posting from the olpc!

So my XO laptop -- the one they're distributing to kids in the developing world -- came today :)

And it's adorable and tiny and exciting, and it came in a box with two sheets of paper and instructions not to leave it out in the rain. It's a little hard to type on the keyboard -- I hope little kids really do have an easier time with it.

But it seems really sturdy, and the screen not only turns around -- there's a button to rotate the display. And it's not hard to turn on the "black and white for sunllight viewing" mode, and it seems like it'll really work with sunlight (I tried it under a very bright lamp).

But I'm most impressed with the activities! I tried "TamTamJam", one of the several music-making programs, and it was a lot of fun! I was immediately Kicking Out The Jams; you can pull out little instruments and assign loops to them, and make them play by hitting a keystroke. And it's all done by dragging little blocks around, like in Scratch or Alice. (also: it shows you what connects to what by shape). Very cool; the kids will love it :)

Oh mans. These OLPC cats, they're doing a beautiful thing, assuming little kids really can type on this keyboard. (personally, I've got an external one plugged in right now -- this is the mode of operation I've seen used by several XO-carrying adults...)

Alright, now to figure out how to develop for this thing...