__/ [ The Ghost In The Machine ] on Wednesday 26 July 2006 23:00 \__
> http://indiaenews.com/2006-07/16216-one-laptop-per-child.htm
>
> From right at the very onset, the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) scheme
> that was proposed for implementation by the Planning Commission
> seems to be highly dubious. So I personally feel that the ways
> things have turned out with the HRD Ministry rejecting the scheme
> completely is probably all for the best. [...]
>
> (ObOpinion: Hm. An interesting problem. I was also under
> the impression it was more like $100 *billion*, since
> there's about 1.1B people in India, about 320M of them aged
> 0-14 years. This translates into $32B at least of taxpayer
> revenue just for the cost of all the laptops, and probably
> far more, when administration costs are factored in.
The alternative is providing no IT facilities or giving
pricey ones to just a few privileged kids. The intent of the
project is, of course, to bridge the gap not only between
the developed and less developed worlds, but also the gap
that exists among children in these countries.
> Of course $32B is one year's revenues for a certain other company.)
Coca COLA?
Either way, it's a long term investment for the governments in question. It
may take a few years before they reap the benefits through industry, when
the kids have finally matured (unless their parents use the computers as
well).
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