Within three years, Amazon and its Kindle derivative is going to rock the web with applications that none of us could say No.
At a time of credit and debt crisis Amazon's investment on knowledge on a slate (tablet) is going to rock the boat of many aspiring companies including Google.
Unlike the 'flame wars" in Linux community both these Linux derivatives Google Chrome Tab and Amazon's Kindle Tab going to shape the world for better.
Knowledge wise.
It is not going to be iPods and Apple.
Apple is too expensive for poor debt ridden world including America.
(If only GOP and Democrats can get together and get US out of the war mongering American companies to begin with, the Real Dream of the average American will come true.
We were a country infested with this disease for over 3 decades.
The War.
The biggest casualty of this war was the lowering of our educational standards and not training good teachers.
Most of the good teachers left us for better pastures.
We did not train teachers in English, Maths, Computer Science (IT) and Science in adequate numbers.
All the efforts were focused on the war and even afterward there is still some bickering going on.
Successive generations of children were neglected (war-neglected) and unfortunately some children were recruited to war efforts).
The children born now should have a better future irrespective of where they are born.
This is where good American companies (not MacDonald, Kentucky or Coca COLA) like Amazon should stretch their arm here and into the third world with education utilities at an affordable price.
We do not want things like IBM Classmates.
That is also only for the rich American children.
We do not want things free too.
I do not believe in giving children free stuff and the same stuff like school uniforms and books not updated for 30 years.
Then they do not value them.
I have my own story.
We were not rich and most of my classmates were the same.
We used slate and slate pencils.
I had my slate (only used 3 for the entire school years) and slate pencil till I entered the University.
Then in the second year (term 5) when I passed the first examination, I was very happy I wanted to donate my precious slate to a poor kid in my neighbourhood.
I found a kid and gave it to him stating that he should do well in school.
Three months later when I came on vacation, I visited his house to see he had broken it in no time.
Mind you keeping a slate for 15 odd years without breaking it is no mean task.
Knowing this my kids leave all their valuable stuff including some dolls in my room, knowing very well, they are in safe hands and my room is a junkyard full of computers and bizarre array of things.
This is of course after donating 95% of the stuff.
Their grandma who is no more was very good at disposing the stuff.
This was a kid of a different generation.
Consumerist and did not value it as a gift.
They do not conserve.
Had he used it properly I would have helped his entire schooling career.
It was not to be.
My father and I had the habit of donating my used books (I used to keep them in very good condition unlike children of today) once I have finished using them.
I have never sold them, even secondhand (some very expensive books).
Our teachers were good and they feared School Inspector.
Teaching was a noble profession then.
Now our teachers do not teach in the class but have tuition classes for money in the afternoon.
(But our politicians came and ruined what was left of English system and the number of schools (they are all Buddhist Schools) built by an American philanthropist colonel Sir Henry Olcott.
It is a common practice that principals in these school takes bribes to admit children.
Not only that they ruined the schools built on the temple premises too, by elevating them to a very different status.
Our education system is in a mess.
We cannot resurrect them to good old days).
The system is incorrigible.
There is digital divide too.
City children fare better than village kids but due to the quota system bright city children (who have achieved the required standard) are deprived of getting into the University.
Some of them with money (having sold their ancestral homes to raise money) go abroad and never return.
Many of them do not succeed having gone out and do menial jobs.
What am getting at is the Kindle gadgets are in the affordable range even for the third world.
They are the game-changer.
They can replace what is lacking in most of our teachers.
Dependability, durability and the ability to update the knowledge base.
If we cannot change the manpower (attitude of the teachers) then we should change the fire power which Kindle will have.
They should be packed with educational materials.
Out parents will do the needful if not the teachers.
Amazon should divert 1% of their profits to education of children under 12.
They should reach them with Kindle and the Cloud.
They should do that in America first and show the world that they do care for their own kids.
I am sure Obama will be all ready to help.
Unlike previous presidents he has given the knowledge base a powerful kick and an uplift.
Whatever the failures in economic front if Obama does the ground work for changing dynamics of 21st century education his name will be written in gold.
The companies that back that impetus will last longer than the people who owned it.
Look for the longevity.
Amazon is a Key Company.
Rest of the world will have to follow its footsteps.
UNICEF is dead now and U.N.O does not care.
What UNICEF and U.N.O unable to do Amazon can do better in education.
Amazon should never give this stuff free to the third world.
The education system of a particular country should deserve whatever they receive as educational tools (Amazon or Google) with proper outcome based plan.
Not simple doles.
Beauty in the third world is that the parents do their best to make the life of their children better.
What is ruining their aspiration is the education system which is not prepared to change and take bold actions so that there is equitable distribution of education resources.
Cloud, the Kindle and the Google, the ChromeOS can do that with training and infrastructure improvement.
Unfortunately we do not have a satellite of our own.
Satellite systems should improve to take the cloud computing forward.
A lot of planning at global scale should happen.
Land based internet system want reach everybody.
That is why I say the education material should focus on under 12 for the next 10 years.
A lot of things will change in this decade if not the end of the world as predicted.
We already have system for adults and older children.
They may have to pay for the services but that is how things are as at present.
Nobody should grumble paying for a good service especially education.
Universal education with poor quality (that is what we have now in our country) is no substitute for appropriate education at appropriate age and time.
It looks like our education system kills the interest of the kids.
They are arcane.
This is something I posted sometime ago.
I am thankful to Amazon for taking cognizant of what I stated.
I should have said bit of Kinder Kindle.
Amazon is kinder to the parent's pockets.
Thanks again.
It is sad we lost over 30 year a futile war and we are still spending more for defense budget.
In the process we are cutting our budget for education.
If that is not enough we got a Minister who instills fear on students who tend to disagree with his views.
All this is enough for young ones to go abroad and see how education is done in the rest of the world.
If we take Singapore they have developed their own e-reader and over 900,000 books in the Library are converted to e-books and could be accessed free on the e-reader.
They do not boast that they give free textbooks but make available all the resources for young people to learn.
One can see young Singaporeans studying in the University (their accommodations are not as spacious like in our country) do their home work at the airport lounge.
The e-readers available there include Kinder 2 which is driven by Linux kernel (Amazon Device).
That is the very reason I wanted to write about it.
It is black and white and has wireless connectivity and a browser.
I believe all the other devices are also using Linux kernel.
Then there is another called Nook which is available in both colour and black and white.
I would like to see our kids also get a chance to use them.
This in only a wishful thinking.
Our educators go on holiday just before their retirement wasting out resources.
I wonder how many of them have at least seen a e-reader at least in the airport.
Mind you one need not go there, just browsing the web is enough to see an array of devices.
