Our XO arrived this evening. I was beginning to worry. We will be on the road for the holidays and I had hoped to have the computer along so I could explore. It showed up just in time.
One of the first things you notice is just how small it is. I am writing this post from the new machine and I am making more keyboarding errors than usual. I do understand that the machine was intended for children and not for adults. I have been following Doug Johnson’s experiences as he has been commenting on experiences with his new machine. He is correct in noting that if you made the commitment to purchase the pair of OLPC XOs you should not expect the traditional experience. He describes his package as containing the computer, the power supply and a couple of sheets of sketchy instructions. Unless I was so excited in opening the box that I discarded some of the contents, I do not think our package came with instructions.
The lack of specific instructions will likely be an issue. I was able to connect to our wireless after a lot of trial and error. For some reason, I was unable to figure out which combination of attributes should be used to describe the protection scheme we use on our network. I was able to finally make the connection, but I am still unsure that I understand exactly what I did. Unfortunately, this pattern of learning seems to be typical leaving me in a constant state of exploration. Perhaps the exploration is supposed to be part of the fun.
See also One Laptop Per Child site.
