If you build, they will come...

Aren't the naysayers missing the point of the now-$150 laptop education initiative? Part of the problem in un-, under-, poor, [insert negative adjective] places, is that children miss out because they just never get to have certain experiences that many can easily take for granted elsewhere. The One Laptop Per Child effort is attempting to short circuit that problem in one arena for one segment of the world.

No one knows what will be possible if you make this type of technology available on such a grand scale. The mere exposure will change the landscape for some. Besides laughing at Bill Gates' questioning

whether the concept is “just taking what we do in the rich world” and assuming that that is something good for the developing world, too

I did note that philanthropy is having an impact on his worldview.

I think a more useful response is to imagine what _____ will kids be better able to make happen because of these odd little laptops. Maybe, it'll only give rise to a rash of third world hackers but regardless they will enrich the global landscape.

The idea was to put something immediately usable requiring as little capital as possible in the hands of the young. What's not to love in that? And, the capitalist marketplace will still be standing at the end of the day.