By Elizabeth Willoughby on
“Imagine every child, no matter where in the world they were, could access a universe of knowledge,” says John Lennon in a new TV advertisment. “They would have a chance to learn, to dream, to achieve anything they want. I tried to do it through my music. But now, you can do it in a very different way. You can give a child a laptop and more than imagine. You can change the world.”
The easy connection of “imagination” to John Lennon, due to his famous song, Imagine, made him a perfect candidate for One Laptop Per Child’s campaign to provide every child in the developing world with a laptop – except that Lennon was killed nearly 30 years ago. However, through digitalization, a youthful image of the songwriter has been on television since Christmas with his message.
One Laptop Per Child is the latest project of Nicholas Negroponte, a driving force of the multimedia revolution. His goal is to have millions of wireless, solar powered, Internet-enabled laptops in the hands of children by 2010. The size of a textbook, the robust XO laptop acts as an entire library and more for each child, and thus can provide them with an education. Negroponte has spoken various times at TED conferences, most recently earlier this month about his latest delivery to children in Colombia
At TED2006 Negroponte said, “It’s amazing when you meet a head of state and you say, ‘What is your most precious natural resource?’ They will not say children at first. And then when you say children they will pretty quickly agree with you.”
That these laptops will act as “a springboard into [children’s] future,” digital-John’s message echoes Negroponte: Give a laptop, change the world.
Copyright © 2008 Look to the Stars
