absolutely. The OLPC looked like a well intentioned design-by-committee attempt of the first world people to solve the issue of the 3rd world. >giving access

absolutely. The OLPC looked like a well intentioned design-by-committee attempt of the first world people to solve the issue of the 3rd world. >giving access to standard pc platforms would be a much better starting point i've been in similar situation - end of 198x / start of 199x in Russia where we like the 3rd world were scrambling into computerization, and the standard PC platform with easy swappable/upgradeable components was the key here to the extent that even slightly non-standard brand-name PCs like Compaq/etc. were shunned away because the even so slightly customizations they had to their case, PSU, high-end adapters with custom drivers, custom usually non-upgradeable motherboards, etc. were making them practically feasible only to very rich companies/people.