Check out this NYTimes article on hardware developed specifically for the third world. I’m not sure how I feel about this. In much of the stuff I’m reading or have read, including the magnificent Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram, there is a significant concern over– again– the way of being that computer-based technology may lead us to (see my last post). Abram specifically talks about the necessity of honoring oral, indigenous cultures who are integrally connected to their physical world in every aspect. Now, of course, not all third world cultures fit this description. But a lot of them do. I don’t know if giving computers to such cultures is philanthropy… or just plain old narcissism….or, at its worst, racism. From the article: Negroponte’s XO laptop reveals a great deal about his worldview and how he and his colleagues perceive the benighted people they seek to enlighten.

Yikes.