Predecessors of OLPC

The OLPC is not entirely new. Like most developments in our modern world, it is built on what has come before. This page is intended to list some of the predecessors of the OLPC or key parts of its technology. We won't be mentioning mainstream stuff like laptops here, but things that are less well-known but which can teach us lessons as the OLPC design evolves.

• Dynabook was Alan Kay's vision of a book-sized portable learning device.
• Cybiko was a wireless messaging device for kids that was sold in the USA and UK for several years.
• Squeak is a Smalltalk-based learning environment that embodies many constructionist ideas. It is widely used in education in the developed world.
• Ricochet is a wireless mesh network that was deployed throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area in 1997. I remember that it reached our offices in Redwood City. This is not wi-fi.
• LOGO is a programming language developed by Seymour Papert in order to teach kids how to control robots called turtles.
• PuppyLinux as well as DamnSmallLinux and Austrumi are tiny Linux distributions meant to enable use of PCs with very limited resources.
• Maine Learning Technology Initiative, a project of the Maine Department of Education, provides schools sufficient laptop computers and wireless networks for each student and teacher.