$100 Notebook Is an Insult to Children in the Developing World

The $100 Laptop is an Insult to Children in Developing Countries

Well-known IT commentator John Dvorak recently stated that the $100 laptop cannot change the world or the poverty status of developing countries.

Dvorak even believes that the $100 laptop is an insult to children in developing countries. This is because it is akin to "letting impoverished children eat cake," which is extremely extravagant, and perhaps even an impossible matter.

Dvorak's views are mainly based on the following data:

1. In Asia, Africa, and Latin America, over 500 million people are identified by the World Bank as living in a state of "absolute poverty."

2. Each year, 15 million children die from famine.

3. According to data from the World Health Organization, one-third of the global population has good nutrition, one-third suffers from malnutrition, and another third lives in hunger.

4. During the time it takes to read this article, at least 200 people will have died from famine.

5. Currently, one-third of the global population, including 160 million children under the age of five, is in a state of malnutrition.

6. Nearly one-quarter (1.3 billion) of the global population spends less than $1 per day.

The $100 laptop was designed by MIT for the educational market in developing countries. It is a low-cost notebook computer priced at $188. In October, Gartner analyst Lillian Tay also expressed that, for developing countries, the price of the $100 laptop is not inexpensive.

Take Indonesia as an example; this is a developing country with a population of 235 million and 40 million students. If each student were to buy such an affordable notebook computer, it would cost $8 billion.

This figure is equivalent to 3.3 times the budget set by the Indonesian government this year for its mandatory 12-year education plan. Moreover, this $8 billion is merely the hardware cost and does not include related support or content creation expenses.