Does that smell fishy to anyone but me? Just checking.
40,000 XO PCs destroyed in Peru fire
40,000 XO computers, the model used in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, have gone up in flames in Peru. The computers were in a Peruvian Education Ministry warehouse, along with 20,000 conventional laptops. That warehouse burned down last Friday. The OLPC project says that no-one was hurt and quotes Peruvian President …
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Tuesday 13th March 2012 08:22 GMT Ed Vim
This is all just pure speculation but I imagine right now, sitting in a nearby office there's an Apple-Peru office staffer with a bunch of empty gas cans scattered around him and the burned out left-over stub of a safety flare in one hand.
In a day or so, we'll all be reading about Apple starting a huge lobbying campaign in Lima to put iPads in all the schools down there.
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Tuesday 13th March 2012 03:01 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: And here *I* though...
Some of us thought that of many big companies...
Apple, prior to Steve Jobs' return...
Microsoft, prior to Windows 7's release which was a narrow escape IMO... whether Windows 8 will be anywhere near the success it needs to be for Microsoft to continue long term remains anyone's guess...
Maybe it's because the OLPC isn't wasting money with sales droids and putting out lots of press releases and instead is devoting its time with getting the job done... it has dropped off people's radar.
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Tuesday 13th March 2012 04:30 GMT Stephen 2
Re: And here *I* though...
I still don't understand why they couldn't just sell the laptops worldwide for $99 + shipping. Surely the more of them they make, the lower the price of manufacturing becomes.
Sure they had a short period where you could buy one for yourself and one for someone else, which came in at like $240. But come on, just sell them to the masses at a dirt cheap price and it will eventually help the whole goal of the company.
Hell, If you offered us geeks one of those laptops for $99 plus shipping, I'm sure most of us would jump on it. Just for the sake of seeing how well a laptop really can run on solar+winding power!
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Tuesday 13th March 2012 13:56 GMT Tim Jenkins
Re: And here *I* though...
Sadly, the built-in hand-cranked charger, despite being the single most remembered feature of the XO, never made it past the first prototype unit in 2005; it was judged to be too unergonomic and inefficient, particularly for use by poorly-nourished children. FreePlay Energy have one that clamps on to a table (http://www.freeplayenergy.com/page-view.php?pagename=Clamp-Charger).
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Tuesday 13th March 2012 19:47 GMT Bjorg
Re: And here *I* though...
I decided not to support the OLPC project because I found them to be a bit shady. I really wanted a laptop that didn't never needed to be plugged in. However, I read the fine print on that "buy one for you and someone else" thing. I bet a lot of people were really disappointed when they found out that they did *not* include the crank with it. In fact, the entire mechanism for powering it with a crank was removed so you couldn't even make your own crank. And I don't recall them being powered by solar back then. So you basically got a really crappy, regular laptop.
I agree. If they really sold these laptops I think they would get a lot of buyers. Just look at the response the Raspberry Pi got, and it's not even a full computer powered by clean, renewable energy!
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Tuesday 13th March 2012 19:19 GMT Anonymous Coward
Mr Auditor ?
Senor Auditor : Where are those Laptops / Computers and Solar Panels ?
El Presidente: In the Warehouse, sadly we had a fire, but we are insured.
Mr Auditor : All that equipment, the children will be sad.
El Presidente: Have a box of Cuban cigars. Don't worry about it. We have plenty of warehouses.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
