5 ms·

yes i have a better solution - kill one of those multibillion military projects and redirect the money to buy lifesaving medical equipment to the places that ne

by readhn 10y ago

yes i have a better solution - kill one of those multibillion military projects and redirect the money to buy lifesaving medical equipment to the places that need it. equip research facilities with equipment and provide local training. paper centrifuge? its like a slap on the face.

hx87 10y ago
> kill one of those multibillion military projects and redirect the money And how are the inventors supposed to do that?
- readhn 10y ago
  we, the citizens who vote are supposed to do that.
  - hx87 10y ago
    So you're criticizing the situation that makes this invention such an improvement, not the invention itself? I certainly understand that, but your comments on first reading to me (and probably to other readers) appear to be criticizing the invention itself, which I and other readers vehemently disagree with.
  - burntwater 10y ago
    And what happens if the people I vote for, who are supposed to fix this situation, don't win the election? Should I just sit around for a couple more election cycles and do nothing?
HCIdivision17 10y ago
Those expensive medical machines require a lot of infrastructure to operate properly. You could get a machine there, but you likely couldn't provide it clean and reliable power without additional equipment and technicians to maintain it. Bootstrapping infrastructure is stupendously hard and expensive (and is a huge measure of a country's wealth - a lot of the US wealth is tied up in structural infrastructure like power lines, roads, plants, etc). It's a generational process taking decades to bootstrap. All the while that is getting built people need help now, and this clever adaptation of a toy fills that niche. Eventually they'll have access to the more advanced modern wonders, but for now this can help people almost immediately.
- pg314 10y ago
  Exactly. One of the things the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project initially ignored was the infrastructure needed, such as electricity and internet access.
  - dm3730 10y ago
    > initially ignored Initially? Has that changed now? The founder, Nicholas Negroponte went on tear around the world claiming to have saved millions of children and being the father of tablet computing. He even talked about throwing OLPCs out of helicopters on to those brown and black masses. Even claimed that mothers would be better off getting a laptop than subsidized food. I recall he shat on some reporter who had the audacity to quote UNDP analysis that showed spending on lunch-at-school programs had far more impact than spending on teacher technology. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp
    - HCIdivision17 10y ago
      I'm not sure, but I think pg314 is making reference to the hand crank that could be used to power the laptop. I don't think it was initially included in the design (I may be wrong on that). I also heard rumor it wasn't a smashing success as a power supply, but it was so long ago that I don't remember the details terribly well. I'm actually far more optimistic these days about tech in difficult areas. The computing power (and screens!) we can get out of just a small battery is phenomenal compared to OLPC's time.
    - pg314 10y ago
      I'm no longer really following what OLPC does, but as far as I know that hasn't changed. Other loosely associated organisations like e.g. OLE Nepal (olenepal.org) are addressing that, though. I did not meet any Negroponte fans out in the field.
MaulingMonkey 10y ago
> yes i have a better solution Now implement it. Paper Centrifuge s seems like one of many reasonable stopgaps until your better solution is realized. It'd be sad if we let people die simply because we looked down on practical solutions for not being high-tech enough.

by readhn 10y ago

hx87 10y ago

> kill one of those multibillion military projects and redirect the money And how are the inventors supposed to do that?

readhn 10y ago
we, the citizens who vote are supposed to do that.
- hx87 10y ago
  So you're criticizing the situation that makes this invention such an improvement, not the invention itself? I certainly understand that, but your comments on first reading to me (and probably to other readers) appear to be criticizing the invention itself, which I and other readers vehemently disagree with.
- burntwater 10y ago
  And what happens if the people I vote for, who are supposed to fix this situation, don't win the election? Should I just sit around for a couple more election cycles and do nothing?

HCIdivision17 10y ago

Those expensive medical machines require a lot of infrastructure to operate properly. You could get a machine there, but you likely couldn't provide it clean and reliable power without additional equipment and technicians to maintain it. Bootstrapping infrastructure is stupendously hard and expensive (and is a huge measure of a country's wealth - a lot of the US wealth is tied up in structural infrastructure like power lines, roads, plants, etc). It's a generational process taking decades to bootstrap. All the while that is getting built people need help now, and this clever adaptation of a toy fills that niche. Eventually they'll have access to the more advanced modern wonders, but for now this can help people almost immediately.

pg314 10y ago
Exactly. One of the things the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project initially ignored was the infrastructure needed, such as electricity and internet access.
- dm3730 10y ago
  > initially ignored Initially? Has that changed now? The founder, Nicholas Negroponte went on tear around the world claiming to have saved millions of children and being the father of tablet computing. He even talked about throwing OLPCs out of helicopters on to those brown and black masses. Even claimed that mothers would be better off getting a laptop than subsidized food. I recall he shat on some reporter who had the audacity to quote UNDP analysis that showed spending on lunch-at-school programs had far more impact than spending on teacher technology. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395763,00.asp
  - HCIdivision17 10y ago
    I'm not sure, but I think pg314 is making reference to the hand crank that could be used to power the laptop. I don't think it was initially included in the design (I may be wrong on that). I also heard rumor it wasn't a smashing success as a power supply, but it was so long ago that I don't remember the details terribly well. I'm actually far more optimistic these days about tech in difficult areas. The computing power (and screens!) we can get out of just a small battery is phenomenal compared to OLPC's time.
  - pg314 10y ago
    I'm no longer really following what OLPC does, but as far as I know that hasn't changed. Other loosely associated organisations like e.g. OLE Nepal (olenepal.org) are addressing that, though. I did not meet any Negroponte fans out in the field.

MaulingMonkey 10y ago

> yes i have a better solution Now implement it. Paper Centrifuge s seems like one of many reasonable stopgaps until your better solution is realized. It'd be sad if we let people die simply because we looked down on practical solutions for not being high-tech enough.