Sub-$100 laptop design unveiled

2»

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 29
    bergzbergz Posts: 1,045member
    The poorest countries in the world are those with the least freedom of the press. This would do wonders against dildos like Mugabe.



    Also, to quote the New Republic:



    The poor "lack the basic life skills, social networks, and general sense of agency that even the slightly more affluent?working-class people?take for granted." He argues that poor people don't just need money; they also need to know how to open bank accounts, and other "life-skills," such as how to apply for jobs.



    This was an article about the poor in New Orleans who were devastated by Katrina. Now watch The Gods Must Be Crazy I and II.



    The laptop will (hopefully) help people fend better for themselves.



    --B
  • Reply 22 of 29
    Quote:

    Originally posted by M1C

    So your saying that I shouldn't care what is happening to people in the world because it is outside my control.



    No, I'm saying that there's nothing you can do to prevent poor Indians, etc, from wanting $100 computers and getting them. Whether or not you care about the world's poor is a different matter. You are always free to donate to them however you see fit.



    Moving on, "Simputer" is an existing Indian concept that, I believe, is largely assembled in India. So it's already being done, the MIT targets just haven't been reached. It's also interesting to figure how they'll be able to meet the concept's feature-set without exceeding the target price. I'm not sure it's possible to meet all of the features, and keep it under $100, purely from a materials point of view. We shall see.
  • Reply 23 of 29
    keep in mind the economy of scale of, um, 200,000,000.



    I think this is the ultimate education tool, if someone figures out how to connect these to the internet effectively(?)
  • Reply 24 of 29
    Couldn't we just ship them all these old window machines with DOS?



    We won't have to deal with them clogging up our dumps and we get $100 for something that we are throughing away.



    Heck it was good enough for us while we were growing up, it's good enough for them.
  • Reply 25 of 29
    cubistcubist Posts: 954member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Buckaroo

    Couldn't we just ship them all these old window machines with DOS?



    We won't have to deal with them clogging up our dumps and we get $100 for something that we are throughing away.



    Heck it was good enough for us while we were growing up, it's good enough for them.




    Mugabe & his ilk will just collect all the computers at gunpoint and keep them, or sell them to his buddies for $200 each. Giving aid of any kind to third-world countries is a complete waste as long as kleptocracies are in power.
  • Reply 26 of 29
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by M1C

    You say we can't stop them from giving the poor people of these countries laptops and your right but the fact is that I can still have my opinion about what I think would serve the people of the third world countries more food, clothes, shelter or laptops I would pick laptops and they also state they already know there will be theft problems so there solution will be to put the names on the computer I know that has to work.



    Your ranting is extremely hard to read because it seems to have no point and you put every imaginable issue in one paragraph. One sentence, even. It doesn't look like it came from the keyboard of a 22yr old.



    If you want to keep the poorest regions poor, the best thing you can do is donate a lot of food, shelters, and medication that prolongs life but doesn't cure the disease. Together those things will encourage overpopulation, spread the diseases, and encourage farming of something else than food (usually tobacco, coffee and drugs). What you should do to make the place better in the long term:



    - remove any and all trade barriers and customs duties that concern the region, to get foreign business in and get the power of free market working for the place

    - donate education personnel and equipment (like this computer)

    - spread know-how, medication, clean water equipment to prevent disease and cure diseases that are curable, with the long term objective of eliminating said disease entirely

    - spread low-level technological know-how and equipment that is targetted at the specific local circumstances and promises exceptional cost-benefit ratio. For instance, I have seen cheap metal ovens intended for poor regions that use sun as the heat source, and radically cut down the time the women of the village spend gathering firewood daily - thus enabling them to spend two hours more studying.
  • Reply 27 of 29
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    Gon got it.



    I would also like to see passive water de-salting and purification technique along with large water distribution networks in super large scale come to Africa and parts of Asia. One huge cause of conflict in this century would be prevented this way.
  • Reply 28 of 29
    wilcowilco Posts: 985member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by M1C

    well this thread is getting stupid...



    Who's to blame for that?
  • Reply 29 of 29
    m1cm1c Posts: 47member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by wilco

    Who's to blame for that?



    soceity...
Sign In or Register to comment.