I noticed this story in the New York Sun the other day, describing how the famous One Laptop Per Child organization is donating many of their machines to New York City Public Schools, starting with two elementary schools in the Bronx. Started by MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte around 2005, the organization has made news around the world, as Negroponte meets with presidents, governors, economic leaders, the World Economic Forum, all about providing a useful laptop for $100 each to children in developing nations. That initial goal has proven impossible, $200 proved more realistic. The project is not without controversy, and initial supporter/collaborator Intel has since split off, leaving in a huff after reaching a "philosophical impasse" to design their own "emerging market" model, the Classmate PC.
Still, so far, millions have been purchased and are in use all over the world. And the New York Sun story brings up the question that has always bugged me: why, exactly, is there no organization doing this in the U.S.? Nothing against their mission, but we have at least hundreds of thousands of students in poverty here with little to no access to a computer. Even most middle class families, I would wager, wouldn't buy their child a laptop normally. Why can't we get those machines here, in our schools? Given our infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities, and with some government funding, we could easily have these in every school in the country very quickly. Hm. Maybe this is the beginning? Feel free to let me know your thoughts.
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