Gaps

I was reading the BBC online newspaper and came across this article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7094695.stm

In case you do not have time to read it, the article is about the move toward providing $99 computers to students in Africa in hopes of closing the digital divide between industrialized and non-industrialized countries.

Initially, I thought this was a great idea. Even if it does not help close the knowledge gap, it would be good for students in non-industrialized countries to have laptops as opposed to not having laptops. It does have an effect on closing the digital divide, doesn't it? Something is better than nothing, yes?

Well, not if that something leads toward big-time companies like intel and other computer and software makers to rip them off. This is what I mean - if these companies were simply donating the computers, I would be fine with that. But what is the incentive to make those computers last? The pace of technology is too quick to mass produce this stuff - it will all end up in dumpsters that are already piled high with old technology (less than 5 years old, in some cases) in the very countries these companies are shipping these computers too! Seems kind of wasteful.

I do not mean we (western society) should not do anything. In the immortal words of Martin Luther King Jr., we should not be simply good samaritans (though it's better than being a bad samaritan) giving to those in need on the Jericho Road - we need to FIX the Jericho Road. In other words, if we really wanted to make a difference for those in non-industrialized countries, we should stop giving them cheap technology and start helping them build an infrastructure and a way of sustaining themselves. We can do this by donating to them, canceling their debts (we are already in their debt by exploiting their ancestors during slavery, who unwillingly left their lands to build this nation we are so proud of), and a host of other ways. It is hard, but it is not impossible. Why else to we have such big brains? To make and play video games? To make as much money as we can before we die? To win at Jeopardy? Or is it to create a sustainable environment for our species (and since we ((all life on Earth)) are all dependent on each other, ALL species)? I guess I can't claim to know for sure, but I hope it isn't all for Jeopardy.