September 14, 2009
by Atanu Dey
0 comments
The topic of education is an obsession with me for the simple reason that one cannot address any development related issues without reference to education, however broadly or narrowly one defines education or development. My interest in the use — … Continue reading
July 26, 2009
by Atanu Dey
0 comments
Back in April I had written about the old retrofitted Russian aircraft carrier that India was buying (“The War and the Circus“). “In January 2004, India signed a deal to buy the antique and obsolete 1980s-design Russian aircraft carrier Admiral … Continue reading
May 13, 2009
by Atanu Dey
5 Comments
I was invited to write a guest post on One Laptop Per Child News by Wayan Vota in connection with the recent news that 250,000 OLPC laptops have been ordered by two government agencies in India and one private sector … Continue reading
April 29, 2009
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
Endgadget reports that “India bids mythical $10 laptop adieu, turns to OLPC.”
February 3, 2009
by Atanu Dey
4 Comments
[Follow up to the previous post.] I suppose it should not come as any surprise that it is now being claimed that the $10 cost was a mis-statement and the actual cost is $100. And like the “$100″ OLPC which … Continue reading
February 1, 2009
by Atanu Dey
8 Comments
Some years ago it was some genius who was making petroleum by twirling some sticks in a bucket of water. The Indian press reported it breathlessly and which is worse, some dimwitted “professors” from some “educational” institutions even considered it … Continue reading
January 25, 2009
by Atanu Dey
3 Comments
At the intersection of high-tech gadgets and public spending on education in poor countries lies XO, the machine from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project led by Nicholas Negroponte. I have been a critic of the program right from … Continue reading
August 30, 2008
by Atanu Dey
8 Comments
From pillar to post Michael Palin, of the Monty Python parrot skit fame (remember “he’s probably pining for the fjords”?), went on another of his global tours in 1991, which was broadcast as the BBC travel documentary from Pole to … Continue reading
August 5, 2008
by Atanu Dey
11 Comments
I spent the last evening in the American Center near Churchgate, Mumbai, at a presentation on the launch of the “one laptop per child” — OLPC — in India. The event was hosted by a bunch of institutions: Asia Society, … Continue reading
June 7, 2008
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
Let me begin with an “I told you so.” For a few years I have been obsessed with the use of technology in education because it is my considered position that the smart use of technology provides the best hope … Continue reading
February 2, 2008
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
Yesterday, the Indian Express carried a column by me on the OLPC, a favorite topic of mine. There’s nothing new in there for those who have read my views on the OLPC before. The text of the column below the … Continue reading
January 11, 2008
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
Here’s another guy who is not all that thrilled with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. The Strange Case of One Laptop Per Child is made by Eric Posner, a faculty member at the University of Chicago Law School. … Continue reading
January 4, 2008
by Atanu Dey
4 Comments
Barely six months after joining the OLPC project, Intel announced that it is leaving. The OLPC people wanted Intel to stop work on any products that are likely to compete with the OLPC. Which basically means that contrary to what … Continue reading
December 10, 2007
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
John C Dvorak writes in PCMag “One Laptop Per Child Doesn’t Change the World.” (Hat tip: Shiv Senthilvel.) He quotes some figures from the world hunger site: In the Asian, African, and Latin American countries, well over 500 million people … Continue reading
October 26, 2007
by Atanu Dey
0 comments
As if the OLPC was not Rube Goldbergian enough! What will they try next, I wonder. Try this definition of a Rube Goldberg device from the Wikipedia and tell me that it does not fit the OLPC to a t.
September 25, 2007
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
Cyrus Farivar has a piece on Slate today titled “Still waiting for that $100 laptop?“. He writes: “Negroponte’s plan to heal the world with laptops is well-meaning but fundamentally flawed. What good is a laptop in the middle of rural … Continue reading
August 27, 2007
by Atanu Dey
4 Comments
Although it is true that I went to Addis Ababa to attend the World Information Technology Forum 2007 as a speaker, it is a hollow claim to say that I visited Ethiopia, or even Addis Ababa. I did land at … Continue reading
April 23, 2007
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
Everything you have ever wanted to know about the One Laptop Per Child but never dared to ask has been answered in an excellent feature titled The Laptop Crusade by Tekla Perry in the April 2007 issue of the IEEE … Continue reading
April 20, 2007
by Atanu Dey
4 Comments
Alex Singleton, President of the Globalisation Institute, a European think tank, argues against the OLPC and says that computers should be left to the market economy. “The very worst idea in international development circles is the One Laptop Per Child … Continue reading
March 1, 2007
by Atanu Dey
10 Comments
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has powerful interests on both sides of the debate. It is easy to guess who’s on which side. Bill Gates, for instance, is predictably against the OLPC as it does not use Microsoft … Continue reading