posted by dennisn on January 15th, 2008 at 7:31PM

The OS (read UI) is absolute crap. It is pretty obvious that it wasn't developed on the machine, due to how unresponsive it is. The borders (which hold the taskbar and menus and clipboard and peer list) try to smoothly slide in from the edges -- but fail miserably -- there's an unacceptable delay before it eventually stutters in -- the UI was not meant for this machine.

There's no such thing as right-clicking (in the UI -- which I will not be using for much longer!), and the applications that come bundled with it are *severely* handicapped. I hate the idea of simplifying things, for any reason. This UI goes overboard -- but it was probably due to not having enough time to properly develop things, rather than an actual design goal.

For example, to copy the picture I just posted, I had an incredible adventure and head-ache. The UI saves all user data files with some obscure uuid-type name, which makes using the terminal extremely tedious. Terminal use on this fucker was never intended. What was intended was only for specially-bundled-xo packages to play nicely with each other. No other application is invited to the party. So, although I could easily take pictures and videos, and maybe drop them into one of the bundled toy applications, trying to scp them to my server was a pain in the ass.

What else... there's NO email application, the media player (gstreamer) is almost impossible to access directly ... the crappy applications/games that come bundled with it are amateurish and buggy ... ugh ... there is absolutely nothing redeeming about the software on this thing. Nothing is configurable (via the UI).

The feel of the UI reminded me of my first computer classes in school (horrible, traumatizing experiences). Everything seems artificial, and not rooted in reality -- even kids will perceive this. You are only allowed to do what the programmers allow you to -- there is no exploring, nothing, within that rigid crap of a UI; unless you consider moving a fucking turtle in circles, or some of the other dumbass applications "exploring". Even a child will realize that "Activities" are a bullshit adult word for some kind of forced behaviour.

In conclusion, computers are not toys. If the user (child or adult) does not appreciate this, they have no business using one. Trying to convince kids that these machines are "fun" and full of "activities" is absurd.

I really did learn to appreciate the vastness of my 17" laptop screen, and immense layout of my keyboard upon returning here. Using the olpc fulltime, as I had originally hoped, will not be easy.

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posted by dennisn on January 17th, 2008 at 8:59AM

http://dennisn.mooo.com/g...s/olpc-vid-1.ogg olpc video capture[theora vc, vorbis ac]

[UPDATE: fixed broken link]

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posted by dennisn on January 15th, 2008 at 6:47PM

Link

Do you regret not getting one?
posted by dennisn on January 15th, 2008 at 1:20PM

Btw, this baby beast makes less noise than a book! 100% solid state rulez. I _really_ don't like this keyboard. The rubber buttons aren't that responsive; and it's only slightly bigger than a blackberryish device.

On the other hand, this screen is orgasmic. Crystal clear. It's slightly less than a hand's width wide, and a palm's height tall.

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