OLPC
My OLPC arrived this morning - it's great that it got here on the Christmas break! Having played with it for about an hour so far, I have to say this is one of the most exciting pieces of technology I've seen in a while. The whole thing is engineered in a way that reminds me very much of the 8-bit microcomputers I grew up with in the 80s, although of course the OLPC takes full advantage of a lot of modern technology on offer (in fact I'm surprised by just how much cool hardware it has).
The OLPC is a computer built for people, first and foremost. It looks, and feels, and hopefully is incredibly robust. It's also very lightweight. It doesn't get hot, or make any unwanted noises. The keyboard is a membrane (very reminiscent of some of the first computers I owned), but surprisingly not too bad to type on and of course great for kids and harsh environments.
The software has a great feel too. It's incredibly easy to quickly get started doing something fun and interesting. Everything has the effect of encouraging more and more exploration, learning and experimentation.
I haven't managed to find any kind of Lisp yet, but Python is there of course - quite prominently, and in a way that makes it a fun and easy thing to play around with.
Great job OLPC!
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abstractstuff) wrote,
