Man donates 300 laptops to Nigerian school. Forgets they don't have electricity.

[Feba]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070629...OfgIerI1PMWM0F

Seriously, WTF? Backwards progress much? Assuming he was giving out the OLPC itself, even at 100$ each, 3,000$ could've bought them solar panels or wind turbines that would actually help their situation.

[HairdewX]

Re: Man donates 300 laptops to Nigerian school. Forgets they don't have electricity.

$3,000 worth of solar panels or wind turbines wouldn't do much either.

They still get power at home, although it can be irregular.

[Feba]

Re: Man donates 300 laptops to Nigerian school. Forgets they don't have electricity.

Uh-huh, a wind turbine or a few solar panels with a battery could help supply consistent power. Heck, even JUST a bunch of golf cart batteries could be a huge help.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Man donates 300 laptops to Nigerian school. Forgets they don't have electricity.

I thought those OLPC's have hand cranks and build in charger? Lazy students; they should be powering their own computers instead of whining about the school's lack of electricity!

Anyway, wind is an unreliable source of power, solar panels are expensive, and batteries just suck in general. It's probably cheaper to rig up some bicycles with alternators to recharge those laptops once a day, and make that their PE class.

Of course, spending some of that oil money on electrification project might be even better...

[Feba]

Re: Man donates 300 laptops to Nigerian school. Forgets they don't have electricity.

In addition, —for use at home and where power is not available—the XO can be hand powered. It will come with at least two of three options: a crank, a pedal, or a pull-cord. It is also possible that children could have a second battery for group charging at school while they are using their laptop in class.

It sounds like they're attachments... that they didn't include.

Anyway, wind is an unreliable source of power,

Depends on the area and the height of the turbine.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Man donates 300 laptops to Nigerian school. Forgets they don't have electricity.

Oh, they changed the design. Crank is optional, now. Meh.

[HairdewX]

Re: Man donates 300 laptops to Nigerian school. Forgets they don't have electricity.

Depends on the area and the height of the turbine.

Consistent wind speeds of 30 mph+ are needed to generate useful amounts of power. Considering a single large unit goes for $45k+, they won't be building them anytime soon as a reliable source of energy... (or ever, for that matter)