They just showed the prototype of the $100 laptop geared to putting this education tool in the hands of children in the developing world.

Initially I was really impressed and encouraged by this innovation. I think it has some amazing implications for boosting learning in the developing world. Education is key to addressing so many problems (though there are TONS of other factors as well). I think computers really do serve as amazing learning tools, and they can help make learning fun for a lot of kids.

And at the same time I wonder what impact these things will have. They mentioned some things in the article about grey markets, and the idea of making them so prevelant that they won’t be appealing to secondary markets. I’m sure there are many people far smart then me thinking through those issues.

Also, there is the question of whether this is a good use of time and money when there are many physical problems like starvation. My initial thought is that this is one way to begin addressing that problem through educating the masses. It is a long term solution, though it doesn’t meet short term needs.

What are your thoughts?