[Reader-list] A Case for PDA Student Computing

[Are Flagan]

The PDA(ish) device you outline has been developed as a prototype by the
Indian government. It is called the Simputer, estimated cost around $200,
but it is not yet in production. Slashdot featured a discussion of many pros
and cons. Link below:

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/10/27/0118252

I have also read about recent cases in South Africa (tangentially related),
where some schools turned down the usual Microsoft gifts and instead
installed old 486 machines running Linux. The stated goal was to teach
networking and programming, where a networked Linux setup is arguable better
suited and capable, and forsake the task of simply training software
operators. I think this dilemma resonates throughout your essay and the
question returns to what sort of economy education sees its students
participating in. The answer dictates the configuration of their systems,
and what is argued here is, to me, more about the future of computing than
bridging the digital divide.

The question is also, as computers get increasingly bloated to become
copyrighted and licensed entertainment terminals, if the upgrade curve is
actually flatlining and has exhausted its usability. What happens to
software when its bloated feature set grows increasingly absurd, when
"application" actually becomes an expensive oxymoron? The surplus of unused
power and useless features then emerge as development for the sake of
economic growth, and deeper pockets, only. The back to basics approach may
actually be a useful way forward, in more than one way.

And who needs an entertainment terminal anyway, with DMCA, Palladium and
other anti-circumvention warning shots preventing you from enjoying it,
unless you pay the inflated price of admission to this multimedia monopoly?

-af