The Charisma Machine: The life, death, and legacy of One Laptop per Child
I prefer the idea of giving new Macs and PCs to kids in the third world. Computers and the internet are supposed to be a Great Equalizer, but that notion cannot come to fruition if the access tool provided to poor people is nowhere near as able as the access tool available to rich people. Moreover, we technologists understand the sense of identity taken up by a child who has access to devices that excite the mind and capture the imagination.<p>For me, it was a Commodore 64.<p>Sometimes, people in the first world take satisfaction in the act of helping, but forget that the impact of the help is the main object of importance. If someone were to give your kid an OLPC, you might say &quot;it&#x27;s better than nothing,&quot; but you might feel deep down that &quot;they keep the good stuff for their own kids but they come to our country&#x27;s kids with the dregs.&quot;