa.

[Andrew @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:57PM]

Good God! Look at the size of that PCB! How can Apple make a PCB for the MacBook Air which is about the size of a cigarette packet's side, and these guys are supposed to be making a cheap PC and end up with a PCB which is HUGE!

[Ignatius @ Feb 3rd 2008 4:44PM]

Hm. A $200 computer versus a $1800 computer?

I wonder what would be using cheaper parts.

[Ant @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:00PM]

damn smart kids making me look bad.i bet i can beat all those 5 year olds in a who's taller contest!

[Alex @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:03PM]

The headline should have continued to read:
"...same 5 year old also wishes to 'deposit $10 billion USD into bank account of you case deceased Uncle died in crash of car'"

[LegendZ28 @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:41PM]

You're an idiot.

[Trent @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:24PM]

@andrew

Uh, in this case, smaller=more expensive. And larger=easier to design, implement, and repair.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:26PM]

@ Ty
For some reason the reply system isn't working for me but, when I was 11 and my parents made me go into my room cause I was in trouble, I disabled my dad's computer from my room and planted a virus in anger. How smart we were back in the day.

[Adoniteking @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:46PM]

@LegendZ28

kudos to you for that great reply to Alex's comment. i was about to break a tear and jubilate because i thought this would be the first engadget post/article relating to Nigeria that did not have any comment linking "us" to fraud/ebay activities until i got to alex's stupidity

[mushrooshi @ Feb 3rd 2008 2:15PM]

Norm, Go away. You give mac users a bad name.

[jeeesus @ Feb 3rd 2008 2:36PM]

i can see the link with african kids here.

[Andrew @ Feb 3rd 2008 3:07PM]

@Trent
Actually - no - the much better way to go is not to think about repair, simply make each PCB as absolutely smallest as possible and then replace that PCB if repair is needed. Send the PCBs back to a central place for refurbishment by specialists ie not inexperienced people in the middle of no where!

[cmonkey @ Feb 3rd 2008 3:23PM]

@Andrew

There is next to nothing on the motherboard that can break. In fact, if you use multiple small PCBs instead of one large one, you significantly increase the breakability because of the ribbon cables or sockets connecting them. The XO was intentionally designed to minimize the number of connectors and PCBs used. Thus, you are wrong.

[Lee @ Feb 3rd 2008 3:42PM]

Africa will soon be massively voiding warranties in the next ten years.

[Rick @ Feb 3rd 2008 4:31PM]

Maybe this is why Intel is trying to kill the OLPC, it would put its best portable PC customers' (Dell, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, etc.) out of business.

[markatlnk @ Feb 3rd 2008 4:51PM]

Smaller PC boards that generate the same (or more) heat might require a fan and vents. By spreading out the parts a bit and using a heat spreader, no fan and no vents.

Bugs and spiders like vent holes.

[Andrew @ Feb 3rd 2008 4:53PM]

@cmonkey - OK I give up now - you don't understand what I'm talking about!

[efua @ Feb 3rd 2008 5:19PM]

yayy! im nigerian and im proud.. although ghana just beat us 2 to 1 in a football match today.. damnn! But i have to say, nigerian kids are really really smart

[Eldiablo @ Feb 3rd 2008 6:01PM]

And apple can't even trust its users to change a battery...

[Pavan @ Feb 3rd 2008 6:10PM]

Funny...if I posted some random-ass story about the Zune 8gb price dropping $20 (especially a whole goddamn press release), people would be all over me accusing me of being a Micro"$"oft shill...

[Josh @ Feb 3rd 2008 6:15PM]

Just wait till they start spamming.. ;)

[Ryan Singer @ Feb 3rd 2008 7:01PM]

ahh.. it's nice that someone put thought into a design for once.. Rather than spending a large amount of money on the OVER-HYPING to compensate for the under delivering of a product that will seem shitty after the hype cloud burns off once you start using the crappy thing... (BTW.. a Mac Mini is faster than the Macbook Air! HA!! .. and a 17 MBP is cheaper)

[Kriston @ Feb 3rd 2008 7:56PM]

One of their design goals for XOPC was to be easily serviced.
In fact, mine has several stuck pixels.
I won't be claiming a warranty fix for that. Indeed, my 30 days are up, but I will be taking advantage of the easy-to-service aspect of the XOPC to repair my screen.

I had a long-time policy on laptops due to their silly proprietary nature. Ever since the power inverter on my old Toshiba Satellite went out and required a $400 repair which didn't fix the problem, I have had an extreme distaste of computers I cannot fix by myself.

The XOPC is the laptop that I like. I can fix it myself. That is serious.

[Tired_ @ Feb 3rd 2008 9:32PM]

Is this like that one company that had kids assembling ipods in China?

[Jagannath A @ Feb 3rd 2008 10:36PM]

I can understand about callcenter jobs being outsourced overseas but how the fk do you outsource your computer repair jobs :S please tell me I will start an Indian Geek Squad :P

and by the time we lose all these jobs we would have become a developed country btw ;)


- a 22 yr old kid who answers your calls from across the planet

[Pavan @ Feb 3rd 2008 11:48PM]

To the person crying at the comment below, it's not like the stereotype isn't deserved... You'd be hard pressed to find an eBay seller who would be enthusiastic at the idea of selling to some chimp in Lagos, for example. The US governments has many problems and some corruption, but if 419 were that prevalent here, you bet your ass they'd do something about it. So unless you're the hall monitor at an internet cafe combating the problem, order yourself a nice big helping of the STFU Platter.


Alex
@ Feb 3rd 2008 1:03PM
The headline should have continued to read:
"...same 5 year old also wishes to 'deposit $10 billion USD into bank account of you case deceased Uncle died in crash of car'"

[bob @ Feb 4th 2008 12:47AM]

Well, at least someone else is so cheap that they fix their own stuff. I personally believe that we should all know how to replace and fix basic electronics. I have an IBM, takes a lot of damage, and I've replaced my own display, lid, keys, back light, wireless antennas and card, and RAM. Of all that, only the RAM and the keyboard is supposed to be CRUable. And all my fixes cost under $400, combined. Most people would just buy a new one. I approve of the Nigerian kids. Our kids just sit around watching Pop Idol with an iPod in one hand, a cell phone in the other, and a joint on their lips.

[Kurt MacD @ Feb 4th 2008 9:25AM]

Now, who said there was anything wrong with herbs?

[bob @ Feb 4th 2008 10:10AM]

Way back in my day...only the hippies did that stuff...and they were pink o'commies! Nowadays, all these kids are hippies! They think they can slack off! Just wait till the Soviets invade!

Heh. Too much of a good thing...