Laptops donated to developing countries by Martina Harvanova

You can still hear an opinion that computers are deemed as a toy for privileged families, in fact for their kids. Although most of the families own a personal computer, the majority of the world's population can't have an opportunity to afford such a thing. I am just talking about developing countries where the frequency of possessing a computer in a common household covers really low levels. However, at present there occurs a market intension to saturate such a need also in less industrialized countries. The name of the latest novelty designed for schools in developing countries is Classmate PC, a product created under the title of One Laptop per One Child Project. Originally, the project and its products were intended to develop laptops for kids in poor nations to ensure "they don't miss out the benefits of computing." The item should have cost $100, but as the market segment of the project has spread in the United States, the prices got diverse. The decision to expand on the U.S. market came as an idea of one angry American who questioned why the program doesn't extend to needy kids in the U. S., because there are also too many kids that deserve the learning experience that is not allowed for them. And the OLPC heard him out. It makes me wondering how humans manage to envy the others. Although I absolutely agree that also in the U. S. there are kinds whose parents aren't able to obtain them the newest technologies, the difference between U. S. and developing countries such as India, where the project seems to raise successfully. Nevertheless the overall stark difference in children's access to technology is substantial. The United States spends an average of $10,000 per child on primary education, while developing nations spend far less. Bangladesh, for example, spends an average of $20 per child. That is how the project widened to the idea that individuals in the U. S. and Canada are allowed to purchase two laptops for $400, while one of them should be donated to a kid in a developing country and the other can be given to anyone the buyer chooses. The main idea of the project remained almost the same, but the conditions and the fringe intensions differ. Hopefully, the company will keep at least the idea and won't surrender to those who can't stand the help to others, for them the unfair and biased help.

related story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/12/AR2008011201179.html?wpisrc=rss_technology/personaltech

by Martina Harvanova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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