See also: NSW issues $200m PC, wireless tender

Okay, I see a few problems for the plan, but considering the problems and solutions from the OLPC initiative, I don’t think it’s unachievable.

The DET said the laptops must weigh less than 1.75 kilograms with battery, be no bigger than an A4 sheet of paper and include a 8.9- to 12-inch screen with built-in webcam. A disk drive was optional but the battery must be able to run for six hours of the school day under normal use.

Battery life is going to be a huge problem.  My tablet – which I love; cover your ears baby – has trouble lasting 2 hours.  6 hours, that’ll be a push.

The operating system has not been specified but, given that the DET wants the laptops to cost just $500 each, Linux could be picked over the expensive Microsoft Windows.

I suspected it’d be Linux, but I won’t be surprised if Microsoft kicks in to install WinXP.  We are talking about a lot of computers, and more problematic, we’re talking about young people getting comfortable with Linux.  I don’t know if Microsoft will or can step up, but they have to be thinking about it.

Aesthetics has emerged as a key consideration, with the DET keen to ensure students have a “sense of personal ownership” in the laptops so they will look after them.

Design options “may include a range of colours or styles for the case, or options for individualising its appearance” such as the ability to insert a sheet of paper into the lid, an adhesive plastic overlay that can be drawn on or stickers.

Sensible plan.

Here’s the part I think needs some rethinking:

The lightweight computers will be provided to the 197,000 NSW students in years 9 to 12, who will be allowed to keep them after they finish high school.

Okay, so little Bobby gets his laptop in Grade 9.  He uses it for three years.  When he graduates, he gets to keep it – makes sense, it’s three years old, it’s depreciated quite a bit, could we even reuse it?  Nah, Bobby has grown attached to it, plus it gives him a leg up at TAFE or Uni; sure kid, keep the computer.  It’s your graduation gift.

But wait:

The laptops will be locked to the DET’s network, so that even at home students will need to log in with a student ID and their internet access will be filtered just as it would if they were browsing on a school computer.

Students will be able to install their own software but they will not be able to remove the DET’s applications and will be forbidden from modifying operating system settings.

“The machine will not work unless the user has a DET username and password,” the DET said, adding this would make students less of a target for thieves.

So, sure kid, keep the computer, it’s useless now.  You can’t use it any more.

There’s a small flaw in the logic here…

Stephen Conroy: “We are not trying to be Saudi Arabia, and to say that is to simply misrepresent the Government’s position.”

No Mr. Conroy, this is exactly what you are trying to be.  You’re supporting a plan to filter pornography and erotica – not child porn, but ordinary porn, and gaming now gaming as well?  (Senator Fielding has signalled he wants a range of material blocked, including hard-core pornography and fetish material. Senator Xenophon has indicated he wants access to offshore gaming sites restricted.)

What’s next on the list?  What else is “objectionable”?  What happens when people start organising WTO protests?  This is exactly what countries like Saudi Arabia do.  They block information from their citizens.

Get off my net connection, Conroy.