Talk:Sugar

Why can't it have a "normal" GUI like the images of the demo laptop have? How can they learn about the computer and the operating system when they can only browse the web and chat in a limited environment like this?

--Commodore

Actually they can't browse the web because most of them will have no Internet connections. Browsers today are used for much more than the web. They are e-document readers that allow people to read HTML and XML documents. They are application front ends that provide a GUI for distributed applications. The wireless mesh of the OLPC lends itself to distributed apps, for instance a library of ebooks where you choose a book and download it to your OLPC.

Ok but it didn't answer my question :)

Fair enough. The point of the project is NOT to teach kids how to use a computer, but to use a computer as a tool for teaching kids. If all the OLPC did was function as an ebook reader for DRM content, it would still be able to meet that goal. Of course, the OLPC's innovative technical design lends itself to some innovative software design and production of some innovative educational content. There is nothing "normal" about the OLPC and that is also a goal of the project, i.e. to be better than what has come before.

--Commodore