[Sugar-devel] The future of Sugar on XO-1s

[Walter Bender]

On Thu, Apr 7, 2016 at 9:43 PM, Dave Crossland <dave at lab6.com> wrote:

> Hi Adam!
>
> On 1 April 2016 at 01:24, Adam Holt <holt at laptop.org> wrote:
>
>> In Haiti XO-1s will be dominant across many schools for years and year to
>> come.  Similar to Tony's description, but these typically will be using
>> 32GB SD cards -- thankfully these are incredibly affordable.
>>
>
> What is the typical price the XO-1 units you are prepping for Haiti? Cost
> of postage + 32Gb SD card + repair (volunteered labor?) + distribution to
> Haiti?
>
>
>> The resilience/repairability of the XO-1 laptops is the absolutely
>> fascinating part. Regardless if historians of technology will look down
>> their noses from the Rich West's / Rich East's de facto preference for
>> one-upmanship (throwaway cute gadgets).  Or conversely if they will look
>> back from Poor/Southern Nations' de facto environmentalism/repair
>> principles -- purposefully appropriating and re-appropriating a
>> technologies beyond their intended use.
>>
>
> I think idea of the extra screws in the lids was a good one :)
>

Mary Lou Jepsen's idea.

>
>
>> Generally if the mouse issue is solved on early XO-1 laptops (where early
>> 2007/2008 touchpads were overly annoyingly erratic) then these laptops
>> continue to long outlast their projected 5-year-lifespan -- if the culture
>> of learning & electricity are real -- not just adding a USB mouse!  I was
>> one of several who did not believe in 2007 that a 5-year-lifespan was at
>> all feasible.  But I turned out to be completely wrong.  And then some~
>>
>
A layer of Scotch tape remedies the trackpad problem in many cases.

>
> Having played with an XO-1 more over the last weekend than I did when I
> got one in 2008, I must say that I think the interaction with the XO in
> eBook reader mode seems an interesting opportunity. A non-pointer based
> computer could still have a lot of life in it.
>
> You later said,
>
> Repair of keyboards/ears and occasional screens is of course also an issue
>> when usage is very physical among those who won't give kin(esth)etic
>> learning a break, as every librarian for the last hundred years has known
>> ;-)
>>
>
> I also wonder what can be done with a XO-1 without ears, or without
> keyboards :D
>

The keyboard is more robust than most think. In PY and NE kids repair them
by putting paper over the buttons under the rubber membrane.

>
> The 5 year lifespan idea is interesting!
>
> Later in the thread Tony said,
>
> It will be difficult, but essential for the community to find people who
>> are willing to take on the challenge of maintaining and, where possible,
>> expanding the educational experience that the XO can offer.
>
>
> Okay, sure, but for how many years does this make sense for XO-1s? I think
> probably another 10. That is to say, the actual lifespan of the XO-1
> product is not 5 years but 20, that we are now at year 10, and there's
> another 10 years to go.
>
> I'm pretty happy with that as an answer to my original question: "sunset
> planning" for Sugar on XO-1s means figuring out a plan for keeping all the
> XO-1s out there useful for _something_ for another 10 years.
>
> This planning has to be done in the context is what is expected to happen
> in the next 10 years. RMS has categorically given up on thinking about what
> might be about to happen, and refuses to answer speculative questions about
> the future publicly because it is a sure way to look foolish. But I don't
> mind looking foolish, so I'll say that what I think is about to happen in
> the next 10 years :)
>
> A lot of the people in the global south are going to get access to cheap
> solar electricity, cheap Android computing devices, and some degree of
> cheap network connectivity.
>

Not until the XO-4 is the power footprint really that we were initially
targeting.

>
> I think this will happen because, as the rate of profit continues to fall,
> then, to try to survive, all state capitals will seek to create the kind of
> pervasive mass surveillance now enjoyed by the richer states; and whereas
> the larger asian states have rejected support from western big-capitalist
> mass advertisers (great firewall blocks in China for a while, zero rate
> stuff recently in India) the poorer states will welcome them (or their
> eastern counterparts.) Anyway, my point is not to rabbit hole on historical
> materialist futurology :)
>
> What about the other XO models? I expect they also have a 20 year useful
> life. When were the last big purchases of XO-4s?
>

We don't have these data, but for the most part, the design details didn't
change regarding robustness and a number of improvements were made.

>
> Are Peru and Uruguay still buying XO-4s for each year's new school pupils?
> Given what I can peek at from relatively recent videos of schools in those
> countries, it seems they are not.
>

My last conversation (6 months ago) with Ceibal suggested that they were
replacing XOs with other hardware.

>
> So, another prediction from me that is probably wrong: OLPC will not
> produce another hardware design.
>

There were rumors circulating, but I have no knowledge one way or another.

>
> Does anyone know why the "XO Infinity" became the "Infinity"?
>

Marketing.

The "Inifnity" machine is being developed by OLPC AU, not OLPC Association.
No continuity between designs or design teams, so it is a complete unknown.
Its "modular" design makes me suspicious since modular generally means more
connectors, which are points of failure. But there are no data.

>
> As usual the real challenges are far more social than technical:
>> deliberate right-sizing of content/activity planning for the community in
>> question (we are building a more content-rich version of HaitiOS from Sugar
>> 0.108 and OLPC OS 13.2.7) while aligning peer-mentoring with
>> adult-mentoring, and of course pressure from national testing around Grade
>> 6-or-so in almost every country.  These mammoths-in-the-room epic
>> challenges keep eternally popping up for a reason (and sometimes even
>> getting answered!!) Human Patterns across most all developing world
>> communities, on all continents.
>>
>
> I see no problem with national testing. If kids are well educated, they
> can pass such tests without much preparation :)
>

If only it were that simple.

>
> PS Dave, read through http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Reuse_checklist if you
>> want to do a time-lapse overhaul refurb like http://youtu.be/daVDrGsaDME
>>
>
> Great video :) I'll focus on software for now, but this kind of checklist
> is awesome :D
>
>
>> -- we even got the security guards involved in helping us out in such
>> physical repair/upgrades in a restaurant in Haiti less than 2 week ago --
>> works far better than Miss/Mister Universe posters I guarantee it :}
>>
>
> :D
>
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>
-walter

-- 
Walter Bender
Sugar Labs
http://www.sugarlabs.org
<http://www.sugarlabs.org>
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