We pay more for Third-World tech
Share Now on:
We pay more for Third-World tech
TEXT OF STORY
Lisa Napoli: You may have heard about this low-cost laptop out there that was designed for the world’s poorest children. Until today, you couldn’t buy one in the United States. From WBUR, Curt Nickisch says: Now you can.
Curt Nickisch: Nicholas Negroponte founded One Laptop Per Child to educate poor children. But his cheap, rugged laptop has found an audience in the rich U.S. — even though he said he’d never sell it here.
Nicholas Negroponte: We’re eating our words now and doing it in the United States, albeit for a financial reason.
Negroponte wants to harness U.S. dollars to keep the cost down for the developing world. The laptop will cost you $400 here.
But you’re basically buying two: the second goes to a child in a poor country. The Kermit Green and white laptop runs on just 2 watts, ideal for Third World conditions.
Negroponte’s curious to see how Americans will use it.
Negroponte: I don’t think too many kids in the United States are gonna hand-crank their laptop.
Good thing it also comes with a power supply.
In Boston, I’m Curt Nickisch for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
