15 ms·

In Argentina, cheap government-issued netbooks sparked a musical Renaissance

255 points by truth_ 5y ago

eatonphil 5y ago
This is a great piece, but to go meta for a second: Rest of World is a NYC-based magazine started recently to cover social/economic issues with a focus on tech, specifically ignoring the US/Canada/EU. It is one of my favorite magazines now for sharing a perspective on some countries I don't often think about and some that I do (RoK) but don't often get to hear about from typical western news. Here's one of my favorite pieces recently: what the home office and pandemic work-life looks like for folks in Tehran, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Philippines, Bangkok, Dhaka, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Seoul. https://restofworld.org/2021/heres-what-working-from-home-looks-like/ https://restofworld.org/2021/heres-what-working-from-home-lo...
- MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
  Founded by Sophie Schmidt, the daughter of Eric Schmidt (co-founder of Google/70th richest person in the world). Just FYI. I like the idea of the publication but I wonder how unbiased it could be with a background like that.
  - wolverine876 5y ago
    > Founded by Sophie Schmidt, the daughter of Eric Schmidt (co-founder of Google/70th richest person in the world). Just FYI. I like the idea of the publication but I wonder how unbiased it could be with a background like that. Good to know, but I think it's taking it too far to say that Sophie couldn't be unbiased. Are children so bound to their parents? Are you so bound to think like yours? To support your parents' endeavors? Some do, but many don't.
    - MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
      I suppose I am a bit cynical but looking at the founder’s background I’m guessing she had some funding from somebody to get this venture off the ground. Would be shocked if her family connections didn’t play a part in getting this thing started.
      - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
        A quick DDG search says self-funded: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/a-google-scion-is-starting-a-new-publication-with-focus-on https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/a-googl... But well, yeah, her CV and places she's worked (and got salaries from) at is impressive, some of that surely is helped (whether she wants it or not, it's how others are influenced) by the fact who her father is.
        MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
        Her CV is mediocre for someone who is the child of one of the richest people on the planet. Self funded with her trust fund maybe.
        bellyfullofbac 5y ago
        Aah, everybody loves judgemental Internet commenters..
        MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
        I may have a few chips on my shoulder...
dukeofdoom 5y ago
That's cool, but wasn't the Renaissance having masters teach kids from very early age their art intensively every day. Youtube is a poor substitute for that kind of learning, since most videos don't go into in-depth and don't provide critical feedback to the pupil.
- truth_ 5y ago
  You have to work with what you have. And while I am unaware of the music scene of YT, you can get access to world-class tutorials in CS topics- from MIT, Stanford, etc. They are as good as any. And, yes, critical feedback is very important, but while you cannot properly substitute the feedback you get at unis, you can learn to live with and benefit from internet forums, groups, subreddits, etc.
- AnotherGoodName 5y ago
  I've never heard of learning directly off masters as being part of the Renaissance? People have been learning directly since ancient times but it doesn't scale. In fact I'll go as far as to say a requirement for masters to teach students is an inhibitor to widespread learning and the invention of the printing press is what allowed us to avoid this. Similar to the revolution that the internet is creating.
  - dukeofdoom 5y ago
    I'm not disagreeing with you totally. Just want to point out that learning from a master, has a lot of benefits that you are overlooking. It's not necessarily about the absolute number of people that learn some skill at some novice level. The Renaissance, especially painting, was about having elite level of skill. That kind of skill needs to be taught intensively from early age, and get feedback when you are doing things wrong. Often with self directed learning the problem is "you don't know what you don't know". And you get stuck too often. For example, if you want to be an elite soccer player, ideally you will start at a very young age, and you will need a coach to give feedback and other players to play again at increasing competitiveness you can practice against. You can't get to elite level from watching youtube alone. In fact, the role of the coach in some ways is to filter out the people that are not making progress due to even things as unfair as natural physical ability. Selecting for those players and letting them pass on through the club system is how we arrive at someone as skilled as Ronaldo.
MrPowers 5y ago
Here's some other great Argentinian trap/reggaeton music: * Khea / Duki / Cazzu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ0D_QD_DhM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ0D_QD_DhM * Paulo Londra (PG lyrics): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPpELzyP4rw&ab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPpELzyP4rw&ab I live in Colombia and am working to get more Latinos / Latinas in tech. I've started giving Macbooks to students and it's helped a lot. Lots of students don't have good development workstations. Macs are incredibly expensive here because of import taxes. If you have an old Macbook that's in good working condition and would like to donate it, let me know and I'll make sure to get it in the hands of a Colombian student that's working hard to learn programming. A career in tech can be a transformative life event for a Colombian (and their extended family).
- Daishiman 5y ago
