Lisa Eckstein’s Reviews > The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child > Status Update

I particularly enjoyed Chapter 5, an interesting look at a few children whose levels of engagement with the XO laptops approached what was imagined, and the limitations to how their interest was recognized and rewarded.

Just amazing the level of disconnect between OLPC's vision and actual laptop use among children who received them.

"Why would those involved with the OLPC project believe that a social imaginary that only a very narrow segment of the American population personally identifies with would generalize to entire populations of children across the Global South?" Continues to be a fascinating unpacking of the problems that plagued OLPC. And as I guessed, the book is getting more accessible as it shifts to more concrete topics.

Interesting to read in the Introduction and Chapter 1 about the various philosophies and historical movements that contributed to the ideas behind OLPC. These sections are quite dense with explanations of social theory, and while it's all clearly presented, I found it slow reading. I think the pace will pick up for me as we get into the less abstract sections on the project itself.