The Next Web

Dailymotion tries to solve problems instead of complaining: brings video to the OLPC laptop

Written on September 6, 2008 – 2:01 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

THe OLPC laptop, developed for people from third-world countries, isn’t very popular in the blogosphere. Despite it’s noble goal, bloggers hate the facts that the development goes so slow and that its price is still higher than $100. Apart from some funny news - people paying €500 for a graffiti version -, there’s hardly any positive news surrounding the green laptop.

Well, there is now. Paris-based video service Dailymotion has decided to take on another problem of the OLPC. The $100 laptop is unfortunately not compatible with the Adobe Flash player that Dailymotion and other video sharing sites rely on. So the enormous video site has decided to start a project which will make a large amount of videos accessible for people browsing on the OLPC computer.

The project consists of a special group where users can upload videos that are in fact compatible with the toylike-looking laptop. These videos are encoded in free standards, provided by the Xiph.Org Foundation: Ogg (container), Vorbis (audio) and Theora (compression).

Although Flash-compatibility would be the ultimate solution - like they say on ReadWriteWeb: “that’s just how it goes” - I like the fact Dailymotion is actually doing something to turn the OLPC laptop in a success. Because a project with such an ambitious and world-improving goal can use some respect. So that, in a while, (flash-based) videos of people kicking around with the laptop (believe it or not, there’s actually a man who did such a pathetic thing) will become absolutely intolerable and unheard of.

I hope you like that post!

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adobe flash, Adobe Flash Player, dailymotion, OLPC, One Laptop per Child, Theora, Vorbis, Xiph.Org Foundation

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We Own Internet History: The ROFLaptop!

Written on September 3, 2008 – 6:31 pm
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Serial Internet Entrepreneur

A few months ago, during ROFLcon 08, an uncorporation called breadpig got together with OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) and persuaded almost every speaker to sign a brand new OLPC. Then they put the item on eBay and promised to donate 100% of the profits from the auction to OLPC.

As you might know the OLPC foundation aims to put these cute little green laptops in the hands of children all across the developing world. The list of people who signed the laptop is impressive:

Jay Maynard, Tron Guy, Kyle Macdonald, Paperclip to House Guy, Martin Grondin, LOLCat Bible, Ryan North, Dinosaur Comics, The Brothers Chaps, Homestar Runner, Ryan and Arija, LOLSecretz, Stephen Granades, LOLTrek, David Lloyd, OCRemix, Randall Munroe, Xkcd, Adam Lindsay, LOLCode, Drew Curtis, Fark.com, Rob, Kris, Matt, and Dave, Cyanide and Happiness/Explosm.net , Matt Harding, Where the Hell is Matt?, moot, 4chan , Ian Spector, Chuck Norris Facts , Joe Mathlete, Marmaduke Explained, Brad Neely, Creased Comics and Super Deluxe, “Cheezburger,” I Can Haz Cheezburger, Matt Haughey, MetaFilter, Joe Peacock, Mentally Incontinent, Justine Ezarik, iJustine/300-page iPhone Bill, Leeroy Jenkins, Andy Ochiltree, JibJab , Christian Lander, Stuff White People Like, Alex Tew, The Million Dollar Homepage, Brooke Brodack , The Firefox.

I bid a few hundred dollars during the auction and then forgot about the whole thing. Until it turned out I actually won! Today the laptop finally arrived and now I am the proud owner of a piece of internet history.

Here is a video by Scott Beale from LaughingSquid (who also signed the XO Laptop) showing the whole signing process:

Chcuk Norris facts, Cheezbuger, Fark.com, iJustine, Jobjab, LOLcat, OLPC, red paperclip, ROLFcon, The Firefox, The Million Dollar Homepage, Tron Guy

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OLPC: Nigerian Scam, Intel Outside & CTO leaves…

Written on January 4, 2008 – 11:18 am
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Serial Internet Entrepreneur

This has been a rough week for the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) program. In Nigeria OLPC got sued by LANCOR, a Nigerian Keyboard maker, for patent infringement. If they pay $20 million though they get permission to sell their laptop anyway. Sounds like a Nigerian scam? Judge for yourself.

Earlier this week Mary Lou Jepsen, OLPC CTO announced she was going to start her own company to sell some of the hot screen technologies she developed while working for OLPC. The world jumped all over her and OLPC. In reality Mary Lou Jepsen asigned all her patents to OLPC and is in fgact licensing them back. But the harm was already done.

Today Intel announced that it will drop out of the One Laptop Per Child project and resign from the board after the project’s board demanded the chipmaker stop supporting other efforts in emerging markets.

Conclusion: having a good idea and implementing it is just theory. Dealing with business partners, unexpected events and people leaving is reality. Sometimes, reality sucks.

Intel, Mary Lou Jepsen, Nigeria, OLPC

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