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In a case of pure irony, Wall Street Journal reporter Kevin Delaney bought an OLPC XO Laptop for his kids, thinking it would be a good for them to learn to be creative on a computer. Well, turns out, the kids don’t seem to care about creativity. They reverted back to their five-year old desktop because it was “easier to play simple games and watch videos on the Web.”

“Generally, we limit the kids to one or two hours on the computer on weekend days. And at first, they were eager to spend that time on the XO. But they soon became less and less interested in the laptop. Once Jack packed it up in a briefcase when he was playing at being a grown-up—but he didn’t actually turn it on.”

Granted, you do have to note that he does write for the Wall Street Journal and seems to be a techie, so his kids have most likely had more experience than the audience this laptop is targeted for (those in under-developed countries, particularly, those in Africa) as they have very, very little to know computer experience, so they haven’t enjoyed the time-wasting goodness that is YouTube and various web-based game sites. I still believe the concept of having the OLPC XO in the American household is nice, but I think little kids would be better of with, at the most extreme, an ASUS Eee PC. Otherwise, for the less-fortunate children around the world, the OLPC XO is an amazing tool to learn.

Via [Notebook.com] Read [WSJ]

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