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Real artists shipReal artists shipPosted Nov 6, 2011 22:43 UTC (Sun) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091)In reply to: Sorry, but no. by khim Parent article: The sods must be crazy: OLPC to drop tablets from helicopters to isolated villages (ars technica) The Eee PC was the first usable computer to feature: solid state disks, desktop (or rather, laptop) Linux, below 2kg, for about $250. While the OLPC XO-1 was a toy which did not meet its goals: neither sub-$100 laptop nor a boon for third world education. (And by the way, mass production for under $100 was a technical goal.) Other technical goals not met by the OLPC project: the weird touchscreen, dual e-ink displays, the bloody crank, mesh communications, hordes of third-world open source developers after magically viewing source code. Not to speak about self-sustaining education materials or other organizational goals. Of course, being sold in shops was a major market shift and part of the real revolution. Believe me, I was in the market for a similar thing for a few years, but there was nothing similar. Asus said: "computers for regular people don't have to be so expensive". Meanwhile, Negroponte said "kids should get a bizarre education with a computer and no training". I think there is a big difference. By the way, the Eee PC 2G shipped before the XO-1 (either in "Give 1 Get 1" programs or to developing nations). Did the 2G use some of the ideas of XO-1? I doubt it; the ideas were floating all around and everyone was having them, just that Asus was the first to deliver. As Jobs said, real artists ship.
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Ignorance is bliss? Posted Nov 7, 2011 0:34 UTC (Mon) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] The Eee PC was the first usable computer to feature: solid state disks, desktop (or rather, laptop) Linux, below 2kg, for about $250. Have you actually looked you your link? It quite explicitly says: The Eee series is one response to the XO-1 notebook from the One Laptop per Child initiative. At the Intel Developer Forum 2007, Asus demonstrated the Classmate PC and the Eee PC, and listed specifications for four models of the Eee PC. ASUS quite explicitly created Classmate PC for Intel as response to XO-1 (when Intel was kicked out of OLPC) and it decided to sell "civil" version on the side. [the heavy delirium about hordes of third-world open source developers being unmet "technical goal" skipped]Asus said: "computers for regular people don't have to be so expensive". More like ASUS said "we have this cheap educational laptop - why not give it an interesting name and sell in stores". Good idea, but hardly a thing worth worshiping. Meanwhile, Negroponte said "kids should get a bizarre education with a computer and no training". Well, sure. Yet his educational ideas failed but technical approach revolutionized world. I think there is a big difference. About as much as difference between Xerox Alto and Mac: first was revolutionary development which spawned the whole "GUI revolution", second one was just one of copy-cats with delusion of grandeur. I doubt it; the ideas were floating all around and everyone was having them, just that Asus was the first to deliver. Actually ideas were not "floating around" but were concentrated on laptop.org website instead. ASUS only needed to reimplement them. As Jobs said, real artists ship. Jobs was master of deception and while I admire his ability to call white black and convince audience that he's right... white is still white, sorry. Real artists rarely ship - because this is different skillset. But it does not mean that salesperson which grabbed the work of artist and run with it can be called "real artist". Don't get me wrong: Jobs was an artist and he did ship - but this was rare exception, not rule.
Ignorance is bliss? Posted Nov 7, 2011 4:38 UTC (Mon) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091) [Link] ASUS quite explicitly created Classmate PC for Intel as response to XO-1 (when Intel was kicked out of OLPC) and it decided to sell "civil" version on the side.I read the link, I was alive at the time and remember the story. Intel created the Classmate PC as a response to OLPC. Meanwhile (probably not as a consequence as the wikipedia article seems to imply) Asus came up with a product that had decent specs and their own operating system. Even if the Eee PC was inspired in the Classmate PC which was inspired on the OLPC, and something more than a wikipedia article should be required to prove it, it was Asus who thought it might make a viable computing platform and started the category of netbooks. My personal opinion is that it was a case of concurrent rather than causal development: Asus did not come out with the Classmate PC and afterwards decided to build a "civil" version, the dates don't match. [the heavy delirium about hordes of third-world open source developers being unmet "technical goal" skipped]OK, but you conveniently oversee the other failed technical goals: dual e-ink displays, the bloody crank, mesh communications, the failed touchscreen concept and the $100 price point. So no, they did not meet all their technical goals.
Now we are in the "ignore the facts if they don't support my theory" territory... Posted Nov 7, 2011 9:26 UTC (Mon) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] I read the link, I was alive at the time and remember the story.Selective memory? OLPC creation: 2005. Classmate PC demonstration: 2006. Eee PC demo: 2007. Meanwhile (probably not as a consequence as the wikipedia article seems to imply) Asus came up with a product that had decent specs and their own operating system. Oh yeah. First ASUS was given the Classmate PC sample and then, year later, it "independently" created Eee PC with identical specs. LCD, CPU, all the hardware is the same - the only difference is the case (less rugged but more stylish) and amount of memory (256MB/2GB vs 512MB/4GB). Sorry, but I can not call soldering of bigger chips "huge innovation". Asus did not come out with the Classmate PC and afterwards decided to build a "civil" version, the dates don't match. You mean: year is not enough to build clone? Come on: ASUS engineers are pretty good.
Rather in the "no facts so my opinion is as valid as yours" Posted Nov 7, 2011 9:41 UTC (Mon) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091) [Link] Bending the facts a little now, are we? According to the last Wikipedia link, Asus demonstrated the Classmate PC and the Eee PC at the same time:At the Intel Developer Forum 2007, Asus demonstrated the Classmate PC and the Eee PCWhat you link here is not a demonstration but an announcement. But OK: it was a joint development between OLPC, Intel and Asus, and the cookie should be divided in three portions. You think that OLPC and Classmate PC (education-oriented machines) were precursors to the Eee PC, fine. In my view innovation is not just thinking about something but making it happen; if it was the former then the cookie should be mine too because I dreamed about such a machine in 2005. All happy now?
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