quote: "While the laptop created by the One Laptop Per Child project has  
impressed many with its efficient design, it has provoked doubters who  
don't think it can really make a difference in the world. The project's  
founder and the MIT Media Laboratory's founding director, Nicholas  
Negroponte, thinks that too much attention is being given to the computer  
itself and not to the mission of global education he is trying to promote,  
but whether technology is more helpful than educational structure is being  
debated. "=====>" Intel and Microsoft stand as two of the biggest skeptics  
"<===="; Bill Gates questions whether the idea is "just taking what we do  
in the rich world," and making the assumption that it will be something  
good for the developing world as well. Seymour Papert, a computer  
scientist and educator who is an advisor in the project, claims that the  
machines will give the children new opportunities to explore, and "learn  
how to learn," which he feels is more important than traditional teaching  
techniques that simply focus on memorization. Stanford University  
education professor "=====>" Larry Cuban disagrees "<=====": "I think it's  
wonderful that the machines will be put in the hands of children and  
parents, and it will have an impact on their lives. However, if part of  
their rationale is that it will revolutionize education in various  
countries...I think they are being naive and innocent about the reality of  
formal schooling." Prototypes have been developed to prove the worth of  
the computers to government leaders in developing nations, and five  
countries--Argentina, Thailand, Nigeria, Libya, and Brazil--have already  
made tentative commitments to provide millions of the computers to  
students. The laptop is expected to go into production in Taiwan by mid  
2007." unquote.
New York Times (11/30/06) P. A1; Markoff, John
- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/technology/30laptop.html