  Why would you give children used Macbooks that are incredibly expensive to repair if you're out of the range of an Apple store and not really user-serviceable when you can give them even cheaper used corporate Lenovos for a fraction of the price that do things just as easily but have far more availability of spare parts?
  - MrPowers 5y ago
    I started with Mac cause that's what I had and it's been working well. I'm not opposed to giving other types of computers and seeing how that works. There is a lot of additional support I provide that's a lot more important than the computer type.
    - the_af 5y ago
      Like Daishiman, I'm also from Argentina, and I think his point is that Macs are prohibitively expensive here (more than in say the US, here they are hard to buy, expensive, and you pay a lot in taxes), so using Macs for a program meant to teach & reach lots of kids doesn't make a lot of sense. It's not about the OS or the computer type, but about the cost and access to repairs when they break down: you must keep the costs low or the whole program will become unfeasible.
truth_ 5y ago
This story, for me, proves to me again- significant things are possible if people have more liberal access to a computer and internet, and better resources in general. The fact that many potential great artists, scientists, developers, musicians are lost to poverty, and for not having access to tools is mind-numbing.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  Absolutely. It's hard to refute that people with more resources achieve at a much higher rate, and the solution is obvious.
eric__cartman 5y ago
I'm from Argentina, and I can say that even though giving computers to students that didn't have access to one at home is an excellent thing to do, the sad truth is that many times cases like this are rare exceptions. Often the teachers and students public schools aren't taught how to incorporate these computers into their learning. Maybe they want to, but the lack of connectivity in many areas leaves students unable to partake in virtual classrooms, which is especially worrying considering that this group of students effectively couldn't receive an education for the better almost a whole year (at least). You can't expect to miraculously boost a kid's education by giving them a computer when they don't have internet connectivity at home, and missed a whole year of school due to covid. Many families can't afford to pay a monthly fee to an ISP. I still believe that this will be beneficial for many, nowadays having a computer opens up a lot of opportunities, but it can't replace a quality education, and magically fix a flawed education system.
- mughinn 5y ago
  It was a good program that felt like it was made for one part of the country without thinking of the rest. I've heard stories of people in Jujuy receiving a computer that didn't have electricity at their house
  - Daishiman 5y ago
    The amount of people who don't have access to electricity in Argentina is minuscule compared to the total number of children who are aided by computer literacy. This is just nitpicky.
    - conanbatt 5y ago
      The amount of kids living below the poverty line is not a small one.
      - is_true 5y ago
        More than half. And now it got worse because lots of child used to eat once a day in school but schools are closed.
pierrec 5y ago
Say what you will about FL Studio, the screenshot in the article (presumably from a Glitcha project) shows it can achieve some impressive information density: https://restofworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/APS_DSF0105-1000x1500.jpg https://restofworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/APS_DSF01...
alamortsubite 5y ago
The article touches on it only briefly, but the subtle irony here is the government has starved Argentines of consumer tech for decades (via protectionist trade policies). So to me this could be described less as a "sparking of a renaissance" and more like the opening of a floodgate.
peraspera 5y ago
I noticed no mention to it, so here's the Debian-based OS used by this government programme: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huayra_GNU%2FLinux?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huayra_GNU%2FLinux?wprov=sfla1
tibbydudeza 5y ago
Kind of ironic that Steve Jobs mocked netbooks when he punted his $499 iPad.
otrahuevada 5y ago
Couple things; 1) Just please don't call any random working class neighborhood a slum? That's not very helpful. 2) Given the poverty is a central theme on the article, it could have been good to at least in passing involve the Popular Orchestras program that does specifically target low income townships and neighborhoods all over the country trying to involve them in the classical music world and providing them with tools to better cope with their reality through music.
- dep_b 5y ago
  La Boca still has some pretty bad spots, despite being a tourist trap in two or three streets.
  - otrahuevada 5y ago
    I'd say unless you also started calling Retiro -which holds one of the oldest actual slums, Villa 31-, Flores, Floresta, Colegiales, Paternal, San Justo and Avellaneda slums, hosting a couple sketchy places does not a slum make. I grew up in there and up to a couple years ago when I emigrated I visited regularly. Yes, it is a dock workers neighborhood packed with immigrants, not a cool location with 5 usd empanada-in-a-jar type restaurants but it's not a slum unless everything is.
    - kragen 5y ago
      I remember one day in Boca I went out to the grocery store and noticed a curious deep round dent in the metal counter. "What's that?" I asked the cashier. He looked a little embarrassed, then a bit proud. "A bullet hole," he explained. Boca is also where Gastón Aguirre lived (and maybe lives), the guy who went on national TV to criticize the Canadian tourist who made him world famous for filming his attempted armed robbery, defending it as "thinking of getting money for my son": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EIkCTkcrDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EIkCTkcrDA When I moved to a sixth-floor walkup in Boca I discovered mushrooms growing from the ceiling where a hole was blown open in the roof. Later I learned that our downstairs neighbors were cocaine dealers, and their customers had robbed one of my roommates in the stairwell. I moved out not long after. I agree that there's a significant difference between Boca, which was historically a slum but is now just a dangerous, poor neighborhood, and Villa 31 or Isla Maciel. But Boca, with its unbelievable levels of police corruption, its place of honor on lists of the most polluted places in the world, and its ongoing violent crime problem, is very different from Retiro, Flores, and Colegiales.
