So how instead should world-saving organizations be helping educate rural areas?
I at least like the idea that the OLPC units are ruggidized.
Of course, most of the non-American non-European world accesses content via cell phone, so perhaps we should have Negriponte shift focus and have us buying ruggedized iPhones or iPads.
I agree - simply throwing laptops at children is throwing money away - and unguided use of the laptops may mean children are simply wasting time playing games or chatting instead of seeking out useful information and relationships. A much better way to bring the benefits of the internet to remote villages is the Questionbox which Alan Reiter wrote about on IE in 2009.
Well, coltree, I'm viewing corporate obligations in theory, not practice. Just because the reality falls short of where it needs to be is no excuse for dropping the values of free but lawful enterprise.
"And actually, business are obliged to do more than make money. They must follow the laws of the lands in which they make that money. And making that money doesn't preclude planning for the betterment of the societies they hope will sustain their ventures long term."
Wow you must live in the States, there's no law in Oz forcing social conscience on corporations. Our companies are run for pure profit - pillage, rape and burn and white collar crime generally attracts very, very light sentences.
Haven't most of the big boys in the banking sector gotten off scott free after collapsing the world into the GFC.
I have no argument with the proposition that every child deserves an education. At the same time I have some sympathy with Trevor's point which - if I understand him correctly - is that it's pointless to offload laptops or other sophisticated communications devices on families unable to meet the bare necessities of living.
These families need help, but this isn't the place to start. Computers in schools for children attending schools sounds much more realistic.
Agreed, Mary. The freedom to make money is based on following the laws at a minimum and contributing to a larger benefit to society in better companies. The whole point of creating an awareness of what companies like Google are destroying (in opportunities) rather than creating and building will reduce the opportunity for the game players to win at that game.
It doesn't matter how you dress it up, greed and crime are no better in white collars than blue collars; in fact, they are worse. It's up to all of us to call it what it is - which is what is great about this article.
I was not speaking of what should be. I was speaking of reality. Ideally, every child should have an education. Unfortunately, that is not what actually happens.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
The US National Security Agency learned the hard way that it can be dangerous to give a contractor too much money and access, with too little scrutiny. The NSA and other government agencies hire tens of thousands of contractors
a year to analyze data. Edward Snowden -- who revealed himself as the NSA leaker after fleeing the country -- was one such contractor, reportedly holding a $122,000 salaried position at Booz Allen Hamilton at the time of his departure.
Midsize businesses rarely achieve the same standards of security in their own datacenters as professional providers that specialize in delivering these services to organizations.
Big-data and analytics tools enable marketers to understand customers as individuals, identifying unmet needs and addressing each customer as a "segment of one," says John Kennedy, VP corporate marketing, IBM.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The IBM Smarter Commerce Global Summit in Monaco kicked into high gear today, and we've already begun to see news emerging from that lovely city-state by the sea.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
