OLPC

I've been using web based e-mail service all the way back in highschool. I remember my awesome cool Animenation email address "cpnguyen@nervhq.com". But I have to say that Gmail is by far the best one I've every used. I really like it's spam filter. The other day I got some spam from Malaysia saying that I could claim some inheritance from a dying man who had the same family name. I cursed the OLPC project as I cleared out my spam.

The Joy of Tech has this scathing comic on the OLPC project which proves a pretty valid point. Although my girlfriend who did peace corps. in Madagascar can speak more on this subject, I really don't know if free laptops will do much for many poor countries. Even the Nigerians are complaining about the results.

One of the things I find interesting is the nerd mentality that is going on with the OLPC project. It's really the new revolution based on the pretense of how nerds understand the world and how "salvation" is found in technology. The sort of thing that works well in The Diamond Age but in real life isn't nearly as useful. Reducing the logic to a bare model we can see a simple set of assumptions.

10 There is an inequity of wealth in the world.
20 I would like to play a part in changing this.
30 LET having technology = success
40 IF we give technology to the poor THEN the poor become successful
50 LOOP UNTIL world citizens are all equal.

The idea is very seductive. Cheap technology for all, and then a globalized meritocracy will emerge where we are all connected through the internet with a chance to live up to the best of our ability. I think that to think the OLPC is missing some key aspects of why many countries are poor to begin with, and what kind of help do they need the most. Don't get me wrong, I think that in key situations, cheap laptops can be quite important. My family has been sending to Vietnam our old technology for years. I just think that flooding countries with cheap laptops isn't going to do much to help their economy as a whole if that is the goal in mind.