Quickly glancing at OLPC

(crossposting from my personal blog)

Quite a while ago i read this post about the rise of cheap computing solutions. In light of the growing critique of the OLPC project, it got me thinking that perhaps, by focusing on the details of this specific project we are overlooking some of its most important contributions.

Just three or four years ago OLPC was the only project explicitly targeting the developing world and the market for low cost, simple computers. Today, we have over 7 competing models targeting this very market (potentially more). As long as this competition continues we can expect better machines and lower prices in this segment. Perhaps that is good, since industry is probably better in taking care of the technical aspects (even if sometimes it needs a push, such as the OLPC project), leaving space for the educators and activists focusing on developing a decent educational infrastructure to utilize this technology.

The main critique of OLPC from the very beginning was that it should be an educational and not a technological project. And I agree that the technological solution alone is meaningless and the true potential for change lies in appropriate adoption framework, particularly when we talk about education. At the same time, I think that its contribution to the technological push should not be underestimated. Does it make any sense?

On an unrelated note, now you can also use Skype on XO computers. I think this is really cool, even though Skype has been recently loosing its quality.

(Images taken from laptop.org, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5.)

iPhone's internationalization as well as the localization in China and the World

It has been rumored that the largest mobile operator in China, China Mobile is talking with Apple to bring iPhone to Chinese market . At the first glance, the news seems exciting. Chinese market has been expecting this stylish device for too long, especially among large group of fashion-chasing young people, most of them are college students, middle and high-income graduates. They have been growing together with the Chinese information and telecom market in the past decade, and spend surprising much more money on mobile phones and iPods. It's hardly imaginable a student who do not earn a penny at all, will spend over 4000RMB(roughly 500USD) for a mobile phone just for one or two years of use. Even for college graduates, who are paid more than the average(I'm pretty sure, the average couldn't exceed 2000RMB(250USD) for a first-year graduate) are willing to spend that amount of money on their mobile phones. Most of them are gathered in several major cities, like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which might make the thing even less understandable for westerners, most of them have to pay for apartment rents and daily foods - that is really a heavy burden for them. Not to mention their night life in pubs and money smashed on girls.

Let's get back to iPhone. I'm kind of skeptic about its success in China, at least before the localized strategies come out. First of all, the monthly fee for iPhone, which is 59.99USD the lowest in the States could be a potential unease for them to sweep their cards. It won't be a problem at all for riches anyway, but for the group of people mentioned above, they might not want to pay such kind of expensive bills. Mobile Internet surfing is far less popular in China compared to Japan, Korea or even the States. Most people use QQ(a dominant instant messenger software in China), but tiny part of them actually use it to chat with friends on their phones, and ever fewer people use email as daily communication means, at least among the people mentioned in the first paragraph. Most of them are just curious about iPhone and to satisfy their peacockery. Will curiosity leads to acceptance? Or, to be less offensive, they just want to have a up-to-date iPod, a nice sounded mobile stereo, a 2 mega camera and a keyboard which allows them to flying type SMSs. As for the Internet, they don't need unlimited connection and a nicely designed email client. Moreover, iPhone's WiFi connectivity may have little use in most part of the country. City and campus wide wireless Internet connection infrastructure is still in its embryo. Without thus high-speed  wireless hotspots available, it's even less possible for them to use iPhone's Internet functionalities.

Well.. but I believe that's certainly possible that the fancy Internet surfing on revolutionary devices such as iPhone will greatly stimulate the growth of more versatile and experience-oriented mobile value added services. But capacity building especially on mobile content, in reverse, is one of the key bottleneck of iPhone's proliferation outside the States. For example, less Chinese use Youtube compared to native counterparts Tudou.com simply because tudou has more localized contents and also faster than Youtube most of the time. Would Apple replace the Youtube button by Tudou? I doubt it, cuz I doubt the two parties would be able to come up with a nice revenue sharing strategy. Same thing is about iTunes. No one in Chinese ever uses iTunes online store to buy music, TV shows or movies. The reason is two-fold basically. First, iTunes online store has not available for Chinese market yet, and second the IPR protection awareness among users are far more weaker than American users. Most of the music, movies and shows are just exchanges among computers illegally, without any authorization(actually this is a rising global issue). Although the situation is getting better, but I don't think it makes any sense for Apple to have the iTunes online store button on "Chinese version iPhones". Another issue could be the fighting between Google(GuGe) and Baidu. Would iPhone changes its default search engine? Well.. you answer that yourself.