1986 5y ago
Absolutely unintended consequences, but at the same time, part of a long history of musical scenes developing out of access to (comparatively low-end) technology, and doing the best with what you have: - Many early UK grime beats (by folks like Benga, Dizzee Rascal, So Solid Crew, Ruff Sqwad) were produced on a Playstation (software: MTV Music Generator or Music 2000) - (originally pirated copies of) FL Studio running on student or family computers are more or less directly responsible for developments in mainstream US rap in the past ~15 years - the ultimate one of these is the idea that looting of music stores in the 1977 blackouts led directly to the birth of hip hop in NYC - but this is probably apocryphal and most of those early DJs were just "misusing" their parents' stereo equipment Would love to hear some more examples!
29athrowaway 5y ago
The themes of reggaeton include objectification of women, and the trivialization of intimacy and relationships, as well as the human experience at large. Most reggaeton lyrics follow this structure: 1) I saw a female 2) I am aroused 3) Sexual innuendos There is almost no difference between the mechanics of "perreo" (from Spanish "perro", dog, meaning "dogging") and rubbing yourself against another person in a sexual manner. Now, in a more constructive tone... people creating music is a good thing. I hope that these artists persevere, and eventually find ways to create music about themes that elevate the human experience beyond the pursue of the sexual act.
- hdb2 5y ago
  Musician here... I find it interesting that you dismissed sex/reproduction as not being part of the human experience. I can think of no other act more fundamental to the human experience, save breathing and eating.
  - 29athrowaway 5y ago
    Well, sex in reggaeton is often seen as an end on itself, rather than a form of companionship, or a way to progressively cement a relationship, or create a family... It's just attraction and sex. The genre seems very focused on those 2 things only, leaving out many other aspects of relationship building. It's as deep as Pikotaro's song "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen".
    - Daishiman 5y ago
      The same can be said about the culture around Opera, but because poor people don't get to go you don't hear critiques of Rigoletto.
      - kragen 5y ago
        They did when Verdi was alive, and then you did: https://archive.fo/zrx64 https://archive.fo/zrx64
  - 5y ago
rmason 5y ago
In the fifties and sixties every school child in Detroit got musical instruction. They loaned me a violin and my sister learned the flute. There was a music company downtown that would sell your parents used instruments on a payment plan. Out of all that came Motown, a strong rock scene (Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent and more) and the birth of electronic music. Not to mention scores of excellent session musicians as well as a vibrant club scene. By the seventies the music program was cut due to budget concerns and that downtown music store went out of business. Could it happens again? Detroit just announced a program to give every teenager a remanufactured laptop and subsidized Internet. There would be more if the schools restarted music instruction but poor kids can be pretty resourceful;<). https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2020/04/23/detroit-schools-laptops-free-internet/3005834001/ https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2020/04/23/detroi...
- wolverine876 5y ago
  I didn't know that about music education in Detroit; that's great and an important story. > poor kids can be pretty resourceful They are, in fact, like every other kid! > Out of all that came Motown, a strong rock scene (Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent and more) and the birth of electronic music. And punk (MC5, Iggy Pop & the Stooges) and funkadelic (George Clinton, etc.). Also, to nitpick, it was the birth of techno, not electronic music.
  - breakfastduck 5y ago
    Not even nitpicking - someone reading the original comment who doesn't know about music history would read that and think the USA created electronic music which is so unbelievably far from correct it's cringeworthy.
    - cromka 5y ago
      US created disco (NYC), funk (NOLA), house (Chicago) and, simultaneously with Germany, techno (Detroit). US is also where many very crucial synthesizers were built, especially Moog (the rest of them came mostly from Japan). I don't think it's far fetched to say that US has been a birthplace of what we now know as electronic music. PS. Saying this as an European, into electronic music of all genres since 20 years.
mncharity 5y ago
OT, but... While working on One Laptop Per Child, there seemed potential to disrupt science education content. Science researchers who normally wouldn't prioritize contributing to education content, were being drawn in by the possibility of rapidly reaching millions instead of thousands of students. The "build it and they will come" of a massive new and empty app "store". Plus the context of non-commercial "change the world" Open Education Resources. So that didn't happen. And more recently, maybe if VR/AR had taken off more sharply, there might have been a similar effect. But no. So here in the future... I don't know how to quickly convey just what wretched dreck, err, how wonderfully better content could be. How about this: Kindergarten through undergrad, students are told the Sun is yellow, in textbooks and outreach. Then an infinitesimal few finally get an "oops, sorry, nope, our bad" from a graduate class on common misconceptions in astronomy education. Incoherent dreck, err, opportunity for wonderful improvement, doesn't begin to describe current content. So my question is, does anyone know of vaguely similar potential for disruptive improvement in the quality of science education content? Instructor performance art focuses on specific students, and limited outcome goals, under severe resource constraints. Science education research focuses on isolated deployable improvements. But "big interdisciplinary creative mashup of improvements, catalyzed by massive collaboration of research expertise"... isn't a thing, isn't something we're set up for, or incentivized to do. But it's what I'm interested in. So, any thoughts?
