[I recently got my hands on one of the One Laptop Per Child machines. I found the perfect person to review the machine. Today's guest blogger, SG, is twelve years old and is the child of a close friend. I lent the laptop to SG and asked SG to write a review, which appears here just as SG wrote it, without any editing. –Ed]
I’ve spent all of my life around computers and laptops. I’m only 12 years old though, so I’m not about to go off and start programming a computer to do my homework for me or anything. My parents use computers a lot, so I know about HTML and mother boards and stuff, but still I’m not exactly what you would call an expert. I just use the computer for essays, surfing the web, etc.
Over the last few days, I spent a lot of time on this laptop. I went on the program for typing documents, took silly pictures with the camera, went on the web, played the matching game, recorded my voice on the music-making application, and longed for someone to join me on the laptop-to-laptop messaging system. Here is what I discovered about the OLPC laptops:
My expectations for this computer were, I must admit, not very high. But it completely took me by surprise. It was cleverly designed, imaginative, straightforward, easy to understand (I was given no instructions on how to use it. It was just, “Here. Figure it out yourself.”), useful and simple, entertaining, dependable, really a “stick to the basics” kind of computer. It’s the perfect laptop for the job. Great for first time users, it sets the mood by offering a bunch of entertaining and easy games and a camera. It also has an application that allows you to type things. The space is a little limited, but the actual thing was great. It doesn’t have one of those impossible-to-read fonts but it was still nice. When the so-so connection allows you to get on, the internet is one of the best features of the whole computer. With a clever and space-saving toolbar, it is compact, well designed, accessible, and fast.
But, unfortunately, the internet is the only fast element of the computer. My main problem with this laptop is how very slow it is. It’s true that I am used to faster computers, but that’s not the problem. It’s just really slow. I had to wait two minutes to get onto one application. That’s just a little longer than I can accept. Also, it got slower and slower and slower the longer I went without rebooting it. I had to reboot it all the time. We’re talking once every two or three hours of use! And one of the most frustrating things about the system was that it gave no warning when it was out of power (as it was often because it lost charge very quickly) but just shut down. It doesn’t matter if you’re working on your autobiography and you had gotten all the way to the day before yesterday and forgotten to save it, it just shuts off and devours the whole thing.
This laptop is definitely designed for harsh conditions. Covered in a green and white hard plastic casing, it is designed not to break if dropped. It has a very nice handle for easy transportation and two antennas in plastic that can be easily put up. Once you open it, you see the screen (pretty high resolution) and my favorite part of the computer: the keyboard. It’s green rubber so that dust and water won’t get in under the keys, and this makes the keyboard an awesome thing to type on. Every time you hit a key, it provides a certain amount of satisfaction of how squishy and effortless it is. I just can’t get over that keyboard. There is also a button that changes the brightness of the screen. The other cool thing is that the screen is on a swiveling base, so you can turn it backwards then close it. This makes the laptop into just a screen with a handle.
All in all, this laptop is great for its price, its job, and its value. It is almost perfect. Just speed it up, give it a little more battery charge hold, and you have yourself the perfect laptop. I’m sure kids around the world will really love, enjoy, and cherish these laptops. They will be so useful. This program is truly amazing.
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A 12-year-old wrote this? Most adults don't write this well.
I've heard about the One Laptop Per Child organization, but I never knew the quality of the computers. It's a great organization, and I think it's good that poor children are getting laptops that actually work. Thanks for taking your time reviewing the laptops.
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There was a program similar to this in India that is coming out soon I believe. It was talking about making laptops so cheap that everyone can afford one. Some of the costs were either going to be cut and it would be basically just for internet usage OR a suggestion was made that some of the access providers to the internet would subsidies it when they sign up for internet access (similar to the way cell phone companies give you the phone on a 2 year contract). Thought it was rather brilliant myself. That way anyone could log on to the net and it wouldn't be too much of a hassle keeping the world up to date with technology.
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Surf the web on your laptop and find a few great Sarongs.
I'd love to send them a pile of cash for one, but they think *my* children don't deserve to have them unless their government agrees to buy millions of them.
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SG, thank you for your review. It is excellent and informative -- and I think you could give a few adult reviewers that I know of some lessons in getting, and sticking, to the point.
Those laptops are really hard to come by now. Cheap laptops
SG, you're the most articulate 12-year-old I've ever seen.
Thank you for your informative review!
Great review, "SG!"
Regarding the XO's speed (or lack thereof), perhaps that is due to the UI ("Sugar") is python-based; a description can be found here (wikipedia).
An interesting and extensive review of the XO from heise mobil (auf englisch) can be found here (heise.ed).
SG - excellent review - I've been waiting for something from your demographic viewpoint.
