Thanks!

Also, I wanted to point out that the OLPC laptop is $399 for 2 of them, not $399 each.

Its a very hard choice. Tough+Handcrank+Good Cause VS Cheap Full Fledged 7″ UMPC+More Options?

Also, both are running on linux so its not simply a matter of buy-against-the-M$-monopoly….

May be someday my wife and I will join the Peace Corps…

My experience of country poverty was one-room schoolhouses and kids who were getting educations without books or any of the fancy implements we’re used to.

In these cases it seems that laptops would be helpful. Without internet connectivity the laptops still form a “mesh network” and will automatically talk to each other, allowing students to share information and documents between one another, even working collaboratively.

The lack of electricity isn’t a major issue as the laptops can be charged using a hand-crank, or a number of other means.

The lack of internet connectivity is an issue that remains to be solved. I know the laptops have a very long range for wireless connections, but your point is taken.

Also, and this is from my limited experience, out in the country the crime rate is far less due to the size and more tight-knit nature of the communities. Much different than near a city.

One other thing to realize (and I hope the OLPC people realize this) – these laptops can’t be placed on a ship and sent off into oblivion. The laptops need to be delivered by people who will ensure they arrive in tact and then spend time getting the kids and teachers trained using the machines. Human involvement is definitely needed upon delivery or they will become expensive doorstops.

Again, the above is from my isolated experience of short term travels (4-8 weeks) in Ghana and Central America, so I won’t pretend I can generalize this to every situation.

Thanks for your thoughts.

A farmer here that can afford a tractor, can also afford to buy a top-of-the-range anything he wants.

The underprivileged people mainly do subsistence farming with their hands, and they cannot read or write, never mind operate a laptop. They also do not have access to electricity in a lot of the rural areas, so there will be no recharging of batteries, and with no electricity I can assure you there is no infrastructure for internet connectivity. Even if that was sorted out, the cost of bandwidth here makes me, and I earn a decent salary, think twice about connectivity.

Then you have the problem of crime. With crime as it is in most African countries, the laptops will be stolen in transit by organised crime syndicates and sold on the black market.

But that’s just my realistic view of things here.