[IAEP] Ncomputing and freedom of the child

[Bill Kerr]

tech considerations aside part of the appeal (in india and elsewhere) would
be control, the computers stay in the labs, don't go home where students can
then surf for porn etc.

we are in the middle of a mandatory adult internet censorship battle in
australia - enormous resistance and the government seems to be losing,
thankfully

however, I know many adult educators who don't support mandatory adult
censorship but who nevertheless do advocate strongly that computers at home
should not be in kids bedrooms, they should be in the lounge so that adults
can constantly monitor their childrens surfing

Not a practice that I supported for my own child and which I think goes
counter to the UN Convention on the rights of the child:
*Article 13* 1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression;
this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in
print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm

neverthless, although we are winning the adult censorship battle in
australia - thanks to great leadership by Electronic Frontiers Australia and
ISPs like internode who have refused to participate in the phony trial -
don't underestimate the argument of many adults who do not think that
children should have genuine ownership of a personal computer - and all the
benefits that brings - due to the alleged risks of surfing the internet
without close and constant supervision

even some australian child care organisations are now coming out and
opposing Conroy's digital counter revolution (play on Rudd governments
election promise of a digital revolution with faster broadband and a laptop
for every child years 9-12, still waiting and they won't be laptops)
http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/childrens-welfare-groups-slam-net-filters/2008/11/28/1227491813497.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

if n-computing works then its advocates would argue:
1) cheaper
2) more control over what kids see

Not sure about the cost issue but on point (2) it looks like we are stuck
with having to argue that freedom for children is a good thing, well, lets
hope we can win that one :-) no point in taking the low road when the high
road is the only available option



On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 9:10 AM, Samuel Klein <meta.sj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ncomputing is certainly not greener than using XOs, except perhaps for
> the part where you use computers in a comp. lab less than you use a
> portable laptop.
>
> But [no accounting] it's popular.  It lets you use existing monitor
> and sysadmin infrastructure.  And a skole/sugar or ubuntu/sugar setup
> that runs on Ncomputing labs would rock.  Someone should find out what
> they currently recommend for the user software stack in an NC lab.
> It can hardly compare with the sugar activity selection or unified
> experience.
>
> SJ
>
> On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 5:13 PM,  <forster at ozonline.com.au> wrote:
> > We had a similar thin client system in the computer lab of an education
> conference recently. At least 2 of the sessions could not run as planned
> because the workstations did not have the functionality of a normal PC. In
> my case I needed 32M of video memory.
> >
> > The same criticism though could be made of any low cost system, there's
> lots of software you can't run on an OLPC.
> >
> > Their claim "since Ncomputing uses only 1 watt of energy (compared to 110
> watts for a PC), electricity usage is cut by more than 90%" ignores the
> power in the monitor, maybe 100W.
> >
> > Similarly, the monitor cost may be similar to the cost of an OLPC. The
> OLPC and its competitors like the eee may be better value.
> >
> >
> >> I had a pissing match with their founder in the WSJ about a year
> >> ago... I didn't get any straight answers from him about costs or
> >> learning. But Sugar on their Ubuntu thin client sounds doable.
> >>
> >> -walter
> >>
> >> On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 4:15 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> > Has anybody evaluated Ncomputing's claims on cost, power, and the like
> >> > for school deployments? For example,
> >> >
> >> >
> http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Interview/Stephen_Dukker_CEO_Ncomputing/articleshow/3820649.cms
> >> > http://www.ncomputing.com/republic-of-macedonia.aspx
> >> >
> >> > They run Ubuntu (or Windows) over thin clients, so they could run
> >> > Sugar once the packaging problems are fixed (The journal currently
> >> > saves precisely nothing). Has anybody talked with them?
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) is my name
> >> > And Children are my nation.
> >> > The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination.
> >> > http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/User:Mokurai
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> >> > IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> >> > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Walter Bender
> >> Sugar Labs
> >> http://www.sugarlabs.org
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> >> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
> >>
> >> _____________________________________________________
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> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
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> >
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