Indian Aakash Tablet PC vs OLPC

Early this month India launched touch-screen tablet PC, which is known as “Aakash”. That is priced at just $35 compared to its counterpart OLPC which was originally priced at $100 and then increased to $180 - $200 later. The Aakash has been developed by UK-based company DataWind and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT - Rajasthan).

Mr. Kapil Sibal, the minister of the Indian Human Resource Development Ministry hopes Aakash will give digital access to students in small towns and villages and end the digital divide in India.


But it is too early to say how the Aakash will be received as most cheap tablets in the past have turned out to be either poor performers or expensive eventually (what happened to OLPC). Any laptop should meet the demand of its target audience. Following table shows the comparison of Aakash and OLPC;

Consideration	Aakash Tablet PC	OLPC
Technical
Display	7” colour LCD/TFT	7.5” Dual-mode TFT
RAM	2GB	1 GB DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive	32GB	Internal 4GB microSD card
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, USB 2.0 (2), Ethernet port	Wireless networking interface
Operating System	Android	OS build on modified Fedora Linux kernel
Processor	Unknown	1 GHz
Other
Target Audience	Students of 504 Universities and 25,000 Colleges in India	Primary level kids (5 - 15 years) around the world
Unite Price	$35	$180

One which has balanced the price and the features to fulfill the needs and wants of its target audience would be the most successful and sustainable laptop in the world.

-Sameera

Sri Lanka Bans Mobile Phones At Schools

There are around 11 million mobile subscribers in Sri Lanka and the mobile penetration seems to be very high. It is not a surprise if this number reaches 20 million in another few years time.

In this context mobile phone would be one of the best information delivery mechanism when compared with other electronic media. So it has immense potential of delivering contents on agriculture, health, education, etc.

But this tool has been banned at Schools, why?

This sophisticated tool can be a tool of distraction in the schools. That is why it is already banned in other countries such as South Korea, UK, Philippines and France. This is very similar to what happened in Ethiopia, their Ministry of Education kicked of the OLPC from schools.

Any technology can be used for good or bad purposes/ constructive or destructive purposes. It depend on who use it and what purpose it being used. Best example is the computer, can be used to kill people as well as it can be used to save thousands of lives.

So what should we do? Say “NO” to the technology or teach the younger generation how to use it effectively.

-Sameera.

OLPC Sri Lanka

One Laptop Per Child in Sri Lanka

OLPC has become a hot topic, olpc initiatives are under way around the globe. It is always good to see what this OLPC is and what are the benifits Sri Lanka can gain, basically how it can be used for sutainable development.

Following are some thoughts about the OLPC, positive and negative, without going for radical "YES" or "NO".


Some positive aspects;

• Can reach five children with OLPC when we reach one child with normal PC.
• Inbuilt Wi-Fi mesh network capability is ideal for an eVillage.
• Minimal power consumption (<2w)>
• Rugged encasement and rubber sealed keyboard make OLPC resistant to water, dirt and hardy use by kids.
• Can be used for peer learning within a homogeneous children’s group in a village or a children’s home, etc.
• Good teaching and learning assistant
  

Some negative aspects;

• Specifically designed for kids, so have to target only that age group (normal PC for everyone)
• Cost of ownership is higher, initiatives like Nanasala tries to reduce the cost of ownership by promoting common/shared access.
• Does not promote the sharing of resources
• Does Sri Lankan every child need a his/her own laptop, can our economy bare it?

Sameera.