NewsForge: Commentary: Gates Wants Poor to Spend $600+, Not $100 or $200, for Computers

“I don’t make these things up. I just read the news, in this
case a Reuters article about Bill Gates expressing disdain for $100
stripped-down, crank-powered laptops running Linux while pushing a
Microsoft-sponsored ‘ultra-mobile computer’ expected to cost
between $599 and $999. While I–like many others–have doubts that
putting $100 ultra-basic laptops in poor children’s hands will
solve the world’s problems, I resent Gates’s attitude. I’d like one
of the ‘$100 machines’ myself, even if it costs me $200 or
$300.

“I’ve wanted something like this for years: a tiny, simple
portable computer I could use to type stories on the go; something
with a larger screen and a little more oomph than a PDA or
fancied-up cell phone, but smaller (and cheaper) than a full-tilt
laptop. Connectivity would be a must for me, either directly
through a built-in wireless or wired connection or through a cable
connected to my cellular phone…”

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