As reported by the BBC and others, Amazon has announced it will begin selling OLPC’s XO unit this fall. The new unit will support dual boot to SugarOS or WindowsXP. OLPC’s first GiveOneGetOne (G1G1) program struggled late last year.
Many canceled their orders when shipping glitches and production delays hit the first XO laptop. This new unit is expected to begin in November. Pricing has not yet been announced.
Tags: OLPC, Sugar Labs, Amazon, XO, open source, globalization, trends
I found myself fascinated by China Shakes the World: A Titan’s Rise and Troubled Future – and the Challenge for America by James Kynge. Yet most of the time I was also infuriated over how America has fallen asleep regarding China’s threat to our economy. Kynge has written an excellent book that should be read by every school teacher, mayor and businessman.
It was my goal to finish this book before the end of the summer Olympic games. But I needed time to finish Randy Pauch‘s one of a king book The Last Lecture (review is here) so this week was plenty of time to complete this book.
Infuriating? Yes Kynge shares a startling story about how the Chinese almost secured the assets to the American company that produces stealth coating to the B-2 bomber. Yes THAT Stealth Bomber. Now are you interested in what Hynge has to say? It was Financial Time’s Book of the Year.
So how does America’s secret stealth technology (a skin made with highly specialized thermoplastics and composites which are radar-absorbent) come within arms reach of the communist Chinese? Did they try to steal it? No, they almost purchased the technology outright.
What about pirating and corporate espionage? China plays this game very well too. And based upon the communist’s approach to banking, well lets just say their idea of business as usual includes very loose, corrupt accounting…kinda reminds me of Enron.
If you are frustrated with the RIAA’s music lawsuits against college kids encourage the RIAA to go to source in this matter: China. The Chinese have truly become the world’s leading Pirate Nation. A word of note to the music and movie industry: Do you really believe your lawsuits against college kids is making a dent in your attempt to stop pirating? Go to China.
The Chinese impact
It’s not on the gold medal stand in women’s gymnastics. As the saying goes … if your not cheating, your not winning. Regardless, it was the American gymnast Sacromone who fell of the beam and floor exercise that cost the team gold medal. I know the Olympics bring out national pride. We all feel good about cheering for our athletes during the 16 days of competition. But what about the other 349 days of 2008?
There was something from Sarah Lacy’s book Once You’re Lucky Twice You’re Good which really hit home. Today kids look to FaceBook as their exclusive communication tool. They don’t do email like our generation overdoes email.
That’s a key indicator of how different today’s Web2.0 kids are changing the rules. Can the establishment keep up with them? Well see in the very short term future.
This was a great read and I must thank Kate Olson who was able to get a copy for me to read and post my review.
Lacy’s book, IMHO starts with the best story first. Max Levchin. His inspiring story of fleeing Ukraine the night of the Chernobyl disaster was amazing. He flees from a hospital in the middle of the night to later leave college to start PayPal.
Yes, that’s right a kid who flew the USSR makes his way to Silicon Valley and San Francisco to put his amazing mathematical skills to use and builds an amazing tool that would later be purchased by eBay.
Sarah also documents the story of Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com and proves again that Marc Andreessen really is a jerk. But from the outside many of us would not know the ins and outs of the Web2.0 world and all their financial venture “vulture capital” stories. Pretty rough from the outside…but Sarah makes this work. Interested to know more about the inner circle of the Web2.0 world? Read Once You’re Lucky, Twice your Good!
Big thanks to my most excellent colleague John Pederson at WiscNet about this video. Take a moment and listen to the testimonials all you administrative bean counters and computer directors. BTW: How many of you are facing budget cuts this year?
Remember Google makes this solution to schools F O R F R E E.
Tags: Google, education, network, teaching, globalization, trends
Tom Friedman’s bestseller is available FOR FREE to download until August 4th. Signup and download version 3.0 of his runaway best seller AND receive a preview of his upcoming book Hot Flat and Crowded
Tags: The World is Flat, Mark Penn, audiobook, globalization, free download