Distraction Device
More on One-Laptop-Per-Child with some academic research showing it's worse than a waste of time and money - it could actually harm the kids who get it!
Let me take this opportunity to pile on OLPC even more. One of their fund-raising mechanisms was called "Give one, get one" or "Get one, give one". Something like that, with the emphasis on "get one". The way it worked was If I paid for two, one would be sent to the poor kid with a bright shining smile in some far-away country. Then I would not only get the warm feeling inside from my own wonderful do-goodery, but I would also get my very own OLPC PC! This perfectly sums up everything that is wrong with America and American charity. I do something that someone tells me is charitable, noble, and self-sacrificial, and then I get a shiny new toy. The really funny thing about this is that I'm certain all the geeks and semi-geeks who participated in this program unboxed the thing, played with it for an hour, and then left it in a corner. Now it's covered with pizza delivery boxes, iPhone 2.0 packaging materials*, and a couple of issues of Computer Gaming World.
* Or will be, after July 11th.
Let me take this opportunity to pile on OLPC even more. One of their fund-raising mechanisms was called "Give one, get one" or "Get one, give one". Something like that, with the emphasis on "get one". The way it worked was If I paid for two, one would be sent to the poor kid with a bright shining smile in some far-away country. Then I would not only get the warm feeling inside from my own wonderful do-goodery, but I would also get my very own OLPC PC! This perfectly sums up everything that is wrong with America and American charity. I do something that someone tells me is charitable, noble, and self-sacrificial, and then I get a shiny new toy. The really funny thing about this is that I'm certain all the geeks and semi-geeks who participated in this program unboxed the thing, played with it for an hour, and then left it in a corner. Now it's covered with pizza delivery boxes, iPhone 2.0 packaging materials*, and a couple of issues of Computer Gaming World.
* Or will be, after July 11th.
Labels: Geek Suckers, Help that Hurts, OLPC
posted by Jeff Burton at
5:54 AM
2 Comments:
Don't bother softening the blow to your friend who did that Give One, Get One (me).
I'll fuel your disdain, mockery and general schadenfreude by noting the organization is also mismanaged and inept.
One of distraction OLPC may cause is problems counting, for their staff. I gave one in November, got one in January. Got another one in late March. Contacted them immediately. They said they'd get it. Multiple calls, emails. Still trying to get their OLPC back to them. I guess 1 and 1 equals 3 to OLPC.
Care to twist the knife AND salt the wound? Any comments on self-serving Western green initiatives? Shall I skip solar panels and invest in micro-nutrition as Bjorn Lomborg advises?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Consensus
PS- I wrote this on a Mac. Phtt.
By
Tom King, At
June 15, 2008 11:31 AM
Brutal honesty. Relentless authenticity. Sometimes there are causualties, Tom. If OLPC can't get their accounts straightened out, could you send me the extra one?
By
Jeff Burton, At
June 15, 2008 12:34 PM
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