And your writing skills are excellent! You should thinka bout getting your own blog. Best of luck!
I was amazed that a 12 year old could write so well. I have a feeling that computers have something to do with that, which again is why every child should have one. Very well written!
Wow, first I am impressed with this 12-year-old's writing style. Like one of the previous posters said, most adults don't write this good.
As for the laptop, it is the first of its kind. These problems are to be expected.
Well written review, SG.
> [...] most adults don’t write this good. [...]
Or rather, this *well*. :-)
I was amazed that a 12 year old could write so well. I have a feeling that computers have something to do with that, which again is why every child should have one. Very well written!
Encourage kids at an early age to know the benefits of a savings account and current account as they grow up.
[...] at Ed Felten’s Freedom to Tinker blog, there’s a review of the XO written by a very articulate 12-year old named “SG”. Although SG isn’t quite in the OLPC’s target demographic, [...]
Probably the best review of anything tech related I've read in a while. Cheers to both SJ, and Ed for finding him :)
Good review. As has been pointed out, SG is older than the target demographic, so that is one thing to consider; s/he probably was not taking the view of a 7 year old when pondering speed and other usability factors. The other point to consider is that the review does not mention which prototype model nor which build of the environment was tested, and that could make a *profound* difference for some of the author's concerns.
Besides the fact that this is posted from a sub-COPPA-aged reviewer, it is quite appreciated and I hope that all people involved were comfortable with this and allow SG to contine hir journalistic career!
I'd love to send them a pile of cash for one, but they think *my* children don't deserve to have them unless their government agrees to buy millions of them.
Very impressed with SG's writing. Good sentence structure, good use of paragraphs and brackets! You would have scored well in the SATS for 11 year olds here in the UK.
I think from what SG is saying, that it delivers on a lot of what Negroponte promised, but the battery life sounds disappointing. Sounds to me like there's usability issues here with the power management, and saving work.
However, I'm glad to hear that the internet experience is good, as I think this is one of the most important things about the XO.
Kudos SG for your review. Greatly written and focused on point. I think you should guest blog more often! I'd read your reviews of other things.
COPPA or not, I trust that precautions have been taken to ensure that SG's right to identify themselves as the author of their work will be preserved (at such time as it is considered safe for them to do so - should they wish to exert the right that it appears COPPA denies them today).
SG - if this laptop can help other children write and communicate half as well as you do this will be the biggest success of the 21st century.
It would be fantastic to see more reviews with screenshots of specific applications since most of us live in countries that will not receive this laptop.
steve: yes it would be great if these machines were available to the general public, but im sure it would cost more to sell it to individuals, rather than a 1mm bulk government order.
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Who said that the OLPC will be for 7 years old. That's not certainly what is/will happen in Africa (if it makes it there). Besides the affordability issue (it is a stretch to think of an OLPC in an environment where there is not one textbook per child), there is the language barrier. Mastery of english or other international language which is required to use this computer doesn't really happen until children are 10-11 years old (under the best conditions).
But give Negroponte his due, this is the first time that someone engineered a product specifically for the developing world. And this has caused all the other players to get in the act for fear that they loose out.
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Uhh.. hello? A lot of today's generation is more intellectual than you think. I am but of the age of twelve and yet I have an extensive vocabulary. I do believe I can write reviews rather well. I even have some books on the market. I enjoy reading books meant for college level. Therefore, I believe I speak on the behalf of children today - whether they be teens, tweens, or under, when I say do not underestimate the minds of the generation of today. Thank you if you read, this, for by the time you read this, I would say I immensely appreciate your understanding. My gratitude is indescribable. And please, one more thing. Never underestimate the minds of tomorrow. Thanks.
T. - 12 years old.
P.S. Whoever believes that we are not capable of articulating an extensive knowledge of electronics, technology, or even simply a vast vocabulary and writing skills, I must say that for the whole, you are incorrect.
This is no 12 year old..... it's Daniel Lyons from Forbes!!!
This article is pretty impressive for a twelve year old's work, but when compared to a professional review, it doesn't even light a match (as some of you seem to imply).
While well written, this review does miss a key point of the OPLC project - the laptops are supposed to be dirt cheap and delivered en masse to various third world countries. However, this article was written from an entirely different viewpoint than the intended target audience. A child who has never seen a computer in his whole life would give you a completely different (and likely more positive) review.
I call bullshit on this review...there is no way a 12 year old wrote this
[The introduction is entirely accurate. The review really was written by a 12-year-old. -- Ed]
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/sg/one-laptop-child-reviewed-12-ye...
A quick comment about the demographic -- the age range for the OLPC is up to the mid-teens, so SG is a very apt tester. Glad to hear that the overall product lives up to its promise, but the battery charge issue (supposed to go 12 hours), the wait time, and the need to reboot are huge deals.
