Inexpensive government-issued laptops have blossomed Argentine hip-hop culture
In recent years, as digitalization progresses, more and more countries and local governments are focusing on IT education for children, and efforts are underway to give students notebook PCs and tablet terminals. These efforts may be aimed at fostering children's IT knowledge, but in Argentina, where the initiative was to 'provide
In Argentina, cheap government-issued netbooks sparked a musical renaissance --Rest of World
https://restofworld.org/2021/argentina-netbooks-music/
The Argentine government launched a program called 'Conectar Igualdad ' in 2011, distributing millions of netbooks to children through public elementary and junior high schools. The purpose of this program was to provide children in households who could not purchase PCs due to financial reasons to come into contact with technology and reduce disparities. Due to Argentine protection and trade-oriented policies, the netbooks distributed in this project were manufactured by the domestic company Boris Garfunkel e Hijos.
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'Often this was the first device to reach people's homes, which meant that not only students but the whole family would use netbooks,' said Laura Marés Serra, general manager of the Argentine Ministry of Education. I was there, 'he told the overseas media Rest of World. According to Conectar Igualdad, 4 million children received computers between 2011 and 2015.
The netbook supplied by Conectar Igualdad was only 10 inches (25 centimeters) in size and had a 1.66Ghz processor, 1-2GB of RAM, and a camera with a resolution of 300,000 pixels. It was a netbook with specifications that could not be said to be high performance even at that time, but it was the first computer for children at that time. And the Rest of World says that many children started making music when they got a netbook, and the 'hip-hop culture' flourished in Argentina.
Corazzina then embarked on a career as a popular Latin American rapper, Trueno, by sending a netbook-recorded video to an online audition held by Red Bull that same year. The MV released by Trueno on YouTube in December 2020 has been played more than 50 million times at the time of writing the article.
Trueno --ÑERI (Video Oficial) --YouTube
Growing up in an immigrant area, Trueno said, 'It's hard to grow up in a place where there are few or even opportunities to get caught up in silly problems. Many of my elementary school classmates fled somewhere. We are from a alienated area, but there are also many families, many immigrant cultures, a wealth of art, and music is alienated. It was a great tool to avoid, 'he told the Rest of World.
Like Trueno, Elian Valenzuela, who got a connection to the Internet after receiving a netbook, told her mother '¡Qué elegante!' Because she watched the video for hours while wearing her pajamas as a child. How elegant!) ”Has been ironically said. From this event, Valenzuela changed his name as a rapper to ' L-Gante '.
The song 'L-Gante RKT', which was played more than 170 million times at the time of writing the article, was made with a government-issued netbook and a microphone purchased for $ 10 (about 1100 yen). 'For children who are interested in music and have similar goals, they don't need a lot of kits to succeed,' L-Gante said in an interview in 2021.
L-GANTE RKT --L-GANTE FT PAPU DJ (Videoclip Oficial) --YouTube
However, in order to produce music with a netbook with low processing power, it seems that it was necessary to devise how to use the software, and children used methods such as compressing data by making full use of resampling etc. That thing. In addition, because netbooks also had software that locks when used too much, children sometimes investigated the criteria for locking or had them unlocked at a familiar computer shop.
Although they could only use the minimum specs and software available almost free of charge, the children used online tutorials and YouTube to make music and upload audio files and videos over poor lines. Around 2017, a few years after the netbook was provided, hip-hop culture spread throughout Argentina, many of which benefited from netbooks. The Argentine Ministry of Culture has acknowledged this move and is hosting a national hip-hop contest .
'The working class has always had a tradition of cultural creation,' said Sebastián Benítez Larghi, a sociology researcher at La Plata National University in Argentina. It tells the Rest of World that it proves. Conectar Igualdad ended in 2018, but the change of power the following year revived the netbook supply project as part of a larger project called the Juana Manso Federal Plan. 'We don't have the funds to cover all grades so far, but we've returned to a model where students have computers,' said Marés Serra of the Ministry of Education.
Also, considering the rise of hip-hop culture triggered by netbooks, it is encouraging children to like something through computers. In the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) that occurred in 2020, the way of involvement has changed from before, such as the Ministry of Education itself disseminating 'how to unlock the netbook' on the online banner. I am.
Trueno is switching from an old netbook to a new computer and is trying to learn the best techniques for making music. However, he said he did not forget his roots, 'I think computers for those who do not have enough resources are an important tool for empowering research, work, art, etc.' Rest I told of World.
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