For $150, Third-World Laptop Stirs a Big Debate

[Byron Sonne]

> Now, I am attempting to think of other ways money
> could be made off those laptops, creating texts (here
> is where being multi-lingual (which I am not) would be
> a big advantage), what else?

Well, this whole idea is predicated on a certain amount of literacy. The 
more fundamental kind, ie, reading & writing.

What about coupling profit motivated initiatives with some kind of 
literacy promoting method and resource that is included? Very well 
designed and accesible training materials, custom catered to the market 
where's it's being deployed.

One would assume that if you expand the base of literate people, they'll 
do better for themselves and have more surplus to spend on what you're 
selling them.

Also, what about constructing custom catalogs of knowledge? If these are 
being deployed to the proverbial remote african village or whatever, a 
veritable encyclopedia of technical and medical information could be 
handy. Not talking about shuffling them white folks' spare pop culture, 
but good stuff like water extraction and purification, health care, 
environmental management, industry & technology, etc.

Cheers,
B

p.s. Might be a good idea to have an option whereby these notebooks were 
shipped with a good enough solar cell to recharge the batteries. Some 
good long distance wireless might be nice too, if it allowed remote 
areas to communicate better. Coordinate for weather, safety, shared 
farming/livestock resources, etc.
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