The Charisma MachineMorgan G. Ames
The Charisma Machine
by Morgan G. Ames · first published 2019
13mentions
6recommended by
13HN commenters
2021–2025first – last mentioned
46% recommend54% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Detailed case study of the One Laptop Per Child rollout, covering what went wrong and the hubris behind the project; recommended for readers interested in education technology and how such projects succeed or fail.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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If you're interested in a detailed case study of OLPC's rollout, I recommend "The Charisma Machine". https://www.amazon.com/Charisma-Machine-Legacy-Laptop-Infras...
on “One Laptop per Child” ↗> the One Laptop Per Child movement that tried to give laptops to kids in poor countries. Relevant: Morgan G. Ames The Charisma Machine The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child > https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537445/the-charisma-machine/
on “Final Decision on Chromebook Case in Denmark” ↗I think the assessment, harsh as it might be, is fair. Morgan Ames' excellent 2019 book on the OLPC project, "The Charisma Machine" [1], does a really good job looking at all the things that went wrong in the project. There was a lot of hubris in this project from top to bottom -- a lot of Ivy League intellectuals who believed they…
on “Dead Startup Toys (2021)” ↗…otherwise). Countries that had the infrastructure to do the onboarding themselves were relatively well-set up to teach their kids anyway. If this is interesting to you, I highly recommend Morgan Ames' The Charisma Machine.
on “Public Montessori programs strengthen learning outcomes at lower costs: study” ↗There's a great book by a Berkeley professor about the One Laptop Per Child project called The Charisma Machine (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537445/the-charisma-machine/) that focuses deeply on this point. It is interesting, though, because this is how a lot of adults with flexibility work: In a coffee shop…
on “The Misunderstanding About Education That Cost Mark Zuckerberg $100M” ↗…teach myself, so clearly everyone would be geniuses if only the system didn't hold them back" posts. It's the same thing that led to a lot of the problems with the OLPC project (check out the book "The Charisma Machine" if you're interested in that subject).
on “The EdTech Revolution Has Failed” ↗…some were large: kids mainly used the laptops, not for creative expression, but just to consume media on the internet. They more often played video games than programmed them.” https://www.amazon.com/Charisma-Machine-Legacy-Laptop-Infras...
on “The Charisma Machine: The life, death, and legacy of One Laptop per Child” ↗"it sounds like the author confronting their own inferiority complex." CONTRIBUTORS Morgan G. Ames Morgan G. Ames's book, The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child (MIT Press, 2019), chronicles the history and effects of the One Laptop per Child project and explains why - despite its failures - the same utopian…
on “Silicon Valley’s supposed obsession with tech-free private schools (2019)” ↗…usually fail, by definition. OLPC was likely to fail from the beginning. That doesn't mean it wasn't worth trying. We can -- and should -- diagnose and learn from everything which went wrong. The name -- Charisma Machine -- is fair. It describes what's wrong with a lot of modern MIT: big names, big charisma, and marketing over substance. On the other hand, for the burn rate (~$12M/year), it seems like it was a worthwhile…
on “The Charisma Machine: The life, death, and legacy of One Laptop per Child” ↗Haven't finished it but reading: The Charisma Machine About the One Laptop Per Child computers Fiction I enjoyed reading: - Sourdough/24hr library - Nick Webb legacy fleet series - Long way to a small angry planet
on “Ask HN: What was the best book you read in 2021?” ↗Was reading a book on this "The Charisma Machine" about the precocious child heh. Ideals vs. reality.
on “Unboxing a $100 Chromebook” ↗In the book "The Charisma Machine" they say that the name is a "cheekily intentional reference to something children love but adults are not so sure about". I think it's a good name.
on “Sugar: An activity-focused, open-source software learning platform for children” ↗There’s a book, The Charisma Machine (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537445/the-charisma-machine/), that examines outcomes from multiple OLPC initiatives and covers many of the failings.
on “Evidence from the One Laptop per Child program in rural Peru” ↗