Q&A: Nicholas Negroponte, founder, One Laptop Per Child
The latest on the $100 laptop - from Confucius to Cambodia...
As head and founder of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, Nicholas Negroponte is aiming to bridge the digital divide by bringing computers to the developing world - in the shape of the $100 laptop. After a long development period, OLPC is finally shipping low-cost systems for school-aged children.
silicon.com's Jo Best caught up with Negroponte at the ITU Telecom World in Hong Kong to get an update on the innovative project.
silicon.com: How is the $100 laptop progressing?
Negroponte: They're rolling off the assembly line now. It's an education project not a laptop project. For people it's like the hazard of being a beautiful blonde - people pay attention to the wrong thing. It's almost an attractive nuisance. We were driven by the elimination of poverty. With building more schools, it would take forever and ever. What we're trying to do in the meantime is get more children to do more on their own.
Has the change of leadership in Thailand affected your plans there? I've heard that the new government has decided not to go ahead with the project.
They haven't told us that they're not doing that. We were very aligned with the previous government and when that changed that hurt us. (Negroponte will be flying out to Thailand soon to meet with the Thai royal family and new government and learn if the country still want to order any of the product.)
And what are your plans for China?
The problem with China is not the regime, it's Confucius - it's very top-down thinking. Confucius would never do this, it's much more hierarchical - the notion of learning through playing is not in that vocabulary.
Were you disappointed when India didn't decide to go forward with the project and the Indian education secretary Sudeep Banerjee said the project was "pedagogically suspect"?
I'm disappointed for them, not for us. I think you have to look further than they are looking. It's true that their numbers are daunting though.
Which countries that you're in negotiations with do you think will lead to orders?
In central America there are eight countries grouping together in a single block [to purchase laptops]. That is definitely happening. Mexico is happening. We are talking to the Philippines and Pakistan - I'm convinced that's going to happen.
We're also talking to rich countries to help poor countries. Finland is interested in Namibia, UAE is interested in helping Pakistan, and France is looking at countries in Africa.
Is there a place for the $100 laptop in western Europe, do you think?
In the UK, you're spending £3,000, £4,000 maybe even £5,000 a child on primary education… The only reason to talk to Europe, the US, Japan… is to finance other children.
How will you judge if the project has been a success - say, in five's years time?
We'll find out very quickly if it's been a success. The measure is the energy in schools. There's a village in Cambodia [using the laptops]… [where] there are twice as many kids registering. That's a good measure. That kind of measure - that's the best. Parent interest in kids' education is another.
Why do you think there's been a lot of negativity as well as optimism around the $100 laptop?
There's a lot of negativity come out of the UK. There are people that think refurbishing old laptops is the right way to help the developing world. You'll never see me go online and contradict that - anything is better than nothing but it just doesn't work. Sending old computers is not the way to go.
People say if a child is malnourished, he doesn't have drinking water, he's sick, why do you want to give him a laptop? Substitute the word 'education' for 'laptop' and you'll never ask that question again."
Is it possible for the laptops to be sold on?
If you steal a laptop before it arrives with a child, it's useless. If you steal it from a child, it's disabled within three to four days, depending on the country. If it shows up missing on the network, it will be disabled. You could take it and use it in Starbucks but only for three to four days.