The Quest for an Approximation of a Primer pt1: base system

• life

[pretty much all the images I had in here were hotlinked and they’ve all vanished because they’re extremely outdated models by this point]

The “Primer”: a fictional computer (“book”) in a work of fiction called “The Diamond Age” by Neal Stephenson. It is carted about by the child and absorbs information from its surroundings and uses that information to construct appropriate learning experiences for the child in a narrative fashion.

In my AR timeline (which is as fictional as “The Diamond Age”), a group of people are inspired enough by the book to rmake a real life Primer, built on open hardware and software to help make it readily available to anyone and everyone, which hits the world in a very early prototypical but usable (if content sparse) state in 2015 (any takers? :) and priced at cost. Many years later they become a Thing and are shipped out to each child at the beginning of the year they turn 5. Ideally they are to be used as a major educational supplement (think along the lines of a self-updating mother of all textbooks) with the acknowledgement that in some (hopefully uncommon) edge cases they may be the only form of education for a while. The Primers in AR are a flexible dual screening tablet which can be used folded in half either way as a tablet or comm(unicator aka “smartphone”) or opened out either partially like a laptop or fully to make a large, mostly seamless tablet (allowances made for the fold in the middle). Each screen is about the size of a Samsung Galaxy Note.

The operating system is a touch and gesture driven Linux derivative that comes with various keyboard configurations (possibly even the seriously oldschool qwerty) so the user can choose what they find most comfortable to type with when typing is needed, with language localised to the current area. In most parts of my fictional universe the thing will communicate bilinugally in native language and Lojban. The default keyboard is probably swype-based.

Before being shipped the thing should be configured with the child’s name and date of birth. When the child receives and starts using it, it starts out with early childhood education, reading, writing, basic arithmetic, shapes, colours, making healthy food choices etc while encouraging exploration of the environment and obviously allowing for recreational use (gaming, art, taking photos, communicating and sharing with friends etc). The Primer introduces stuff as the child seems ready or asks for them. Collaboration is pseudonymous by default, with nothing on the “vcard” showing until the person admits it for public or various circles/groups/lists or individuals. “Real life” contacts can exchange contact details by bumping the Primers together. Usual options exist for adding/following/ignoring/blocking/sharing. The thing encourages collaboration and seeking out other people to learn from and with, even if it is just over the Primer. Anyone can add content for the Primer, the review system is probably similar to what Wikipedia etc has, and the Primer selects what it thinks is appropriate based on age recommendations and recommendations by other users.

People that actually know what they’re doing could probably come up with something that might actually work. If anyone gets around to making/working on something like that, I’d be interested in following the progress. As is, I wouldn’t have a clue where to start building one so I’m cobbling what I can of one together from stuff that exists for stuff happening nowish.

Honourable mention: the somewhat elusive OLPC and their XO.

Okay, so OLPC isn’t that elusive, they apparently do loads and loads of Stuff. I just had a LOT of trouble trying to find what I wanted (laptop specs and availability, they’re not commercially available). They’re mentioned because I like their overall vision and I think they’re at least partly inspired by that Primer as well.

ApproxiPrimer requirements:

At the very least the thing needs to be able to run educational applications/apps and Flash-based web apps as well as games that aren’t necessary specifically educational. Additionally it should be able to handle relatively lightweight digital art (sketching and colouring, 3d modelling and animating, video and audio editing, anything intensive in those fields will need higher spec’d machines) and coding.

• =2Ghz processor

• =4Gb RAM

• <=15" display (needs to be small and lightweight for kids, resolution not that important unless they start seriously getting into art or 3d, then you have problems :)
• easily securable operating system
• easy to use parental controls
• “reasonable” price (reasonable is very subjective, I’m balancing specs against price keeping one unit per student in mind)

Because I’m me and I carry a very long grudge, Windows is not an option. Because of Microsoft requiring computers to have UEFI lobos that ship with their keys for Microsoft certification, a distinct lack of trust, time or botheredness on my part to deal with it, computers that ship with Windows 8 pre-installed are also not an option (which cut down my choices by a lot, people playing at home with no such reservations will have an easier time of it).

