Comments on: An e-book guy sees promise in the $100 children’s laptop—and a new e-mail list is on the way for the gizmo’s users

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 04:06:18 +0000

Actually in an OLPC sense, the AARP folks are the ones who got there first—in terms of thinking about grandputers or whatever we call them. That’s why I was pleased to give credit to AARP’s Mike Lee, although I’d have happily linked to the Wayan’s OLPC item for additional ammo (can’t even recall if I saw it earlier).

Re the participation of the elderly in focused procurement programs in a generic sense, that’s long been a feature of the TeleRead plan (in many ways, a domestic OLPC). See the Wayback machine’s reference to the related page. It probably isn’t the first mention of the elderly in a TeleRead context.

Hey, what counts more than “Who got there first?” is the fact that we share enthusiasm for the concept of machines fit for the elderly. Let’s hope that the OLPC itself can follow up!

To change the subject, what’s the latest on the support email list, Wayan? Eager to spread the word once the signup box is up.

Thanks,
David

Addendum: I found a 1998 reference to TeleRead helping the elderly, and I suspect that’s still not the earlier one.

By: Wayan

Wayan — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:43:59 +0000

Robert,

One Laptop Per Grandmother is a brainstorm well thought through.

By: Fran Toolan

Fran Toolan — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:35:38 +0000

I agree that publishers should take the lead here. What if they bought a few and donated them to a “test” school system full of their ebooks?

Great marketing, and under the ‘give 1 get 1 program’ they would be doing a world of good.

By: Robert Nagle

Robert Nagle — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:13:24 +0000

Wow, OLPC for elderly populations. What an interesting brainstorm!

I think the wifi problems were a fluke; you were looking at an earlier prototype, right?

also, there is mesh networking which doesn’t need a live connection.