This argument about the hierarchy of needs is tired. Every time I see it posted it is almost always met with convincing rebuttals, and I'm surprised it got modd

This argument about the hierarchy of needs is tired. Every time I see it posted it is almost always met with convincing rebuttals, and I'm surprised it got modded up on HN. For all the OLPC's faults, it would not be better to for MIT's media lab to organize a way to give away food or medicine, nor would it have been better for the governments buying the computers to buy this food or medicine instead of the laptops. Both because this is what MIT's media lab and nerds are GOOD AT, and because you can't simply solve a countries nutritional or health problems for them; it's not sustainable and often makes things worse. Another point: the countries that are spending their educational budget on these are not full of staving kids and poor teachers. They are not recovering from tsunamis or civil wars. The idea is that they can save money on the books they would have (or should have) bought instead. You can argue this point, I don't actually know the specifics in each country, but at least start here instead of with the "oh lets buy them food instead" angle. The idea is that the laptops should allows the children to learn abilities which will raise the production of the country in the long run, which is the only sustainable way to lift people out of poverty. You started to argue this point with your cash register comment, but I don't think it was very effective. ( A. it implies we should ban calculators from school B. what everyday tasks are these laptops doing for the kids that the kids will never fully learn now?) Lastly, I reject the 'feel good' comment. First of all, solving the "real problems of the world" (whatever that means) is just as much of a 'feel good' program as OLPC. That's that charity is, get over it. This just happens to be how a subset of people think they can help. If you disagree, find some convincing arguments against it. Like I implied earlier, there are plenty.