Juvenal Sahiri---
I noticed you said something about needing to understand English to use the computer. This is actually not much of a problem since the computer is designed so the user does not need to read and write English. It uses mostly pictures to get its message across. In the countries where this laptop will be used, 7 year olds could definitely use it just as well or almost as well as kids my age.
I do agree with your views. thanks for sharing this site with me. This is actually not much of a problem since the computer is designed so the user does not need to read and write English. Research Paper Format
@ Not Listed - Stop it right there. I find it incredibly annoying when someone attempts to boast about their intelligence, no matter what age they are. Face it: there are plenty of twelve year olds who are capable of reading and understanding books "meant for college level," more than you think.
If you really have a few books "on the market," then do us a favor and post links to where these books are sold.
Please, don't mix high-level vocabulary words with mediocre grammar.
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SG, excellent review. Don't be too harshed by the adults who don't get the whole point...
Even with this type of technology, there will have to be early adopters who beta test the units. The early adopters may well be tweens, with flexible brains and enough responsibility to take care of the book. I would believe that the tested unit is a prototype, so a full production model would exhibit different battery times and such. The critique about the time to open an app. should certainly be listened to, as the target audience might not even know they are supposed to be patient. Battery time should be taken into consideration, but my swiss-cheese memory thinks that originally these were to be cranckable generation. Am I remembering the wrong thing? I'm guessing that most of the target do not have access to electricity as a constant thing. They may not have power at all, and that is certainly an issue. For WWW use, were these designed to be wifi or cell access? I know that cell is leapfrogging in a lot of developing places, but without access, the pretty electric book may be a doorstop. Typing on a box is worthless without the capacity to put that typing somewhere, does it have the capacity to wireless print?
All in all, certainly a good review SG, and now we just have to make it work. You always have to tweak a prototype anyway...
cheers,
D
SG, congratulations on a wonderful and articulate review. Very informative!
D,
I had to fiddle with the machine before giving it to SG, to get it to work with the WiFi network at SG's house. I doubt a kid could have gotten that working. But I assume that in a real deployment they would have a base station preconfigured to work with the laptops out of the box.
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D, I also thought it had a power generating crank.
When it runs out of power does it save your work with something like safe sleep or hibernate?
Nice review SG. The OLPC isn't quite an established platform, so faults are to be expected.
Also, 'Not Listed', I found your attempt at sounding intelligent rather amusing. I understand that you may be intelligent for your age, but your grammar was quite frankly horrific.
I'd also like to point out that the number of teen or even pre-teen 'techies' is a lot higher than you might think. The majority of us (I am 13 myself) use fake ages to fit in with communities that may otherwise, and might I add - rather egotistically in my opinion, shun us immediately because of our age.
I am personally about to endevour on a MSCE course, as I have a lot of experience dealing with Windows Servers, and have been using computers from a very early age.
Also, SG, you lucky *** - I wish I was recognised like that, and had the chance to get my hands on and be one of the first to review such an important and revolutionary new product and I don't use the term revolutionary lightly, unlike Steve Jobs...
The comment about losing your work at power down isnt true for current models. All the apps autosave at powerdown, from what I have understood by following the olpc devel list.
Pity the exact model isnt stated, it might be a Beta2 and they are mass producing Beta4 now (Aug 2007). B2's had a slower CPU (B3 and up is 700Mhz) and less RAM (128M VS 256M)
Personally I think the little freaking thing will change the world :-)
@ coolbho3000 -
And I find it incredibly annoying when people find it hard to believe that a 12 year old wrote the review. If they have intelligence, and find the computer to be effective, then they shouldn't have to write poorly - that's such a stereotype. You should be proud that the new generation isn't hiding in the dark - that they're exposing that our world is overcoming changes - some being that there are those slightly more intellectual among us. Be proud that SG has intelligence. Be proud that our world is showing more signs of having a vast vocabulary at a younger age. And remember that just because there are some adults who can not write this well, don't forget that others among you can.
The machine SG reviewed is a Beta2.
Not Listed, I think you need to read up on the definition of "stereotype." Generally speaking, we can assume that the average child (twelve years old in your case) is less intelligent than the average adult. There are exceptions, of course, but we cannot label facts as stereotypes.
D, the OLPCs use a sort of ad-hoc networking system, over 802.11b/g WiFi (though the laptop is limited to communicating at 2 mbit/s due to power concerns). As long as one laptop in the network has internet access, all the other laptops in the cell effectively have internet access as well.
Exactly. That is why I said the general stereotype is that most adults are more intelligent than the average child. That IS a stereotype that adults are smarter.
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