Madog cautions SA against one laptop per child project
MIT's "$100-dollar laptop" has created a huge buzz, but does it make sense for the developing world? Linux International executive director, Jon "Maddog" Hall, offered an alternative for South Africans at LinuxWorld Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Hall told delegates at the tech conference that although the One Laptop per Child initiative - which aims to provide children with $100 laptops - meant well, it may not suit countries like South Africa. A better option could be refurbishing old computers and loading free and open source software onto them.
"Now I'm not saying it is a bad project, but I have alternative for you," he said.
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It's one thing relying on proprietary technology to write a document, touch up a photograph, or send an email. But the stakes are much higher when the technology may be your only communication link to the world.
This is the reality for people like Martin Pistorius, a disability consultant who is quadriplegic and cannot speak. He uses a head-mounted pointer to select words on a computer screen using proprietary software imported from the UK.
"Currently 99% of all augmentative and alternative communications (AAC) technologies are imported, which makes them incredibly expensive," Pistorius told Tectonic via email.
The open source model has "significant cost advantages", says Pretorius. "If you run it on an Ubuntu Linux machine the only cost would be the hardware, which you could probably get for about R3 500."
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