Comments on: OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) XO Arrived

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:07:48 +0000

We received our XO in March, played for a day, discovered the difficulties installing Flash, and didn’t touch it again until yesterday.
My 5-yr-old son is beginning to play with music and some of the other apps. He loves the size, carrying handle, and that it physically is just right for a child.
We don’t need any of the office software (spreadsheet! presentation software!) that an adult asked for above. We do need Flash. Can anyone help me figure out how to download it fast, please?!! I would be so grateful (to get the kid off my macBook).
I’ve signed up for RSS feed, but am not sure it will work, so would also appreciate an email jkopf at wtamu edu
Thanks,
Jen

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:33:37 +0000

Well. I guess I will be the first negative reviewer here. I love the concept as a geek engineer and peace corps volunteer. It is a completely wonderful idea. The hardware is cool although very slow at times. Its ability to pick up wireless signals in the area is much better than wireless on my pc. So what is the problem? The software interface beyond just initially starting up is terrible. It is not a true GUI and not much better than old Red Hat windows emulator. The running program ring is fine and is the only intuitive aspect to the operating system. Moving around in the screen quickly makes me nauseous as you get near edges you pop in and out of application windows and toolbars. Not best idea when talking about kids using this who do not have necessarily fine motor control with a touch pad. To improve efficiency I guess, they have browser and journal programs providing double duty as surrogate file explorers. For example, deleting a download in journal removes the program. Not the greatest idea. There literally is no manual for the computer, and what you have are some web pages that you hunt around to do very basic things but nothing that would happen if you run into any trouble. And trouble is what occurs when you start using a not ready for prime time operating system and activity programs that are not beta tested. This is the real downside of this whole project. It is nice to have open source setup but this is nowhere near a professional software system. The frustration mounts when you try to do something simple like download files of a memory stick. The apps themselves are awesome when it comes to programming exercises and music composition. Unfortunately the drop off is steep after that. The write program is very minimal and the paint program is a complete joke. There are no other office type software such as spreadsheets or presentation. I am geek but even the hardest core geek will have to admit that most of these students will need to use real word processing, spreadsheets,and presentation type software. The other serious drawback is that it appears that they eschewed using all of the great linux software and apps that have been around for years instead reinventing the wheel. This is really the downfall of the laptop. Imagine this hardware using pocketpc or i-phone like software and could sell hundreds of thousands to millions of these in this country alone. This would decrease the cost and make the 100 dollar laptop more a reality.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:32:53 +0000

@shiloh
The color of the X and O are varied randomly. This is done to make it easy for children in a class room to identify their own machine.

@todd
I read (somewhere…) that the XO wants the wifi base station to use a stable channel, and not use channel ‘hopping’.

Really looking forward to getting my hands on ‘my’ XO, it should arrive any day now. I think this is THE product of 2007 (and 2008). They broke out of the box by realizing that in order to make a cheaper machine, you need to put in MORE ideas and technology. I still can’t believe you get advanced hardware + a new UI paradigm for only 140 euros. Pinch me!

Imagine how good a 300 euro commercial laptop _could_ be, if only someone would decide to make one…

By: Shiloh

Shiloh — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 02:27:56 +0000

I forgot to add, that the XO I own is slightly different in color. The X and O on the top are in Blueish tones, I wonder if that is a way to tell what version it is. I would also like to thank the author for the suggestion of an older USB mouse, the one that we use doesn’t work. I think that I should mention how well the XO detects internet. It found at least ten more access points than my mom’s laptop. I have been able to connect to the internet basically everywhere I tried which is everywhere I go. I was even able to access internet on a road trip. Although with it lagging because its so small I lost some connections before it would finish connecting.

By: Shiloh

Shiloh — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 02:06:21 +0000

I recieved my OLPC XO laptop on th 19th of last month. I was out of town, so my mom decided to open it up and set it up for me. My mom is not very technologically inclined, she didn’t even know how to turn on the TV without telling her the instructions 12 different times. But when I got home everything was set up. I am somewhat knowledgable about computers and I still can not figure some things out. I am still trying to learn how to do things, and I just can not seem to find instructions anywhere. I agree with the author about most of his complaints about the laptop. I wish I could find a way to get java and flash player to work. I am sure if I could get some things to work then I would be really really satisfied with the laptop.