Mps Are Told Of Troubles With Computer Tablets: Thailand

[TheKrayTriplet]

Students aren't allowed to take the tablets home

Do I remember correctly that we had a recent article saying parents had to sign for the tabletPCs ?

That was a different school. There are schools that the ScoPads aren't allowed to be taken home and some that are.

Same as the varying times spent on them in the classroom, eg. at the school you mentioned, they use them only for one hour per day. At that school it is by choice of the teacher; while at other schools that limitation is made by battery and charging issues.

.

So can we expect to see any future pronouncements by you on the performance of this tablet/battery to be accompanied with the following disclaimer,

"battery usuage hours could be sufficient or not depending upon what school it is in, which teacher was asked about it (if at all), what charging facilities are in place (generator or "non equipped with electricity" school electricity) and whatever article/post I have read recently. Therefore basically anything I have stated regarding such battery/tablet should be taken with a large pinch of salt"

[TheKrayTriplet]

It's a molded PSU plug, like all the other phones and tablets, the only way you could get a shock is to plug it in with your finger between the prongs and the wall outlet.

While a 6yo's fingers are possibly capable of doing this, if you think that a rectifier/regulator made with cheap and nasty components (cheapest available) couldn't possibly break down and allow 220VAC to the cord, then you are sadly mistaken and have little idea of the wiring diagram. Stick to physics.

er, Actually, "Electrics" is Physics.

[sirchai]

Some tablets were broken, mainly due to incomplete operating systems. They were sent for repairs, but the exact number of broken tablets was not known.

We'll have them at our school starting second term......haven't heard a positive feedback yet.

Incomplete operating systems sounds like they forgot to play the whole software on it? Or did they forget to put memory in?

Free tablets for all, plus free WiFi for all backpackers! ====

Edited October 12, 2012 by sirchai

[SOTIRIOS]

..typical.......pathetic...

[Udox]

Students aren't allowed to take the tablets home

Do I remember correctly that we had a recent article saying parents had to sign for the tabletPCs ?

My friend had to sign for his daughter to get a tablet PC. He signed but his daughter still never received one. Perhaps it was for the best ?

[pbeieio]

'WHAT A SURPRISE! (not)

I suspect they can't take them home because they'd be no way to make sure the little ónes would bring them back.

I also suspect a few elder siblings or relatives might see the value if little juniours' tablet happens to get "lost".

The old addage "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR" applies!!!

[al007]

so much negatitivety why is it blamed on low quality in China when all said and done apple does most its manufacturing there and considered good quality

[OzMick]

It's a molded PSU plug, like all the other phones and tablets, the only way you could get a shock is to plug it in with your finger between the prongs and the wall outlet.

While a 6yo's fingers are possibly capable of doing this, if you think that a rectifier/regulator made with cheap and nasty components (cheapest available) couldn't possibly break down and allow 220VAC to the cord, then you are sadly mistaken and have little idea of the wiring diagram. Stick to physics.

er, Actually, "Electrics" is Physics.

Er, actually BS.

[LUSHGOAT]

It seem to me the problem is -: if they don't have enough power points the units were never charged properly in the first place also its bull---- in danger of electric shock the output from the charger wouldn't be enough to shock a mouse. To many drama queens for teachers I think. Maybe one of you farangs near a school could take one and try it out to see for sure if there is a problem. I think 2 hours per day is more than enough for students we had many scholars in our time and before without computers, I think it makes children's brains lazy.With all the gaming consoles etc. they are creating nations of fat lumps and computer zombies.

[OzMick]

Students aren't allowed to take the tablets home

Do I remember correctly that we had a recent article saying parents had to sign for the tabletPCs ?

My friend had to sign for his daughter to get a tablet PC. He signed but his daughter still never received one. Perhaps it was for the best ?

Hopefully, when they decide it has been lost, he won't get a bill.

[schondie]

I'm sure none of us cynics so this one coming. An expensive election promise that needed to be fulfilled but the students are supposed to be the winners but as ever, the only winners in this are all the greedy sods that took as much filthy lucre as they could get their grubby mitts on.

[Buchholz]

only 700 out of 30,000 schools have wireless Internet connections for the tablets

What happened to the 30 Billion Baht spent for free nation-wide WiFi?

.

.

Who said it had been spent?

TOT plans to spend 30 billion baht to build an additional 12,000 3G base stations nationwide under its second phase 3G network expansion

btw, I misspoke. It's not a 30 Billion Baht project, it's an 80 Billion Baht project.

It doesn't involve TOT's separate and private 3G project, but thanks for your input, anyway.

[animatic]

The TOT spent Bt200 million to hire a private company to make software to prevent the children from accessing to pornographic sites, the panel was told.

How come this little caveat was hiding. Of course, if the things are only many to be used at school, a network based solution could have been more than feasible.

Net Nannie or the equivalent could be had off the shelf for fractions of 200 Million Baht.

20 million foe software 180 million for some ones pocket me thinks.

Bad AC to DC power dongle. Not surprised.

But the phrase "power leakage" gives pause...

How exactly does it "leak"?

