Chakraborty_CCT333_Lab_2_2011

Tutorial #2 Wiki Question: Choose a country on the map 'Design for the Other 90%' at ** [] ** and read through the description of the products designed for each country.

1. Which product interests you the most, and why? (200 words)

The XO laptop for $100 by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) interests me. According to this program the government of developing countries purchases these laptops and distributes them to the schools in the country. I find this product interesting because it an initiative that may help solve Digital Divide, one of the major problem in the technological world. Various researches and studies proved how digital illiteracy is stalling the economic development of developing countries. People around the world are acquiring digital literacy and with the help of those digital skills and knowledge they are able to find employment and potential entrepreneur opportunities. It is therefore necessary to make attempts to spread digital knowledge and training that may help for closing the digital divide.

Moreover, the low price of the laptop attracts me towards this product. Does this means that technology has become cheaper? If so is the easier access to technology is because of lowering cost of technology. This raises a question of keeping updated with technology. It would be meaningless to train and literate the digital illiterates with obsolete technologies.

2. Which category would interest you to research further for your group project, and why? (100 words)

I am really fascinated with the concept of digital divide. I would be highly interested to work and research on various attempts made towards making technology available for developing countries. For instance the AMD Personal Internet Communicator an invention made for providing Internet access to underdeveloped and developing countries. This invention promises that it will help in achieving Internet access to 50 % of the world population by the year 2015. This could result in increasing digital literacy around the world which in turn would lead to increasing demand for digital and information technology leading to rapid economic development of underdeveloped and developing countries.