Peru Orders 260K OLPCs, Mexico to Get 50K 271
eldavojohn writes "Perhaps in response to recent news that the lawsuit against the OLPC may be a scam, Peru's government has announced they want 260,000 OLPCs and a Mexican billionaire by the name of Carlos Slim has also asked for 50,000 that he wishes to distribute in Mexico. Things are looking good for the OLPC."
CompUSA (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:OLPC Needs Appropriate Softare (Score:5, Interesting)
Effect (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:CompUSA (Score:5, Interesting)
Except that the OLPC systems run Linux. What are the chances of finding someone at CompUSA who would know anything about them? Might as well take it to 7/11.
And I don't think that the OLPC systems have much need for the $20 CompUSA printer cables [compusa.com], either*.
*I know from having previously worked at CompUSA (#787, Minnetonka, MN) that the markup was at least 10-fold on printer cables, which far, far, exceeded the margin on the printers - or just about anything else in the store except for CD jewel cases.
Good For Peru! (Score:5, Interesting)
In Cuzco begging is rife, and the kids usually try to sell something to justify giving them money. Postcards are pretty popular. These kids are smart too, learning enough English to have a conversation and show their sense of humour. I think that giving them an opportunity to learn valuable skills can only be a good thing for them and for their country.
Re:OLPC Needs Appropriate Softare (Score:4, Interesting)
The EeePC is a very inexpensive and small notebook computer.
they are entirely different beasts.
The Eee has ha UMPC screen (480x800) while the XO has much higher resolution one designed to consume less power and to be readable under direct sunlight. It also sports a next to indestructible design and mesh networking hardware. The Eee is just a low-power (and underpowered) notebook.
Not to say I don't like it. In fact, I would like to have both.
But the EeePC's technology points towards the present - there is nothing new in it except the price. The XO points towards the future. And we all know the future is a much cooler place.
Re:Richest man not just "some Mexican billionaire" (Score:4, Interesting)
The title "Earl of Northumberland" is, per Wikipedia at least, a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Northumberland since Hugh Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, was created Duke of Northumberland in 1766 and his heirs to this day retain that title; the present Duke had, as of sometime in 2005, an estimated wealth on the order of 300 million GBP, which is something like two orders of magnitude less than Carlos Slim's fortune.
(As for the City of London, I was under the impression that it had been a corporate city for many centuries, and not "owned", even the sense that a purely titular feudal holding might be said to be "owned", by anyone, save, in the sense that this is true of all land in England, the Crown.)
Re:Good For Peru! (Score:3, Interesting)
Makes me wonder if some unscrupulous geek traveling in Peru soon might not get the kids to sell him their XO laptops for $20US each.
Assuming Peru chooses to implement it, the XO laptop's anti-theft [laptop.org] protections should be pretty effective at preventing much of that. The kids can sell the laptops, sure, but they'll soon shut themselves down and lock the new owner out unless they're regularly in contact with the school's server. So the unscrupulous geeks won't get much for their $20.
Re:OLPC Language Suite (Score:3, Interesting)
The rates of English adoption by immigrants and their children in the USA are at all-time highs. What the hell are you talking about?
The reason there's all that much Spanish language stuff isn't because immigrants aren't learning English. It's because the first generation immigrants will always be better at Spanish than English, and you get a competitive advantage selling them stuff if you use Spanish.
Re:Mexico is only ordering 50K? (Score:3, Interesting)