the one laptop per student non-profit initiative is pretty amazing, as kevin noted earlier. the $100US laptop design is really compelling. the device looks to be relatively rugged, very approachable and multi-functional. what really intrigues me, though, is the built in assumption that the existence of environmental resources, even electricity, is not a given. wow. think about that for a second. if electricty is not assumed then it is fair to say that "systems administrators," as commonly defined, can not be assumed either. as such, the system, it's constituents and the network in aggregate, simply must operate at a higher order of mutual cooperation then is present for the vasy majority of like devices to date. thusly systems software like that of jxta thrive in such environment, by doing more with less, by discoverying, leveraging and rotating network accessible services when needed in true collaborative peer-to-peer fashion, and done securely.

i've had the good fortune to interact with some of the folks in the trenches for this project. largely by happen stance ... the best of interactions. i have a keen interest in this space largely because my sone (pictured above) is now in kindergarten (man how time flies) at the village school, a really great parent participation public school. that and i like the domain of small group (ie long tail) collaboration and the firm belief that systems software, ie the network, can be so much better then what it is today. as such, projects like myjxta are a natural fit.

back to the olpc initiative. while this is compelling and looks to be entirely viable with the right alignments of corporate and government sponshorship, etc. i wonder if any us schools are candidates for this program. more to the point, i want my son (and daughter) to have access to such a device and the backing "network of things." now, if one answer for us schools is to spend a bit more on commodity systems i think we missing the boat, entirely. schools that i've seen have ample access to h/w but limited time and ability to "manage" said systems. that, in a word, is the problem. why is it the managability of commodity systems is what it is today? it doesn't need to be this way, at all. it is time to think different.

the good news is, of the few folks i've met of late they "get it" and as such they are changing the world. now, please, let's change our local school systems in the process as well. my skin is in the game.

MyJXTA :: use it - learn it - do it

Java == platform independence
XML == application independence
JXTA == network independence

Secure End-to-End Computing

in my ears: Depeche Mode/Remixes 81-04/I Feel Loved