Dvorak Slams OLPC As 'Naive Fiasco'

theodp writes "PC Magazine's John C. Dvorak has a unique take on the cute One Laptop per Child XO-1, deeming the OLPC project a naive fiasco waiting to unfold that sends an insulting 'let them eat cake' message to the world's poor. When it comes down to a choice of providing African kids living in absolute poverty with access to Slashdot or a $200 truckload of rice, Dvorak votes for the latter. Buy ten OLPCs if it assuages your guilt, says Dvorak, but 'I'll donate my money to hunger relief.'"

Comments

Re:he's got a point.

[c6gunner]

The situation they are in is a clear result of colonialism and economic neoclonialism for which we are directly responsible.

....

Did you fall on your head, or something?

The laptop for child is a long shot but it might break the vicious circle they are in by creating a better educated new generation

Oh, never mind, looks like you can still think rationally.

I guess that is "our" greatest fear! That someday they won't be dependent on us and IMF and their natural resources won't be open for plunder.

.......

Then again ....

Re:New section

[PopeRatzo]

How about this: we send them $200 bucks worth of food and an OLPC and see what it does for them. Then, if it turns out they need some further assistance, we give it to them, stressing the importance of developing skills and an infrastructure and free institutions. We do the tech all open source so the bulk of the money doesn't evaporate into the great condenser of Redmond.

We have no trouble sending billions and billions in munitions and military assistance to friendly dictatorships and desert theocracies, and we end up right where we are: with most of the world hating the US and our own economic place in the world on a slow downward slope. That's a bad combination. It might not hurt to spend a small fraction of that money on helping some folks out, instead. Even without them having to maintain secret prisons for us.

It might not have occurred to our present leaders, but friends are really better than enemies. And the truth is, we no longer have the gold or the mana to go around ganking teh noobs the way we did back in the last century.