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Libya Purchases 1.2 mil Wind-up Laptops
An anonymous reader writes "The government of Libya is reported to have agreed to provide its 1.2m school children with a cheap, durable laptop computer by June 2008.
The laptops offer internet access and are powered by a wind-up crank. They cost $100 and manufacturing begins next year, says One Laptop per Child.
The non-profit association's chairman, Nicholas Negroponte, said the deal was reached on Tuesday in Libya.
Professor Negroponte told the New York Times in an email that the project mirrored Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's political agenda of creating a more open Libya and he also expressed interest in purchasing the computers for poorer African neighbors."
God damn that Muammar Gaddafi, trying to make those African kids better with computers than our American kids. We need to get rid of these kinds of terrorists immediately, with their educating children and what not. What's next a Libyan bill of rights?!?!? Somebody needs to tell them that this is 2006, and the whole concept of a "Bill of Rights" is totally dated.
rhY
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
I am not sure if you are joking, but this is a serious problem in desert communities. Were not talking about just being out on a windy day. I was in Desert Storm and ALL of our equipment suffered sand problems.
... about third world countries needing food and medicine more (god I can't stand those comments!), here's a very nice article I found through reddit about what happened when an Indian computer chap put a comp in a slum in the capital city.
Its 6 years old but sure makes for nice reading. Stuff like that makes the OLPC worth it IMO.
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
First of all every people should get rid of of their own dictator. But educated masses are the first step for creating democracies and raise the awareness of political and social problems. Maybe it will help.
Yeah guess what, charity doesn't work in Africa, it just keeps up a dependency relationship.
Education works. Laptops are a nice way of showing some effort on that front.
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
Please do some reasearch. Libya is a huge thinly populated country with oil. It has the highest or second highest std of living in Africa. Most middle class people speak Italian (former colony). If anyone in a '3rd world' country can make use of cheap computers, it's them.
You were more likely than not right in the desert, which is a lot worse than being in the city and operating out of air conditioned buildings. I used to live in kuwait and had less problems with sand&dust than many other places. If you can use the equipment in a closed area then you should be fine.
The United States treats its socialism the way a priest treats masturbation -- it does it very rarely, with a great amount of guilt, and tries very hard to ignore the amount of relief it brings.