Contenders

In the order I looked for/was told about/found them in. Will be adding any I find between now and actually being able to acquisition something. Comments and suggestions welcome. It’s times like this I wish I was some problogger with a huge following so I could get sent some review machines to set up and test out on the target audience (in my case, a bunch of homeschooled kids, particularly mine) and then come back with the results.

Apple iPad Mini wifi+cellular 16Gb

nb: personally, I don’t like this thing much. However, it was the first thing that I thought of when I sat down to write.

• 1Ghz dual core A5 chip
• allegedly 512Mb RAM (allegedly because it’s not on the Apple website, I’m pulling off a handful of 3rd party sites)
• 7.9" display
• $509 (the 16Gb wifi only model is $369, seeing as I was even thinking about tablets I may as well go with the theme of being able to get online from anywhere)

Pros:

• awesome size and weight for small people, also wonderfully light and portable for older kids and teens to be wandering around and taking photos etc
• pretty decent access control out of the box, though quite watered down compared to OSX

Cons:

• can be restrictive depending on what you want to do
• iOS looks dated
• may require keyboard if doing lots of typing

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 wifi+3g 16Gb

nb: when I first saw an ad for the Galaxy Note, my first thought was it was very close to how I envisioned a Primer operating. I actually hit the 10.1" Note tablets and pro/conned them first before encountering these things which haven’t been out that long in the grand scheme at time of writing. After much debacle I decided on the 8.0s which while more expensive than the wifi+3g 10.1 have better specs and the smaller size and weight may make a difference as far as portability and usage goes.

• 1.6Ghz Cortex quad core A9
• 2Gb RAM
• 8" display
• $649 (from Mobicity - 16Gb wifi only ones are $449 from Mobicity)

Pros:

• awesome size, weight and portability for small people, and you can actually take illustrated notes!
• built on open source software, the rom is replaceable with a bit of effort (though how well non-stock roms handle the pen is debatable)
• much more flexible than iOS

Cons:

• complete lack of parental or other access control options out of the box, fortunately there are apps for that
• there is a stylus (that is not the con, the con is that it’s something to lose)
• may require keyboard for lots of typing, if you can’t get away with writing
• leaning toward expensive for specs, but the sheer amount of stuff you can do on it might make up

Apple Macbook Air 11" 64Gb

• 1.7Ghz Intel dual core i5 (turbo boosts to 2.6)
• 4Gb RAM
• 11" display
• $1099

Pros:

• nice size and weight for small people
• brainless parental and security controls
• machine and os are pretty and very easy to work with

Cons:

• very expensive for specs (may be worth it if you consider the reliability of the entire system, and in my experience the Macs, even the laptops, last for ages)
• almost impossible to repair/upgrade
• serious lack of usb ports (there is one single solitary one which may not be an issue if you don’t need to plug in usb things constantly)

ZaReason Alto 4330

• 2.4Ghz Intel dual core i3-3120M
• 4Gb RAM
• 14" display
• US$699 (~AU$679 at time of writing)

Pros:

• nice looking machine
• 4x usb ports (2x usb2.0 and 2x usb3.0)
• good selection of linux distros to choose from, or get it blank and roll your own

Cons:

• they don’t ship internationally (they’re US-based) anymore thanks to miscreants and the “local” outlets don’t exist yet
• haven’t seen one in real life

System76 Lemur Ultra

• 2.5Ghz Intel dual core i5-3210M
• 4Gb RAM
• 14.1" display
• US$675 (~AU$657 at time of writing)

Pros:

• 3 usb ports (2x usb 3.0, 1x usb 2.0)
• scrapes past the Alto for specs (at the cost of 1 usb port) at a cheaper price
• ships to Australia

Cons:

• haven’t seen one in real life
• not sure if shipping costs will bump the price up significantly or not

