Yet another reason to get angry with Bill...

[Jonathan Jesse]

On Thursday 16 March 2006 06:23, Alan McKinnon wrote:
> On Thursday 16 March 2006 08:02, Senectus . wrote:
> > http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&
> >storyid=2006-03-16T011042Z_01_N15248895_RTRUKOC_0_US-MICROSOFT-GATES
> >.xml
> >
> > "By Joel Rothstein
> >
> > WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile,
> > Research) Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates on
> > Wednesday mocked a $100 laptop computer for developing countries
> > being developed with the backing of rival Google Inc. (GOOG.O:
> > Quote, Profile, Research) at the Massachusetts Institute of
> > Technology.
>
> The famous quote from Ghandi:
>
> First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,
> then you win.
>
> Recently Microsoft was doing step 3. I see they have now regressed to
> step 2. He must feel under threat.
>
> He's also clueless about how places like Africa work. There is no
> connectivity, there is no support infrastructure, and there is no
> money for software. But give these folk a cheap alternative and lets
> see what they accomplish with it.
>
> I know of successful analogous projects in transportation, helping
> people get from point A to point B, and it's not massive investment
> in car factories. These folk need to get to the market in the next
> town. The solution is a bicycle. Cheap, reliable, maintenance free
> and suddenly the movement of basic goods increases substantially.
> This $100 laptop is a similar class of thing.
>
> --
> Alan McKinnon
> alan at linuxholdings dot co dot za
> +27 82, double three seven, one nine three five

I don't understand the whole point of providing 3rd World countries a $100 
laptop when there are greator problems, food, water, electricity, sanitation, 
disease, etc that should be taken care of before people start surfing the 
internet.