The $100 laptop closer to reality

[mailinglist at endosquid.com (Brendan)]

On Thursday 29 September 2005 12:44 pm, Anthony Gabrielson wrote:
> On Thu, 29 Sep 2005, Brendan wrote:
> I think a well done laptop will have less negative affects on the
> environment than all the books that are made for schools.  I could be off
> on that - no evidence to back up how much resources are spent on the
> production of this laptop.

Yeah, I guess you would have to look that one up first.
And please, just reply on list of off, not both. I don't need copies in my 
inbox.
I can guarantee you that a laptop does not have "fewer negative effects" than 
a book. Please do a tiny bit of research before you make wild claims:
http://update.unu.edu/archive/issue31_5.htm
http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/sayno.htm
http://www.env-health.org/a/1108
But, with a PDA vs a whole year of newspaper? 
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040612/fob7.asp

> > This is not a "point". What does Hawking have to do with a discussion of
> > cost and teaching methods? If you are just argumentative by
> > nature...Honestly, this is not a pissing match. I am curious as to what
> > people with informed opinions think on this one.
>
> You mention great people that didn't use a computer.  I mentioned a great
> person who would not have been able to contribute with out a computer.
> The computer is the enabling technology for hawking to do what he does;
> contribute new ideas to a field loaded with brilliant people.

So, the others who learned from books are somehow discounted.

Yeah, no. 

There are always exceptions, and I guarantee you that Hawking learned from 
books. We are talking *learning* dude, not how we do our jobs.
Hawking actually shares Galileo's birthday, but he was born in 1942...So I am 
not thinking that he was using ENIAC or other such computers to learn math. 
His motor function disorder did not start hampering him physically until his 
third year at Oxford, just FYI.

> Tech is quickly turning into a way of passing ideas, much the way books
> do.  However tech also offers an easier medium for passing ideas, it seems

Sometimes...it's also easier to pass crap too.
Think spam vs. junk mail....When you lower entry standards, you also lower 
barriers of entry to things that shouldn't be passed.

> is how data is presented.  Do you remeber Carmen Sandiego?  I thought
> learning geography with that game was a blast when I was a kid.  How about

Yes, for *you*. 
Ever heard of geography bees? Studying for them is how *I* learned geography. 
Should mine automatically discredit yours? Nope. This is where a study comes 
in...ooooh, now we're learnin' with the scientific method.

Remember, I have been a software engineer for 10 years, so I'm not a 
technophobe, but have a strong belief, as Ben said, that it isn't a silver 
bullet.