I smite thee! ...The Diary of Nod

Starving children don't need candy bars

The One Laptop Per Child project has produced some incredible technology. It's also as incredibly misplaced.

The idea of the project is to make a laptop priced at $100 (it's currently spec'd at $175) that can be sold to developing nations to give to school children. It would need to be rugged, low power, use alternative power sources, be visible in sunlight, etc. All of this was due to the environment in which the kids lived: NO FUCKING ELECTRICITY.

These laptops are awesome. I would love one for each of my kids; they're useless to children in the "third world" who need food and shelter before they need a laptop. In many cases, these kids need schools.

The project is laudable but $100 is not affordable to the countries he wants to sell to. $100 buys a lot of rice. Negroponte should focus on selling these laptops in the U.S.; states could afford the price tag and it would allow them to get the price down to a level that is realistic for their targetted nations. It would be very reasonable to add a surcharge to U.S. sales that would help build schools and feed children in the targetted nations.

posted by Lachlan @ 11:11 PM