The cost of developing these must have been enormous and yet there are literally hundreds of recycling firms and charities that are providing higher spec machine at a fraction of the cost (http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/ComputerRecyclersRefurbishers.htm). Wouldn’t we be better off spending the $40 on a recycled machine and the remaining $360 or $160 on health, food or even, a radical thought, training teachers to teach the kids. Although after reading the NY times article I believe that the teachers will be redundant and the laptops appear to have some kind of education osmosis patch that will provide ‘education’ out of the box.
Luckily my home town will be hosting a conference next year where the Chief Learning Architect for One Laptop per Child, David Cavallo, might actually outline how – if I have to go to the conference I’ll certainly be asking him! (http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/altc2008_flyer_low_res.pdf)