See What’s Out There

I have been following the OLPC project since it started and I am surprised when I run across people who haven’t heard about it. My daughter took the OLPC laptop we just received to school to show it off and only a few of her teachers had heard of the project. Without the background on what it is, the laptop looks and feels like a toy. (In fact, it’s an amazing set of technological and operational breakthroughs.)

One argument against this project has been that many of these kids need basics — food, clean water, jobs, teachers who get paid, etc. And so we shouldn’t spend money on laptops. No doubt kids have basic needs. But I have come to believe that in this flat world of ours knowledge is the solution to these problems. Kids who can participate in the global economy will have a way out of their circumstances as they become citizens of the interconnected world.

Here’s a demo video: