31. Members of the OLPC team, working with
product design firm Squid Labs, in
Alameda, Calif., found that a small child,
using her arms to power a hand crank,
could produce only 5 to 10 watts for a few
minutes before her arms got tired. It would
take about 10 minutes of cranking out 5 W
to power the machine for 20 minutes in its
color graphics mode.
The OLPC designers considered solar cells
but rejected them as too expensive. They
then turned to Squid Labs, which came up
with an ingenious solution: a
microgenerator powered by a pull string,
similar to the assembly used to start a
lawn mower.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-laptop-crusade/0
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/406141/powering-the-100-laptop/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dvdOoXfHwI
38. I believe feature-wise, and its purpose is bang on. However I tend to
question the aesthetic. What I question is does it match the device's
purpose?... Having been to areas where this is intended to be used
the aesthetic doesn't match. For a lack of better word, it is over-
stylized. Will something that looks "cool" become a beacon for theft?
Functionally, there are 4 hinges (if you count each
antenna "ear" as each having a hinge). Africa in
particular is innundated with pervasive red dirt. The
stuff gets EVERYWHERE.
Tweet: jonwinebrenner
you're absolutely correct, it appears to have no connection to its
stated purpose. I think most of these designed items for the 3rd
world, "bringing technology to the worlds kids", are design and media
exercises for their creators.
by pier » April 11th, 2007
http://boards.core77.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12621
39. it's designerly
aesthetic seems
remarkably similar to
this: except not as
cool...
by yo » April 10th, 2007
i just want to see how the I keep thinking of the Apple
power crank works... eMate circa 1997
twitter.com/madhero101 by cg » April 11th, 2007
If this thing is durable,
Unless there is an but looks like a toy, is
armed guard these that a good design
things are a beacon decision?
for theft. Tweet: jonwinebrenner
Tweet: jonwinebrenner
http://boards.core77.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12621
40. So my concern is more the design of the product. This thing is slick and very
modern looking. It LOOKS better and more expensive than $130. Even if
these devices get into children’s hands, is having them look the way they do
going to attract more attention? I suppose 1M units going to Nigeria could
effectively flood the market and make this point moot. But I still question
the aesthetic of a product that looks like it should be sitting on my desk
next to my iPod in the environment that it is going to.
http://www.aialone.com/
you're absolutely correct, it appears to have no connection to its
stated purpose. I think most of these designed items for the 3rd
world, "bringing technology to the worlds kids", are design and media
exercises for their creators.
by pier » April 11th, 2007
http://inhabitat.com/fuseprojects-award-winning-xo-laptop/
45. “OLPC… broke the most important design rule from the
very beginning of the project. Design from the bottom
up, not top down. This was, almost in every way, a
traditional top down product development”
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/archives/2007/09/its_time_to_call_one_laptop_per_child_a_failure.html
http://www.hackeducation.com/2012/04/09/the-failure-of-olpc/
http://www.olpcnews.com/countries/peru/who_is_to_blame_for_olpc_peru.html