- StavrosK 5y ago
  Not exactly relevant to your post, but I'm dismayed by the number of people who refuse to believe that water is blue. I don't mind that nobody knows that, it's an obscure fact, but the fact that they refuse to believe something that explains a bunch of everyday phenomena (like the color of the sea) makes me sad.
  - mncharity 5y ago
    Nod. Color is often taught starting in preK, and yet even first-tier physical-sciences graduate students, asked "What color is the Sun?", often answer with something like "it doesn't have a color" or "it's rainbow color", suggesting wide-spread deep misunderstanding of color. It seems teaching of color isn't going well. So what might better look like? Phones/tablets are used preK on. Phones with multiple front cameras could permit a clip-on spectrometer to provide a simultaneous normal view for orientation, making it more accessible. UV and thermal IR cameras are increasingly inexpensive. Light engines for spectra synthesis regrettably seem less readily available? So what might a Kish-accessible spectrometer app look like? What might a spectra-centered preK-2 learning progression for color look like? It seems at least vaguely plausible that color might thus be taught successfully. Imagine that were true, and gave you early-primary students with a firm grasp of color. How might that then be used, to teach other topics better? UV protection; warm clothes and insulation; Earth's thermal-management BBQ roll, cold clear nights and mountains and deserts, greenhouse gasses; ... ? > refuse to believe something that explains a bunch of everyday phenomena Integrated explanation of everyday phenomena does not seem a focus of current education. So perhaps refusal might reflect a lack of familiarity and comfort with such reasoning?
tombot 5y ago
We are lucky to have restofworld to report on things outside of the Californian internet aesthetic
grillvogel 5y ago
yay more soundcloud rappers
conanbatt 5y ago
The computers cost 500U$S and their market value was less than 100U$S. After one year, 60%+ of the computers were never turned on again. They sucked, it was a rip-off. Bonus: 60% of children fall below the poverty line in argentina. A great number of these do not have 2 meals a day.
dzonga 5y ago
this is also adds more to the importance of recycling electronics. I always try buy used thinkpad's to give to my folks back in africa. because end of day thinkpad's are excellent hardware and will continue to be. plus easily repairable. hopefully one day, someone I give a thinkpad to, will use to nurture some talent.
firekvz 5y ago
Similar computers were given away to almost every venezuelan kid in school during the venezuelan oil bonanza around 2009-2012 [1], a big number were also given during 2013-2014 period. Since 2013, Venezuela entered into a huge economical crysis. Resulting in people not being able to afford to buy a pc or laptop so the "Canaima" / "Canaimita" laptops where their only alternative to own a computer. Nowdays, all those kids (now grown) are still using their laptops, most of them already at University level, Imagine people at universities using 2012 notebooks with 10inches screens. They are perfectly working and you can easily fix them as there is so many parts on mercadolibre [2] As a side note, all the laptops were given away with a linux version mantained by the govt [3] so kids were somehow forced to learn basic linux, wich is kinda cool, eventually most got to install windows on the laptops by themselves, take note that it was of course pirated windows/office, so the kids at least learnt how to properly set up their laptops. The laptops pretty much became part of venezuelan young generation culture, getting to a point that facebook groups started appearing of people sharing games supported by the laptop [4] some other groups of people modding the laptops and so on. In fact, one of the biggest youtubers (LowSpecGamer) [5] started his crusade of -low specs gaming- using one of these laptops. If you wanna take a look of what the "canaimita" market right now is, take a look at youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canaimita https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canaimita you can also sorty by new to see kids reparing the laptops or doing memes with them https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canaimita&sp=CAI%253D https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canaimita&sp=CA... [1] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaima_Educativo https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaima_Educativo [2] https://listado.mercadolibre.com.ve/canaima#D[A:canaima] https://listado.mercadolibre.com.ve/canaima#D[A:canaima] [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaima_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaima_(operating_system) [4] https://www.facebook.com/Juegos-para-canaima-y-pc-de-bajos-requisitos-315130312151429/ https://www.facebook.com/Juegos-para-canaima-y-pc-de-bajos-r... [5] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQkd05iAYed2-LOmhjzDG6g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQkd05iAYed2-LOmhjzDG6g
lk0nga 5y ago
I'm from Chile and over there is plenty of these generic artists which ALL of them sound alike and contain basic lyrics and music. Hardly monetizable without previously dumbing down the listener, which would happen as they had pretty much flooded the online music platforms. Government start giving these guys eInk devices instead of netbooks which they will use as genetic noise generators.

