Hay moneda para esto.... (una monedita para la iMac 24)

De un artículo de la BBC.

A child's view of the $100 laptop
   
Tags: Political Economy

Will this spread the third world view? Can it bring a better understanding
of our fellow man in the developing countries?

A child's view of the $100 laptop
What will a child in the UK make of a laptop designed to help children in
the developing world? Rory Cellan-Jones brought an XO home to find out.

In late November I returned from Nigeria with a sample of the XO laptop.

The computer, made by the One Laptop per Child charity, is a robust little
machine designed to entertain and educate children while allowing them to
learn by themselves.

I knew there was only one person who could review it for me.

The Nine Year-old's View

Enter Rufus Cellan-Jones. He is nine, has far more experience of games
consoles than computers, and has strong views on most matters.

"Looks fun," was his only comment when I handed over the small, green and
white laptop, explaining that he was the only child in Britain to have one.

But very quickly he was up and running.

All I did was give him the security code for our home wireless network so he
could take the XO online. The rest he figured out for himself, as he
explains:

Lots of fun

"I just seemed to work it out. It was rather easy. I didn't even need help."
Surprise, surprise, his first discovery was a game. "I found Block Party.
It's like Tetris. I'm now up to Level 7."

I thought my young games fanatic might stick there but he moved on. "Then I
discovered paint. You can use pencils, change the texture, use different
sizes of brush."

Even better, there was an animation programme called Etoys.

"That's my favourite.You make things. You can see tutorials and demos. Then
you can make a new project. I've made a crazy UFO which you can move."

But Rufus says it isn't just about play.

"I use the calculator - that can be rather useful for sums. You can even
browse onto the internet. You can watch and learn stuff. You can write
things and it can also remind you which is extremely useful."

What, I asked, does a nine year old need to remind himself about? "Christmas
stuff," he said, with an air of mystery.

Social networking

But the real surprise came one evening, when Rufus asked me to explain what
his friends were telling him on the laptop.

I thought those imaginary childhood friends from years back must have
returned.

But I went and had a look - and it was true - he appeared to be chatting
online.

So how had he managed that?

"You go on "neighbourhood", then you go to the chat thing.

You go on Nigeria and you chat to them."

But why, if he was online with the children at the Nigerian school I had
visited, were they sending messages in Spanish?

I decided he must be linking up with one of the South American schools
taking part in the OLPC project but we still aren't sure quite how that is
happening.

Still, Rufus is widening his social circle. " I have three friends. It's
nice to talk to them. They don't speak much English but I can understand
them." The conversation is not exactly sparkling, but Rufus has learned to
say "Hola".

Not a toy

So Rufus is using his laptop to write, paint, make music, explore the
internet, and talk to children from other countries.

Because it looks rather like a simple plastic toy, I had thought it might
suffer the same fate as the radio-controlled dinosaur or the roller-skates
he got last Christmas - enjoyed for a day or two, then ignored.

Instead, it seems to provide enduring fascination.

I had returned from Nigeria not entirely convinced that the XO laptop was
quite as wonderful an educational tool as its creators claimed.

I felt that a lot of effort would be needed by hard-pressed teachers before
it became more than just a distracting toy for the children to mess around
with in class.

But Rufus has changed my mind.

With no help from his Dad, he has learned far more about computers than he
knew a couple of weeks ago, and the XO appears to be a more creative tool
than the games consoles which occupy rather too much of his time.

The One Laptop Per Child project is struggling to convince developing
countries providing computers for children is as important as giving them
basic facilities like water or electricity.

Unusually, Rufus does not have an opinion about that controversy, but he
does have a verdict on the laptop. "It's great," he says.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7140443.stm