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Old 07-22-2020, 02:25 AM   #1 (permalink)
Xist
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Who remembers the $100 laptop?

"It was supposed to be the laptop that saved the world."

"The $100 laptop would have all the features of an ordinary computer but require so little electricity that a child could power it with a hand crank. It would be rugged enough for children to use anywhere, instead of being limited to schools. Mesh networking would let one laptop extend a single internet connection to many others."

That last part stood out to me today. People talk about distance learning not working because kids don't have laptops.

Schools assign kids laptops.

Distance learning doesn't work because kids don't have wifi.

Schools assign kids hotspots.

I did three teletherapy sessions today. That may be all that I do all week. Unfortunately, the first family's connection was so bad I asked the mom if we could just do speech therapy over the phone, which is problematic when a large part involves flashcards. I ended up asking him where common objects were and his mom, as usual, did most of the work.

The last client has a good Internet connection, but somehow receives video just fine, but says that she cannot send it anymore.

The last time that I heard about the $100 laptop I read that it had been killed by the netbook. The schools for which I work send home Chromebooks. Hotspots are great, but they don't work if you don't have a good cell phone signal!

How was Mesh supposed to work in third-world countries? Could Chromebooks be made that could pick up a signal from another Chromebook in another neighborhood and broadcast to yet another, giving web access to rural folks?

Apparently it didn't work for the $100 laptop and they gave up. Could it work now?

Not before that pesky global pandemic burns itself out.

By the way, the $100 laptop is still being made and sold. Crazy! https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/1...here-is-it-now

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