17.04.2010 18:42
Illustrated Primers
The iPad was released and sales are sky high, software wise
it is terrible but the fact makes me happy anyway. We are getting
closer to some of the ideas laid down in 1994 by Neal
Stephenson in his
book The Diamond
Age. Even though
the age of
nanoscience is only just beginning, there are some fundamental
similarities between his Illustrated Primer, today's eBook
readers, OLPC and the iPad.
These are the primers of the early 21st century. Beautiful devices
that we read from, learn from and play with. We could consider our
laptops as primers, but I can't wait to get my hands on one
of those devices. At this point most likely
the Sony
PRS-600. Even though much different than the iPad it is still my
first choice, because of the software limitations but also
practicality. I would use a pad mostly for reading anyway,
and here the E-Ink
has the advantage, regarding contrast and battery life. Multiple new
devices, by just about every big player on the market, were already
announced. Some of them will run GNU/Linux and in the long
run that will probably prove to be the best choice.
The mock-ups of next
generation OLPC, the
XO-2 are probably the closest, especially considering their role,
to truly serve in education of children. The now classic
article, Sic
Transit Gloria Laptopi, by Ivan Krstic addresses some
problems, and reminds me once more I shouldn't get carried
away. There's still a long way to go. Gillian 'gus' Andrews
gave an interesting talk on the subject, at
"The Last HOPE"
conference. The audio is still
available: Hacking
the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.