Bill Gates assessment of the $100 laptop display an arrogance that many of us in wealthy countries are guilty of. Sure, the $100 laptop isn't much by our standards, and many people in poor countries won't be able to use them for anything. If you can't read or write, even a $2 laptop would be a waste. But there are plenty of places in the world where a $100 laptop may be within a family's reach, or it can be donated by individuals or organizations. In these cases, that laptop may turn out to be the window to a world those people never knew.
As to the idea of a cheap, rugged laptop powered by a hand crank, I can think of times in my career when such a device would have been useful. Try reading your average laptop in the bright sun, and try using it for 8-12 hours outdoors without access to external power. As a geologist, I had to collect data in all sorts of places - most of which weren't computer friendly. True, there are now ruggedized computers and battery life is getting better, but the fact remains that the tyical laptop really can't get very far from a power supply. Field data collection and note taking generally doesn't require a really sophisticated computer.
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Bill Gates assessment of the $100 laptop display an arrogance that many of us in wealthy countries are guilty of. Sure, the $100 laptop isn't much by our standards, and many people in poor countries won't be able to use them for anything. If you can't read or write, even a $2 laptop would be a waste. But there are plenty of places in the world where a $100 laptop may be within a family's reach, or it can be donated by individuals or organizations. In these cases, that laptop may turn out to be the window to a world those people never knew. As to the idea of a cheap, rugged laptop powered by a hand crank, I can think of times in my career when such a device would have been useful. Try reading your average laptop in the bright sun, and try using it for 8-12 hours outdoors without access to external power. As a geologist, I had to collect data in all sorts of places - most of which weren't computer friendly. True, there are now ruggedized computers and battery life is getting better, but the fact remains that the tyical laptop really can't get very far from a power supply. Field data collection and note taking generally doesn't require a really sophisticated computer.