255 points by truth_ 5y ago

This is a great piece, but to go meta for a second: Rest of World is a NYC-based magazine started recently to cover social/economic issues with a focus on tech, specifically ignoring the US/Canada/EU. It is one of my favorite magazines now for sharing a perspective on some countries I don't often think about and some that I do (RoK) but don't often get to hear about from typical western news. Here's one of my favorite pieces recently: what the home office and pandemic work-life looks like for folks in Tehran, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Philippines, Bangkok, Dhaka, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Seoul. https://restofworld.org/2021/heres-what-working-from-home-looks-like/ https://restofworld.org/2021/heres-what-working-from-home-lo...

MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
Founded by Sophie Schmidt, the daughter of Eric Schmidt (co-founder of Google/70th richest person in the world). Just FYI. I like the idea of the publication but I wonder how unbiased it could be with a background like that.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  > Founded by Sophie Schmidt, the daughter of Eric Schmidt (co-founder of Google/70th richest person in the world). Just FYI. I like the idea of the publication but I wonder how unbiased it could be with a background like that. Good to know, but I think it's taking it too far to say that Sophie couldn't be unbiased. Are children so bound to their parents? Are you so bound to think like yours? To support your parents' endeavors? Some do, but many don't.
  - MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
    I suppose I am a bit cynical but looking at the founder’s background I’m guessing she had some funding from somebody to get this venture off the ground. Would be shocked if her family connections didn’t play a part in getting this thing started.
    - bellyfullofbac 5y ago
      A quick DDG search says self-funded: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/a-google-scion-is-starting-a-new-publication-with-focus-on https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/a-googl... But well, yeah, her CV and places she's worked (and got salaries from) at is impressive, some of that surely is helped (whether she wants it or not, it's how others are influenced) by the fact who her father is.
      - MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
        Her CV is mediocre for someone who is the child of one of the richest people on the planet. Self funded with her trust fund maybe.
        bellyfullofbac 5y ago
        Aah, everybody loves judgemental Internet commenters..
        MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
        I may have a few chips on my shoulder...

dukeofdoom 5y ago

That's cool, but wasn't the Renaissance having masters teach kids from very early age their art intensively every day. Youtube is a poor substitute for that kind of learning, since most videos don't go into in-depth and don't provide critical feedback to the pupil.

truth_ 5y ago
You have to work with what you have. And while I am unaware of the music scene of YT, you can get access to world-class tutorials in CS topics- from MIT, Stanford, etc. They are as good as any. And, yes, critical feedback is very important, but while you cannot properly substitute the feedback you get at unis, you can learn to live with and benefit from internet forums, groups, subreddits, etc.
AnotherGoodName 5y ago
I've never heard of learning directly off masters as being part of the Renaissance? People have been learning directly since ancient times but it doesn't scale. In fact I'll go as far as to say a requirement for masters to teach students is an inhibitor to widespread learning and the invention of the printing press is what allowed us to avoid this. Similar to the revolution that the internet is creating.
- dukeofdoom 5y ago
  I'm not disagreeing with you totally. Just want to point out that learning from a master, has a lot of benefits that you are overlooking. It's not necessarily about the absolute number of people that learn some skill at some novice level. The Renaissance, especially painting, was about having elite level of skill. That kind of skill needs to be taught intensively from early age, and get feedback when you are doing things wrong. Often with self directed learning the problem is "you don't know what you don't know". And you get stuck too often. For example, if you want to be an elite soccer player, ideally you will start at a very young age, and you will need a coach to give feedback and other players to play again at increasing competitiveness you can practice against. You can't get to elite level from watching youtube alone. In fact, the role of the coach in some ways is to filter out the people that are not making progress due to even things as unfair as natural physical ability. Selecting for those players and letting them pass on through the club system is how we arrive at someone as skilled as Ronaldo.

MrPowers 5y ago

Here's some other great Argentinian trap/reggaeton music: * Khea / Duki / Cazzu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ0D_QD_DhM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ0D_QD_DhM * Paulo Londra (PG lyrics): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPpELzyP4rw&ab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPpELzyP4rw&ab I live in Colombia and am working to get more Latinos / Latinas in tech. I've started giving Macbooks to students and it's helped a lot. Lots of students don't have good development workstations. Macs are incredibly expensive here because of import taxes. If you have an old Macbook that's in good working condition and would like to donate it, let me know and I'll make sure to get it in the hands of a Colombian student that's working hard to learn programming. A career in tech can be a transformative life event for a Colombian (and their extended family).

