Part 1 of a 2 part paper for my Sociology Class. This part is a bit shy of 500, but it was the most logical place to break it up. Enjoy! Wow, that really didn’t need that zest, did it? Honestly, I don’t know why I put that exclamation point there. Kind of disappointed myself there. Anyways, enjoy the paper.
$100 Laptops
While watching the podcasts of the TED Talks, one item seemed to keep popping up in talk after talk. Here and there, they would mention these little devices called “the hundred dollar laptop.” But the hundred dollar laptop isn’t just some new gadget about to flood the market. It is the central device of the non-profit organization One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). With the goal of every child having a laptop, OLPC hopes to raise the educational standards of the entire planet.
With so many social issues facing America, and even the world at large, it can be difficult trying to narrow one down from the many. Even then, there are hundreds of branches that spawn from any of those topics. There does seem to be a central issue that spreads across the globe and can be found at the root of many problems. This issue is education. It is such an underutilized resource and such an overlooked problem. Yet, when someone brings up an issue, education is always offered as a solution. Bigotry and hatred? They just need to understand and get educated. Can’t get a job? They should be in college. A life destroyed by drugs? Well, that wouldn’t have happened if they were just educated about the effects of drugs! But education runs deeper than just these issues. They are problems facing America more than any global aspect of education.
What needs could be met globally with education? Well, that’s what OLPC is trying to do. The product name of the hundred dollar laptop is the XO, and at the moment it is closer to $200 than $100. But as the article on their website, http://laptop.org/en/vision/mission/index.shtml, states, “It’s not a laptop project. It’s an education project.” Their goal is to get a laptop into the hands of every child in the world. Granted, this is by no means a feasible plan, at least not in the near future, but it is a step in the right direction. They hope that the affordability and durability of their OX computer will help achieve this goal.
Listening to
Charlie Brown by The Coasters
Twitter Tag
XOXO = 2 $100 laptops and spreading love, only at Bloggaday.
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Serpent!
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