Is that tablet power oozing across the floor there, oh don't step in it!!!

[cup-O-coffee]

2 hours per day?

Cannot take them home?

Weren't they doing this before with the desktop PCs that all schools still have sitting in their computer rooms?

[Keesters]

Seems to me good enough reason to shut the whole project down. They didn't really want to give all students a tablet anyway. They just wanted the parents vote. Personally I never expected it to get this far. Haven't most of the election campaign promises turned out to be lies.

[fstarbkk]

so much negatitivety why is it blamed on low quality in China when all said and done apple does most its manufacturing there and considered good quality

Well, you get what you pay for. For THB 2000 even the Chinese can't produce a THB 20,000 iPad.

And from the THB 2000, at least 20% need to be deducted for graft and corruption. So, what you get is maybe a THB 1800 tablet.

Edited October 12, 2012 by fstarbkk

[Buchholz]

so much negatitivety why is it blamed on low quality in China when all said and done apple does most its manufacturing there and considered good quality

Do you do realize that China is capable of producing both a good product, for 23,000 baht, such as an iPad and at the same make a less-than-good product, for 2500 baht, such as a ScoPad?

.

[Ripple]

Anyone with half a brain could see how poor of an idea this was in about 2 seconds. What a freakin' waste of money! This money could have went for many better projects to educate the students. But why educate them? You need them to work in the flooded rice fields. I figure that's the point anyway, otherwise why is there only about 4 libraries in this entire country?

Edited October 12, 2012 by Ripple

[Tanaka]

The TOT spent Bt200 million to hire a private company to make software to prevent the children from accessing to pornographic sites, the panel was told.

How come this little caveat was hiding. Of course, if the things are only many to be used at school, a network based solution could have been more than feasible.

Wouldent the money have been better spent making safe recharging cords.

Come on Folks these are Prathom 1 students under supposed supervision.

Supervision, by whom? Thai teachers?

[Tanaka]

only 700 out of 30,000 schools have wireless Internet connections for the tablets

What happened to the 30 Billion Baht spent for free nation-wide WiFi?

.

.

Did not Chalerm order a new Rolls from the new RR showroom in Bangkok?

[SgtPepper]

You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. Poor choice of hardware

Poor choice of hardware ? Could you please explain ?

I don't say you're wrong, I just would like to have more details about this deal and why do you think the hardware should be considered as the cause of the troubles.

At THB 2,000 per (after "expenses") tablet I can't imagine we need to know any more details about the hardware!!

[Fozfromoz]

It's a molded PSU plug, like all the other phones and tablets, the only way you could get a shock is to plug it in with your finger between the prongs and the wall outlet.

While a 6yo's fingers are possibly capable of doing this, if you think that a rectifier/regulator made with cheap and nasty components (cheapest available) couldn't possibly break down and allow 220VAC to the cord, then you are sadly mistaken and have little idea of the wiring diagram. Stick to physics.

er, Actually, "Electrics" is Physics.

Er, actually BS.

From Wikipedia- Physics

Electricity and magnetism have been studied as a single branch of physics since the intimate connection between them was discovered in the early 19th century; an electric current gives rise to a magnetic field and a changing magnetic field induces an electric current.

[lhvdberg]

I see lot sof things passing here, but for this I am going to respond. My daughter has also a One Tabler Per Child because she is in Grade 1. All her friends in G1 had their parents coming to school and all had to sign and after that all tablets went home. I have looked at it, and the battery lasts for 3 or 4 hours but as far as I know that's normal for tablets (sorry when I am wrong, I am not a tablet expert). The only problem I have is that for installing an apps I need to have installed google store but to do this I am asked to give a password. The director of the school told me that the goverment will soon have a meeting with school in this region for questions etc. My question will be about this password.

The educational games that are on it come in handy now for this agegroup, but when this tablet lasts longer we have to update some of it, and I guess for this a password is needed too.

I have seen loads of advertisements about tablets and around 4,000 baht you can already buy a good one (the Google made tablet is around this price). And I have so far no real complaints about this OTPC from the Thai goverment.

I am sorry to say, but I think some of you guys grab all the news to spread out your negative opinions. But don't blame the goverment for everything that goes wrong in your own life. When your wife is a bad cook don't complain at the shop where she bought the material.

[Nickymaster]

I see lot sof things passing here, but for this I am going to respond. My daughter has also a One Tabler Per Child because she is in Grade 1. All her friends in G1 had their parents coming to school and all had to sign and after that all tablets went home. I have looked at it, and the battery lasts for 3 or 4 hours but as far as I know that's normal for tablets (sorry when I am wrong, I am not a tablet expert). The only problem I have is that for installing an apps I need to have installed google store but to do this I am asked to give a password. The director of the school told me that the goverment will soon have a meeting with school in this region for questions etc. My question will be about this password.

The educational games that are on it come in handy now for this agegroup, but when this tablet lasts longer we have to update some of it, and I guess for this a password is needed too.

I have seen loads of advertisements about tablets and around 4,000 baht you can already buy a good one (the Google made tablet is around this price). And I have so far no real complaints about this OTPC from the Thai goverment.

