linuxextremist.com — The result is apparently a perfectly serviceable little machine running Fedora Core with a specialised interface called Sugar. Already, the governments of China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, and Thailand have expressed an interest. However, there are some hidden dangers within this project...
Jul 29, 2006 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountJul 30, 2006
Don't worry, you'll be able to buy one VERY soon when they start hocking them for food.
mengoxonJul 30, 2006
you stfu skyshock - the US has one of the highest criminal track records in the world (murder rate, spam, etc.). Maybe the rest of the world should stop selling goods to the US because they could be used for crimes.
jrghoullJul 30, 2006
they are, or were planning to sell these to the average consumer for double the price, then send them one and send one of the people that the laptops are going towards, one. the pricing is actually, i think funny. its called the hundred dollar laptop right? first year its out its gonna be around 130ish (give or take) then like, a year or 2 after its gonna be down to about 80. weird huh?
cooperjonesJul 30, 2006
Well, when I realize that the UN is mostly funded by US taxpayer money and sits on the some of the most pricey NYC real estate in the universe because of US taxpayers, I think I have a right to discuss what they do with MY money, whether or not I'm in international development. I don't buy your argument that it is okay that some or most of these laptops will end up in corrupt hands. Not with MY money.
fumanchuJul 31, 2006
BTW, I agree: it's a dumb story.No digg!
mengoxonJul 31, 2006
I'm not saying it's about skin color. Racism is about race, not necessarily skin color. If you're saying no Romanians should be given technology because some Romanians commit crimes, that's racist in my opinion. American government is unable to control drug abuse in its own country which leads to severe crimes being committed in lots of other countries. Same with the Nigeria scams (the crimes are not committed in Nigeria), but nobody asks to punish all US Americans because of that in some way.Which war did the UN prevent? The Cold War from becoming a real war. The UN is not a nation or government - it is a forum! It can only be as effective as the great powers (ie mainly the US) want it to be.And unlike the US, the UN never started a war.
somerandomnerdJul 31, 2006
The $100 laptop is an educational tool.What, did you think it was to introduce Africa to Doom, to wean them onto CS:S and eventually sell them WoW subscriptions?
tuxuserAug 2, 2006
get the new wired mag
bolocholoAug 2, 2006
The so-called "perils" of a $100 laptop cited here are so small compared to its benefits that this long discussion seems too much. In fact, I came into this story worried that there might be real problems for such a wonderful project; glad there aren't . One of the worst things on some ill-globalized poor countries like mine (Ecuador) is that computers are priced way over working class people budget, which needn't be so.I know are a LOT of poor and middle class people in here that would jump to these machines and give their children (and themselves) the opportunity to achive this new kind of literacy.