Daishiman 5y ago
Why would you give children used Macbooks that are incredibly expensive to repair if you're out of the range of an Apple store and not really user-serviceable when you can give them even cheaper used corporate Lenovos for a fraction of the price that do things just as easily but have far more availability of spare parts?
- MrPowers 5y ago
  I started with Mac cause that's what I had and it's been working well. I'm not opposed to giving other types of computers and seeing how that works. There is a lot of additional support I provide that's a lot more important than the computer type.
  - the_af 5y ago
    Like Daishiman, I'm also from Argentina, and I think his point is that Macs are prohibitively expensive here (more than in say the US, here they are hard to buy, expensive, and you pay a lot in taxes), so using Macs for a program meant to teach & reach lots of kids doesn't make a lot of sense. It's not about the OS or the computer type, but about the cost and access to repairs when they break down: you must keep the costs low or the whole program will become unfeasible.

truth_ 5y ago

This story, for me, proves to me again- significant things are possible if people have more liberal access to a computer and internet, and better resources in general. The fact that many potential great artists, scientists, developers, musicians are lost to poverty, and for not having access to tools is mind-numbing.

wolverine876 5y ago
Absolutely. It's hard to refute that people with more resources achieve at a much higher rate, and the solution is obvious.

eric__cartman 5y ago

I'm from Argentina, and I can say that even though giving computers to students that didn't have access to one at home is an excellent thing to do, the sad truth is that many times cases like this are rare exceptions. Often the teachers and students public schools aren't taught how to incorporate these computers into their learning. Maybe they want to, but the lack of connectivity in many areas leaves students unable to partake in virtual classrooms, which is especially worrying considering that this group of students effectively couldn't receive an education for the better almost a whole year (at least). You can't expect to miraculously boost a kid's education by giving them a computer when they don't have internet connectivity at home, and missed a whole year of school due to covid. Many families can't afford to pay a monthly fee to an ISP. I still believe that this will be beneficial for many, nowadays having a computer opens up a lot of opportunities, but it can't replace a quality education, and magically fix a flawed education system.

mughinn 5y ago
It was a good program that felt like it was made for one part of the country without thinking of the rest. I've heard stories of people in Jujuy receiving a computer that didn't have electricity at their house
- Daishiman 5y ago
  The amount of people who don't have access to electricity in Argentina is minuscule compared to the total number of children who are aided by computer literacy. This is just nitpicky.
  - conanbatt 5y ago
    The amount of kids living below the poverty line is not a small one.
    - is_true 5y ago
      More than half. And now it got worse because lots of child used to eat once a day in school but schools are closed.

pierrec 5y ago

Say what you will about FL Studio, the screenshot in the article (presumably from a Glitcha project) shows it can achieve some impressive information density: https://restofworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/APS_DSF0105-1000x1500.jpg https://restofworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/APS_DSF01...

alamortsubite 5y ago

The article touches on it only briefly, but the subtle irony here is the government has starved Argentines of consumer tech for decades (via protectionist trade policies). So to me this could be described less as a "sparking of a renaissance" and more like the opening of a floodgate.

peraspera 5y ago

I noticed no mention to it, so here's the Debian-based OS used by this government programme: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huayra_GNU%2FLinux?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huayra_GNU%2FLinux?wprov=sfla1

tibbydudeza 5y ago

Kind of ironic that Steve Jobs mocked netbooks when he punted his $499 iPad.

otrahuevada 5y ago

Couple things; 1) Just please don't call any random working class neighborhood a slum? That's not very helpful. 2) Given the poverty is a central theme on the article, it could have been good to at least in passing involve the Popular Orchestras program that does specifically target low income townships and neighborhoods all over the country trying to involve them in the classical music world and providing them with tools to better cope with their reality through music.

dep_b 5y ago
La Boca still has some pretty bad spots, despite being a tourist trap in two or three streets.
- otrahuevada 5y ago
  I'd say unless you also started calling Retiro -which holds one of the oldest actual slums, Villa 31-, Flores, Floresta, Colegiales, Paternal, San Justo and Avellaneda slums, hosting a couple sketchy places does not a slum make. I grew up in there and up to a couple years ago when I emigrated I visited regularly. Yes, it is a dock workers neighborhood packed with immigrants, not a cool location with 5 usd empanada-in-a-jar type restaurants but it's not a slum unless everything is.
  - kragen 5y ago
    I remember one day in Boca I went out to the grocery store and noticed a curious deep round dent in the metal counter. "What's that?" I asked the cashier. He looked a little embarrassed, then a bit proud. "A bullet hole," he explained. Boca is also where Gastón Aguirre lived (and maybe lives), the guy who went on national TV to criticize the Canadian tourist who made him world famous for filming his attempted armed robbery, defending it as "thinking of getting money for my son": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EIkCTkcrDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EIkCTkcrDA When I moved to a sixth-floor walkup in Boca I discovered mushrooms growing from the ceiling where a hole was blown open in the roof. Later I learned that our downstairs neighbors were cocaine dealers, and their customers had robbed one of my roommates in the stairwell. I moved out not long after. I agree that there's a significant difference between Boca, which was historically a slum but is now just a dangerous, poor neighborhood, and Villa 31 or Isla Maciel. But Boca, with its unbelievable levels of police corruption, its place of honor on lists of the most polluted places in the world, and its ongoing violent crime problem, is very different from Retiro, Flores, and Colegiales.

