Yesterday, the One Laptop per Child association (OPLC) released a detailed look at a radically different operating system, XO – an open source switch up on the traditional desktop metaphor for a user interface.
Desktop –> Neighborhood
Applications –> Activities
Files –> Objects
Favoring an environment better suited for learning, XO is designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas amongst peers and stimulate critical thinking skills. My pal Adrian recently wrote a piece contrasting apple’s new iphone with the one laptop per child project, “iProducts vs. weProducts”. The difference between these two products being that one is built for the world’s rich, the other for the world’s poor. If you compare the two, the iphone is about as innovative as ATM fees… Take a look at a funny patent apple filed in 1985 for the original iphone.