OLPC Skeptics and Inquiry

[jason]

Originally published at Lemmingworks. You can comment here or there.

JuliaD’s post Don’t forget your shovel. :: OLPC Skeptics is about something that I just prefer to ignore. Skeptics.

There are lots of OLPC skeptics out there… and others who wonder at the audacity of designing something for children in LDCs and then selling them as a gimmick to children in North America. I’ve been hearing more and more of this. “But what can they DO?” “Why do kids need to “learn computers”, especially poor kids?”

I love criticism, then it is informed. I love opinion, when it is a statement of personal taste. I love questions, when they lead to dialogue. Skepticism is doubt or incredulity. That’s fine, but it is a starting point of inquiry. Skepticism unresolved through inquiry is the shallow dilettantism of the couch coach second guessing Monday Night Football. Do it if it makes you happy, but I’ve not got much time for it.

I have no idea if the OLPC is the right thing. It is an interesting thing. It offers opportunities for new ideas and opportunities that either it or some other technology will realize. It is a revolution in ideas, and perhaps in technology. Inquiry and reflection will tell what’s what.