1986 5y ago

Absolutely unintended consequences, but at the same time, part of a long history of musical scenes developing out of access to (comparatively low-end) technology, and doing the best with what you have: - Many early UK grime beats (by folks like Benga, Dizzee Rascal, So Solid Crew, Ruff Sqwad) were produced on a Playstation (software: MTV Music Generator or Music 2000) - (originally pirated copies of) FL Studio running on student or family computers are more or less directly responsible for developments in mainstream US rap in the past ~15 years - the ultimate one of these is the idea that looting of music stores in the 1977 blackouts led directly to the birth of hip hop in NYC - but this is probably apocryphal and most of those early DJs were just "misusing" their parents' stereo equipment Would love to hear some more examples!

29athrowaway 5y ago

The themes of reggaeton include objectification of women, and the trivialization of intimacy and relationships, as well as the human experience at large. Most reggaeton lyrics follow this structure: 1) I saw a female 2) I am aroused 3) Sexual innuendos There is almost no difference between the mechanics of "perreo" (from Spanish "perro", dog, meaning "dogging") and rubbing yourself against another person in a sexual manner. Now, in a more constructive tone... people creating music is a good thing. I hope that these artists persevere, and eventually find ways to create music about themes that elevate the human experience beyond the pursue of the sexual act.

hdb2 5y ago
Musician here... I find it interesting that you dismissed sex/reproduction as not being part of the human experience. I can think of no other act more fundamental to the human experience, save breathing and eating.
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  Well, sex in reggaeton is often seen as an end on itself, rather than a form of companionship, or a way to progressively cement a relationship, or create a family... It's just attraction and sex. The genre seems very focused on those 2 things only, leaving out many other aspects of relationship building. It's as deep as Pikotaro's song "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen".
  - Daishiman 5y ago
    The same can be said about the culture around Opera, but because poor people don't get to go you don't hear critiques of Rigoletto.
    - kragen 5y ago
      They did when Verdi was alive, and then you did: https://archive.fo/zrx64 https://archive.fo/zrx64
- 5y ago

rmason 5y ago

In the fifties and sixties every school child in Detroit got musical instruction. They loaned me a violin and my sister learned the flute. There was a music company downtown that would sell your parents used instruments on a payment plan. Out of all that came Motown, a strong rock scene (Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent and more) and the birth of electronic music. Not to mention scores of excellent session musicians as well as a vibrant club scene. By the seventies the music program was cut due to budget concerns and that downtown music store went out of business. Could it happens again? Detroit just announced a program to give every teenager a remanufactured laptop and subsidized Internet. There would be more if the schools restarted music instruction but poor kids can be pretty resourceful;<). https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2020/04/23/detroit-schools-laptops-free-internet/3005834001/ https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2020/04/23/detroi...

wolverine876 5y ago
I didn't know that about music education in Detroit; that's great and an important story. > poor kids can be pretty resourceful They are, in fact, like every other kid! > Out of all that came Motown, a strong rock scene (Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent and more) and the birth of electronic music. And punk (MC5, Iggy Pop & the Stooges) and funkadelic (George Clinton, etc.). Also, to nitpick, it was the birth of techno, not electronic music.
- breakfastduck 5y ago
  Not even nitpicking - someone reading the original comment who doesn't know about music history would read that and think the USA created electronic music which is so unbelievably far from correct it's cringeworthy.
  - cromka 5y ago
    US created disco (NYC), funk (NOLA), house (Chicago) and, simultaneously with Germany, techno (Detroit). US is also where many very crucial synthesizers were built, especially Moog (the rest of them came mostly from Japan). I don't think it's far fetched to say that US has been a birthplace of what we now know as electronic music. PS. Saying this as an European, into electronic music of all genres since 20 years.

mncharity 5y ago

OT, but... While working on One Laptop Per Child, there seemed potential to disrupt science education content. Science researchers who normally wouldn't prioritize contributing to education content, were being drawn in by the possibility of rapidly reaching millions instead of thousands of students. The "build it and they will come" of a massive new and empty app "store". Plus the context of non-commercial "change the world" Open Education Resources. So that didn't happen. And more recently, maybe if VR/AR had taken off more sharply, there might have been a similar effect. But no. So here in the future... I don't know how to quickly convey just what wretched dreck, err, how wonderfully better content could be. How about this: Kindergarten through undergrad, students are told the Sun is yellow, in textbooks and outreach. Then an infinitesimal few finally get an "oops, sorry, nope, our bad" from a graduate class on common misconceptions in astronomy education. Incoherent dreck, err, opportunity for wonderful improvement, doesn't begin to describe current content. So my question is, does anyone know of vaguely similar potential for disruptive improvement in the quality of science education content? Instructor performance art focuses on specific students, and limited outcome goals, under severe resource constraints. Science education research focuses on isolated deployable improvements. But "big interdisciplinary creative mashup of improvements, catalyzed by massive collaboration of research expertise"... isn't a thing, isn't something we're set up for, or incentivized to do. But it's what I'm interested in. So, any thoughts?