So long story short, if the ambitious China Mobile is serious to bring iPhone to China, and so does Apple, there would be a long way to go before iPhone makes its debut in China. First, stakeholders including manufacturer(Apple), operator(China Mobile), content providers(Google, Baidu, Youtube, Facebook), must find agreement on the revenue sharing strategy, and the pricing policy that is suitable enough for different types of users. Cultural implications should also been taken care of, especially in countries like China. iPhone's internationalization is on the way. But it's quite clear, that the revolutionary iPhone's marketing in China, the world's largest telecom market, won't be the easiest one.

$100 laptop risks being too cool for school

Lee Felsenstein of the Fonly Institute makes an important critique of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project instigated by Massachusettes Institute of Technology.

By marketing the idea to governments and large corporations, the OLPC project adopts a top-down structure. So far as can be seen, no studies are being done among the target user populations to verify the concepts of the hardware, software and cultural constructs. Despite the fact that neither the children, their schools nor their parents will have anything to say in the creation of the design, large orders of multi-million units are planned.

It seems another story of the techno-cool factor overriding the first and most important consideration: Is it useful?! (Note: There is no doubt that the laptop MIT developed is very cool and if you didn't see it already, check out the official photographs and the technical specifications)

If it indeed is true that "no studies are being done among the target user populations" then this is extremely worrying and sad for this initiative which definitely has awesome potential. What commercial product is developed without some sort of idea as to whether and how the target users will adopt it? It seems like MIT has done well at what it does best – produce a very sound prototype to fulfil the "$100 laptop pricetag", This is only half of the challenge, though, or perhaps only a quarter! It is absolutely critical that the technology is distributed in an appropriate, effective and sustainable way and backed up by highly sensitive education programs to ensure the laptops are actually useful.

On the face of it, the OLPC project seems to be such a timely, responsible and philanthropic initiative, but Felsenstein reveals a number of potential hardware and usability problems which appear unresolved. Even if MIT denies these issues will be a problem, how can they back up such a claim if they haven't surveyed the target users on the ground to find out how they will use the laptops? How can they know what the greatest challenges will be for these fresh adopters?

The OLPC project needs to move out of technical-development mode and into "social philanthropy" mode to first of all determine the real needs of the end users. Otherwise, we can predict a result somewhat like that of the town of Ennis in Ireland (as related in Mark Warschauer's "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide").

ICT erased my caste!

In an article titled Technology, the great social leveller, ushering in change, Sam Pitroda (Indian "telecom pioneer") says:

[information and communication] technology opened doors for me. It erased my caste and empowered me to upward mobility.

Do ICTs really hold this kind of power or is it about the way we use them? Are ICTs the answer to greater social equality (that is, less divide) as Pitroda experienced? Or is it a case of ICTs being simply a catalyst for education which in turn may lead to greater social equality? In Pitroda's case it may have made him one of the "technology elites" in India but while ICT offered opportunity, does this mean that ICT itself is really acting as a "social leveller"?

Perhaps it is most useful to look at the use of ICT and society developing as two constantly interacting forces. For example, the more an individual uses ICT, the more one develops ones skills and consequently the more highly-valued are one's skills. Or looking at it from the other angle, the more a society is able to develop an economy and social framework which provides education and access for citizens to use ICTs, the more the citizens will use them. It may be a feedback loop.

Image by Free Spirit

Youths speak out on Internet Governance

Young people have been making what could be seen as an unpredected foray into international politics through their participation in the United Nations World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). WSIS is taking place in two main stages over four years and currently we are nearing the completion of the second stage.

The WSIS Youth Caucus was well represented at the stage 1 summit held in late 2003 in Geneva and it is expected that there will be a large youth participation in the stage 2 summit coming up this November. The Youth Caucus has also been represented at every preparatory committee (Prepcom) since the summit commenced early in 2002.

Following the investigations of a working group looking at Internet Governance (IG), the topic has arisen on the main WSIS agenda. Recently At the WSIS Prepcom 3, youths made several recommendations to the Civil Society Bureau on the topic of Internet Governance. Later they pushed for their recommendations to be implemented (Document).

This is an example of the energetic activity of young people from all parts of the world that's directed at setting up a better framework (or "constitution") for society in which information and ICTs are at the centre of economies and personal life.