I also fell over an Australian company called LinuxNow which has a nice looking range of laptops that they will either ship with no operating system, set up dual booting Windows 7/8 and your choice of Linux distro (they get the things pre-installed) or remove Windows and ship you a laptop pre-installed with your choice of Linux distro. There’s nice options for other software and a few accessories too. They also apparently take $20 off when you order 2 or more units. Unfortunately they don’t have any pictures on their website so I stole some from various places using Google Image Search. Most of their laptops are 15.6" which I’m considering “too big” to cover, and the rest are pricey; however I did find these gems in the “excellent linux compatibility” list:

Asus X202E from LinuxNow

• 1.8Ghz Intel dual core i3-3217U
• 4Gb RAM
• 11.6" display
• $729

Pros:

• laptop with a touch screen

Cons:

• haven’t played with one (probably seen one in real life and kept walking as it would have been running Win8)
• doesn’t have the most favourable reviews on the performance front

HP 650 from LinuxNow

• 2.4Ghz Intel Pentium B980
• 2Gb RAM (bump it to 4 for extra $69)
• 15.6" display
• $499

Pros:

• pretty cheap for that size laptop

Cons:

• I know nothing else about it
• HP

For the linux boxes I would install Edubuntu, with the Qimo -session package for younger kids.

The listed “requirements” ended up being quite loose as when I originally came up with them I was thinking only of laptops, and then when I got to actually listing contenders the first thing I thought of was a tablet. I’m a little torn as to whether a tablet or a laptop would make a better Approxiprimer. The laptops outspec the tablets quite easily and as far as software and websites goes, will do everything I see Approxiprimers doing, however they are a bit clunky to lug around (except for the MBA which weighs almost nothing). The tablets are more in line with how I envisioned the Primers would be used (as constant companions providing ready access to information as long as the net is accessible, so the kids can find out just what that pretty blue flower is while looking at it). I’d really like to get my mitts on a Note so I could see how tricky coding would be on one of those. I haven’t bothered trying on my Asus Transformer as using the on-screen keyboard is hideous. It would probably work out a lot better with the keyboard dock but I don’t have one of those. I am also somewhat concerned about how comfortable typing say reports or novels or anything requiring a lot of typing and layout work on a small screen (even if 8" isn’t tiny) having never done it myself. I’ve been assured by a very big fan of the Note II that typing is quite comfortable.

I also absolutely epically failed at finding stuff that could be classed as “affordable” which I suppose is going to happen when what you want is cheap and what you actually need is a mid-range thing (anyone peachy keen on hardcore digital painting, 3d modelling and animation, or audio or other visual work is going to have to fork out for better specs,). This is going to make the “one unit per child” or just one unit per anyone a little bit tricky. Damn get what you pay for silliness.

I think for “normal” Primer type use the major drawbacks of the tablet can be mitigated by attaching an external monitor and using a Bluetooth keyboard (and maybe a Bluetooth mouse as well if necessary). Anyone with more intensive requirements (aforementioned people into large canvas digipainting, hardocre 3d, big on audio/visual stuff etc) may prefer a laptop, or if you can stretch the resources to pair tablet use with a laptop (if you want everything mobile) or a desktop (you can easily outspec a laptop with a similar-priced desktop), or pair a laptop and a desktop.

My favourite contenders are the Note (just in case it wasn’t obvious from the rambling conclusions above) and the Lemur (which only just scraped ahead of the Alto on price for specs and the fact I could if money wasn’t a problem get one here, otherwise the Alto would have won on options). The Note is my current favourite for an Approxiprimer base. I would like a Lemur to see how it travels with a potentialy fyn-modded Edubuntu/Qimo-session setup (it’s been a while since I looked at Edubuntu, I may luck out and not need to do a lot with it), but I think I can cobble something together on the currently unused Win7 Acer netbook and it should be similar if quicker on anything spec’d like the Lemur or better (and anything recent will be spec’d better than that netbook). Now all I need is a Note 8.0 to try building out an Approxiprimer so I can do part 2.

This work by bek (ryivhnn) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.