nutbastard

You've got most of it right!

But Osama Obama????....yipes!

Regarding the Dems & Repubs....I heard it this way a long time ago:

You either vote for the Democrats who do all the wrong things for all the right reasons or the Republicans who do all the right things for all the wrong reasons....

But now the older I get, the more I think Winston Churchill had it right on when he said:

"If you're not a liberal at twenty, you have no heart....

But if you're not a conservative by forty, you have no brain."

;-)

ArchiMark

Karig

as for you, vista-guys and other kind of crappy-OS geeks, dig bloody internet time to time and you will be surprised how many nice things around. There are plenty other OSes exists to run within one gig of your disk space, all that you need is just to have some brains. There are so many people who using computers and other IT devices not for gaming. I have old PDA on 200Mhz ARM with 512Mb disk space, fully loaded with different things, and device does the job. Especially with RIA and Web 2.0, where most of my applications are online and i work with data and people connected around the world 20h/day, even while i'm on the street moving somewhere... So, i don't need 160Gb space, i don't need Vista, i don't need all this crap you yelling here about. And having this Asus laptop would be just good for me, right now it is right time for this kind of device.

skitsanos

What's wrong with you people? Are you all so stuck on yourselves that you honestly believe that if something's not the perfect device FOR YOU that it's not marketable? That there's no audience for it? That it isn't the type of catalyst that the industry might need after a decade of stagnation?

Yes, I said STAGNATION... with apologies to Mr. Jobs and the fine folks at Google, there are very few bright, iconic moments in the history of technology.

This is looking very much like the device that I'd love to have in my kids' hands (they are 6 and 8). And I really believe that it would have been a great alternative to the laptop I bought 6 years ago that took me four years to pay off.

The only people who should be whining at the end of this column is Dell, Gateway, Apple, Lenovo, et al.

Not you whiney-butt wanna-be pundits.

You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

macbigot

> And exactly what developing country where the
> kids need laptops but can't aofford them, do
> they have electricity everywhere? To me the OLPC > project is like giving iPods to deaf people to
> enhance their knowledge of music.

The OLPC XO machine is designed to be power-efficient because it only consumes 5 Watts max. meaning that any power supply used in developed countries like bicycles can recharge it quickly. IPods is a gagdet compared to XO machine which is aiming to kids as tool or education.

> And a laptop is pretty useless without the > internet and a printer. So the kids get the > laptops, with an OS preloaded and then they...

XO machine has a mesh network feature where it can detect and use any wireless connection. Mesh networking allow network between XO machines without requiring Internet connection depending the distance which is very suitable for schools.

> write their own software??? WTF? ok,
> presumabley the OLPCs would come loaded with
> educational SW, but couldn't we just send them
> books? Remember books? Those word-things that
> dont require batteries, and are pretty much
> indestructable, and cost less than a dollar to
> produce in many cases?

It is very clear you have no knowledge about the OLPC project. Do you know it is very expensive to buy a book in developed countries because they quickly become outdated and waste material i.e. papers. OLPC XO is designed to be like an e-book where kids can read directly on sunlight. It has been tested for resistance, is much ticker than normal laptop, has the most screen efficient design ever (only consumes a watt in full screen color mode). I strongly suggest to visit wiki.laptop.org and read http://www.j5live.com/?p=357 in order to understand about OLPC project. In this case, your opinion is based on ignorance.

finalzone

EMoShunz

The republicans want to kill people with my money... the democrats want to kill foreign culture with my money... sigh.... guess ill vote democrat in leiu (sp?) of libertarian in '08.

VOTE Obama!!!!

nutbastard

the second half...to keep it short, these laptops are for school children, and are not free, they are subsidized, just like the computers in our schools here are subsidized.

EMoShunz

nutbastard

People live off of $2 a day because thats what it costs to live wherever they are. $2 here =/= $2 in vietnam. Is the standard of living as high as here? Hell no. Is it better than it's ever been? Absolutely. 99% of human history was people living in huts, caves, fallahs, whatever. No medicine. No tech. To say that the standard of living anywhere in the world is unlivable is to ignore that 99% of human history. It's not great, but it's still better than it was.

People in america are lucky because we have the choice between the two. It's easy for us to go off into some poor country and live just like our ancestors did. It's virtually impossible for people already living like that to come up to where we are, but it's not a problem of supply or technology. As usual, its fucking politics.

Back on subject, why should we give laptops to semi-industialized countries? The consequences of a handout-society are counterintuitive, so its no suprise that people dont get it. People only value things they've earned. If you start handing out material goods that are not essential to survival, the people will come to expect them while disregarding their value. If they are semi-industrialized, let them progress, and they can BUY the laptops. If they aren't, the only thing you can do is give them food and move em somewhere less hostile.

If you carry a man long enough, he will forget how to walk.

nutbastard

Niskyspy

nutbastard, developing countries does not mean 3rd world, it's countries on the verge of an economic breakthrough, not starving countries.

Now, if you want to be an extremist, shut up and sell everything you own, live off $2 a day like half the world's population, and donate the rest to people who have nothing.

EMoShunz

nutbastard

thistle.john

nutbastard

Or you could get the OLPC and help developing countries get one too in the process. Th $200 buys you one, and them one."
------
you know it shocks me how many geeks believe that is true. FYI ... its not true.
You CANNOT get one.
Look up the FAQ sheet on the olpc site. no buy one get one free. Just a myth.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Ask_OLPC_a_Question_about_Distri...

whitenerdy

DO THIS!

Wifi, DVD-ROM, EVDO or EDGE support, 40GB Flash, 3 USB ports, 1 Firewire port, Ethernet, Headphone Jack, and maybe an iPod dock. Do it do it do it before sony does it and fucks up everyone's perception of small laptops/UMPCs

Having developed a healthy hatred of current cell phone tech/rateplans/service, i love the idea of just doing a data plan. Portable widgets on a 7 incher for CHEAPER THAN THE iPhone would be the uber-dopeness that would convince me to spread the labia of my wallet, and await your violation.

nutbastard

djcooleone

humperdinck

TrevorJ

nutbastard

b_lcky

EMoShunz

trevinom

jackfrost132

jackfrost132

seriously, if these are actually being sold for the aforementioned price I am sure there will be a MAJOR shortage (think of the wii and multiply by a lot)

discounteggroll

UNDERSTAR

auroragb

Sockatume

MJDeviant

MJDeviant

MJDeviant

scrag

Brookespeed

hypereric

That said, two hundred smackers for a laptop sounds like a real opportunity for public schools to put a laptop on every desk.

Monty

xanderbeedle

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

erytried

I so want one so I can write my novel on the beach and not worry if it gets water/sandlogged. Solid state rules!

brokemypalm

monkeyrotica

TommySez

I'll take 4...

McQueen

GIMME GIMME

strider_mt2k

Paul