I am sorry to say, but I think some of you guys grab all the news to spread out your negative opinions. But don't blame the goverment for everything that goes wrong in your own life. When your wife is a bad cook don't complain at the shop where she bought the material.

It seems that you still have some questions unanswered concerning these tablets. I assume that you can handle those questions because you have experience using computers. Not all kids have parents who know how to use a computer or can help their child when needed.

What if this tablet would be the first computer the family has ever used/owned? Then the learning curve would be very steep I guess. And the help the parent could give would be very limited.

Edited October 12, 2012 by Nickymaster

[GeorgeO]

and no one saw this coming

You get a larger order of cheap tablets from China

What were people expecting?

On another note, seems pretty stupid to give

them to students then tell them they can only use them

for 2 hours a day and that you cannot take them home.

Perhaps the two hour a day limit was imposed because

they Gov't new they would not last long

No, the real reason is that they only actually bought a quarter of the tablets that they said they had bought.

So four different kids get to use the same tablet for two hours each day and no-one is any the wiser. That way they get to keep 75% of the budget allocation...!!

[Moruya]

You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. Poor choice of hardware

Poor choice of hardware ? Could you please explain ?

I don't say you're wrong, I just would like to have more details about this deal and why do you think the hardware should be considered as the cause of the troubles.

I have used one. Cheap and nasty as already being evidenced by loose fitting plugs and fraying power cables. There have been reports of poor battery life, corrupted ROMs etc.

[TheKrayTriplet]

It's a molded PSU plug, like all the other phones and tablets, the only way you could get a shock is to plug it in with your finger between the prongs and the wall outlet.

While a 6yo's fingers are possibly capable of doing this, if you think that a rectifier/regulator made with cheap and nasty components (cheapest available) couldn't possibly break down and allow 220VAC to the cord, then you are sadly mistaken and have little idea of the wiring diagram. Stick to physics.

er, Actually, "Electrics" is Physics.

Er, actually BS.

Oh dear, lets start near the beginning shall we, atoms. OK, atom structure, what , neutrons, protons and ah, we're getting somewhere now , electrons. Basic physics. See what the Institute of Physics in collaboration with the Nuffield Foundation thinks

http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-physics/electric-circuits-and-fields

[TheKrayTriplet]

I see lot sof things passing here, but for this I am going to respond. My daughter has also a One Tabler Per Child because she is in Grade 1. All her friends in G1 had their parents coming to school and all had to sign and after that all tablets went home. I have looked at it, and the battery lasts for 3 or 4 hours but as far as I know that's normal for tablets (sorry when I am wrong, I am not a tablet expert). The only problem I have is that for installing an apps I need to have installed google store but to do this I am asked to give a password. The director of the school told me that the goverment will soon have a meeting with school in this region for questions etc. My question will be about this password.

The educational games that are on it come in handy now for this agegroup, but when this tablet lasts longer we have to update some of it, and I guess for this a password is needed too.

I have seen loads of advertisements about tablets and around 4,000 baht you can already buy a good one (the Google made tablet is around this price). And I have so far no real complaints about this OTPC from the Thai goverment.

I am sorry to say, but I think some of you guys grab all the news to spread out your negative opinions. But don't blame the goverment for everything that goes wrong in your own life. When your wife is a bad cook don't complain at the shop where she bought the material.

It seems that you still have some questions unanswered concerning these tablets. I assume that you can handle those questions because you have experience using computers. Not all kids have parents who know how to use a computer or can help their child when needed.

What if this tablet would be the first computer the family has ever used/owned? Then the learning curve would be very steep I guess. And the help the parent could give would be very limited.

You just won't let it go will you. Incredible.

[TheKrayTriplet]

only 700 out of 30,000 schools have wireless Internet connections for the tablets

What happened to the 30 Billion Baht spent for free nation-wide WiFi?

.

.

Did not Chalerm order a new Rolls from the new RR showroom in Bangkok?

No.

http://www.thaivisa....50#entry5746260

Edited October 12, 2012 by TheKrayTriplet

[vijer]

only 700 out of 30,000 schools have wireless Internet connections for the tablets.

Yes indeed where is all that free internet? Oh wait they are getting it ready for ASEAN.

The panel was also told that the battery-charging cords are sub-standard and pose a risk of power leakage and electric shock.

Priceless, how would the Thai's judge substandard? Every road is substandard. Most electrical wiring is substandard. Every sewer is substandard. All sidewalks are substandard. Most construction is substandard. All plumbing is substandard. This has to be the first time I have heard a Thai say anything was substandard, when you don't have standards how can anything be substandard?!?

The TOT spent Bt200 million to hire a private company to make software to prevent the children from accessing to pornographic sites, the panel was told.

Wow lets see about $6 million US to block porn, really? I bet it was $100,000 to block porn and $5.9 million to line some pockets.

Some tablets were broken, mainly due to incomplete operating systems. They were sent for repairs, but the exact number of broken tablets was not known.

At $80 each you cannot expect much.