Essay #3 - Chris Bigelow - $100 Laptops

Cultural Responses to the XO-1

          So, the laptops are coming.  They have been ordered by the government of country "X" and are scheduled to be distributed to every 8-year-old student across the nation.  How will using Negroponte?s $100 toys change this nation?  Obviously, the computers will change the country economically.  Aside from the debt incurred from the initial investment that was made to purchase this technology, country "X" will soon have a new generation of "Xians" who possess knowledge and ideas beyond those of every generation of "Xians" to date.  This new army of tech-savvy countrymen (countrywomen) is now theoretically better equipped to thrive in the marketplace of a global economy.  In short, those 8-year-olds are supposed to make country "X" wealthier than is has been in the past.

          However, in addition to, or perhaps bundled with the economic change that is likely to occur, comes cultural change as well.  It seems to be the general consensus that cultural globalization will occur because of the introduction of this internet technology.  The question that remains to be answered is how and to what degree this will occur.  Many would suggest that "there is little prospect of a unified global culture, rather there are global cultures in the plural" (Featherstone, 1990, p. 10).  On the other hand, many would argue that globalization is inevitable when people have access to global products.  As Tomlinson might argue, with the internet come Coca-Cola and Disney, and with these products come the values of American consumer capitalism (2003, p. 121).  The fact that products like this "contain" ideas about what makes a good life, gives occasion for members of our country "X" to reconcile this mediated idea of reality with what Tomlinson calls "lived experience" (2003, p. 131). 

          According to many critics, something needs to be done to ensure that the $100 laptops are useful and relevant to the cultures in which they are to be used.  However, it is not often that concrete suggestions are offered to make this happen.  There are, of course, exceptions.  In an open letter on the $100 Laptop, leading researchers emphasize the need for this specific technology to "adapt to local needs."  The letter states that, "Some communities may want to develop their own software and teaching materials, others may need tools for communication and collaboration, such as voice conferencing over the internet. Local communities know their needs better than governments" (Global Researcher, 2005).   Suggestions such as this one should be considered further as the XO-1 laptops near completion and especially in the planning stages of future projects like this one.

Works Cited:

Featherstone, M. (1990). Global culture: an introduction. In M. Featherstone (Ed.), Global culture: Nationalism, globalization, and modernity. London; Newbury Park: Sage. Electronic reserve: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresdocs/files2/h6045.pdf.

Tomlinson, J. (2003). Media imperialism. In L. Parks and S. Kumar (Eds.), Planet TV: A global television reader. pp. 113-134. New York and London: New York University Press. Electronic reserve: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresdocs/files2/b7030.pdf.

Global Researcher and Testbed Network for 1:1 Technology Enhanced Learning. Learning with the $100 Laptop. http://www.g1to1.org/openletter.php.

Posted at 12:37AM Jun 08, 2007 by BIGELOW, CHRISTOPHER in General  |  Comments[2]