As I mentioned previously, I ordered an OLPC laptop through the program where you buy two and receive one, while the other gets donated to a needy person overseas. I have been playing with it as I have time, and have also run into a friend of mine that ordered one at the same time for the same reasons. We were visiting yesterday and realized we both had one to test and spent quite a while talking about what we believe about the concept.

First, lets talk about the device… The system is smaller than I thought and the first time my 16 year old son and I tried to play with it we could not figure out how to open it. Before you laugh at me for my IQ level, understand that the system comes with virtually no directions, and is designed so a child can figure things out by playing with it. Not being a kid myself, it probably took me extra time because I was too set in my ways and just kept thinking the clamshell should open. Eventually, I broke the paradigms and realized that you had to twist the wireless ears up to release the lock on the case. The keys are small because it is meant for a younger child, and the keyboard is plastic to resist liquids and dust getting into the mechanism. That was all fine with me because I am not a nazi on keyboard feel.

The battery lasts a long time, and the display is as good as advertised in that it is bright even in the sun. Structurally, it is built perfectly for use by kids in harsh environments and I like that. The software is interesting because it is not Windows based. The system has its own operating system and custom pieces of software. It can make music, allow chatting with other users, get on the Internet, attach to others with OLPC’s around you and you can write on it. It has an embedded camera, and a few strange features that allow you to analyze signals (not sure why a kid would want that).

My friend said that when he saw the software selection, it was obvious that it was put together by an ivory tower university – which it was. All in all, the software’s most important capability is to connect the user with the greater world through the Web and to each other through the local connection capability.

So let’s talk about what the OLPC and others like it might mean for the world. When 60 Minutes did their piece on OLPC, there was one scene that said it all to me. In a dirt hut, without electricity and running water, there sat a family crowded around their 10 year old as he showed them the Internet. It was clear from their reaction that this computer appeared to be a magic box that showed them things they had never scene before. I can sum up what I think cheap computers connected to the Internet will do for the world in two main thoughts. the first is that it will provide a window on the world and communication capability that will connect another billion souls to the collective. The second thing is that after they are connected, the concept of leveraging crowdsourcing to get work done is now massively enabled. The next generation past outsourcing will be crowdsourcing in many clever ways. If you do not really make the connection, take heart, crowdsourcing is the topic of my next post so you will get more.

The bottom line on OLPC

I love the concept. I give Nicolas Negreponte huge credit for leading this effort. It is not the computer itself that changes the world – it is connecting the billion people that have been unconnected that makes the difference. Within a few short years, we will have obvious evidence of this…