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jasonEx-Lemmingworks. ##.
The $100 laptop: What went wrong - MSN Money is an interesting article. Though JuliaD and I have talked for years about the notion of ZeroCostComputing, and we ever had a blog on this topic for a while (follow that link!), we have never been mindless technopositivistic ethusiasts. Access to safe drinking water and basic global education for women were the two things the OECD cited as first steps in dealing with the digital divide, back when we were allowed to use the term digitial divide (see OECD. 2000. Learning to Bridge the Digital Divide, Schooling for Tomorrow. Paris: OECD Publications). Here’s my review of it in ET&S [4(1)] Unpacking Transnational Policy: Learning to Bridge the Digital Divide. Anyway, in general a free computer to everyone on the planet it interesting. The tool is cool. And there are many massively problematic issues involved. But that’s interesting is that this article is publishe din MSN Money. MSN isn’t part of this. I’ve read the M$ does not like open source. I wonder how much big computing, like big oil and big tobacco is willing to thumb the nose at doing something good (Gate’s work on aids in africa is not part of this debate of course) useful when it might get in the way of a little well planned out hegemony. But that’s just my personal opinion on it.