StavrosK 5y ago
Not exactly relevant to your post, but I'm dismayed by the number of people who refuse to believe that water is blue. I don't mind that nobody knows that, it's an obscure fact, but the fact that they refuse to believe something that explains a bunch of everyday phenomena (like the color of the sea) makes me sad.
- mncharity 5y ago
  Nod. Color is often taught starting in preK, and yet even first-tier physical-sciences graduate students, asked "What color is the Sun?", often answer with something like "it doesn't have a color" or "it's rainbow color", suggesting wide-spread deep misunderstanding of color. It seems teaching of color isn't going well. So what might better look like? Phones/tablets are used preK on. Phones with multiple front cameras could permit a clip-on spectrometer to provide a simultaneous normal view for orientation, making it more accessible. UV and thermal IR cameras are increasingly inexpensive. Light engines for spectra synthesis regrettably seem less readily available? So what might a Kish-accessible spectrometer app look like? What might a spectra-centered preK-2 learning progression for color look like? It seems at least vaguely plausible that color might thus be taught successfully. Imagine that were true, and gave you early-primary students with a firm grasp of color. How might that then be used, to teach other topics better? UV protection; warm clothes and insulation; Earth's thermal-management BBQ roll, cold clear nights and mountains and deserts, greenhouse gasses; ... ? > refuse to believe something that explains a bunch of everyday phenomena Integrated explanation of everyday phenomena does not seem a focus of current education. So perhaps refusal might reflect a lack of familiarity and comfort with such reasoning?

tombot 5y ago

We are lucky to have restofworld to report on things outside of the Californian internet aesthetic

grillvogel 5y ago

yay more soundcloud rappers

conanbatt 5y ago

The computers cost 500U$S and their market value was less than 100U$S. After one year, 60%+ of the computers were never turned on again. They sucked, it was a rip-off. Bonus: 60% of children fall below the poverty line in argentina. A great number of these do not have 2 meals a day.

dzonga 5y ago

this is also adds more to the importance of recycling electronics. I always try buy used thinkpad's to give to my folks back in africa. because end of day thinkpad's are excellent hardware and will continue to be. plus easily repairable. hopefully one day, someone I give a thinkpad to, will use to nurture some talent.

firekvz 5y ago

Similar computers were given away to almost every venezuelan kid in school during the venezuelan oil bonanza around 2009-2012 [1], a big number were also given during 2013-2014 period. Since 2013, Venezuela entered into a huge economical crysis. Resulting in people not being able to afford to buy a pc or laptop so the "Canaima" / "Canaimita" laptops where their only alternative to own a computer. Nowdays, all those kids (now grown) are still using their laptops, most of them already at University level, Imagine people at universities using 2012 notebooks with 10inches screens. They are perfectly working and you can easily fix them as there is so many parts on mercadolibre [2] As a side note, all the laptops were given away with a linux version mantained by the govt [3] so kids were somehow forced to learn basic linux, wich is kinda cool, eventually most got to install windows on the laptops by themselves, take note that it was of course pirated windows/office, so the kids at least learnt how to properly set up their laptops. The laptops pretty much became part of venezuelan young generation culture, getting to a point that facebook groups started appearing of people sharing games supported by the laptop [4] some other groups of people modding the laptops and so on. In fact, one of the biggest youtubers (LowSpecGamer) [5] started his crusade of -low specs gaming- using one of these laptops. If you wanna take a look of what the "canaimita" market right now is, take a look at youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canaimita https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canaimita you can also sorty by new to see kids reparing the laptops or doing memes with them https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canaimita&sp=CAI%253D https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=canaimita&sp=CA... [1] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaima_Educativo https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaima_Educativo [2] https://listado.mercadolibre.com.ve/canaima#D[A:canaima] https://listado.mercadolibre.com.ve/canaima#D[A:canaima] [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaima_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaima_(operating_system) [4] https://www.facebook.com/Juegos-para-canaima-y-pc-de-bajos-requisitos-315130312151429/ https://www.facebook.com/Juegos-para-canaima-y-pc-de-bajos-r... [5] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQkd05iAYed2-LOmhjzDG6g https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQkd05iAYed2-LOmhjzDG6g

lk0nga 5y ago

I'm from Chile and over there is plenty of these generic artists which ALL of them sound alike and contain basic lyrics and music. Hardly monetizable without previously dumbing down the listener, which would happen as they had pretty much flooded the online music platforms. Government start giving these guys eInk devices instead of netbooks which they will use as genetic noise generators.