I didn't read OLPC's mission statement--I'm a teacher and am sick of mission statements--but has anyone asked the kids what they do with their computers? All this study and inference, where is the grassroots info gathering? As a teacher, I'd love some big philanthropist to actually ASK ME what I'd like for my classroom or for my students. I have computers, but no class time to use them or even space to put them in my classroom. I teach ESL. If I had a year that I DIDN'T buy books for my students with my own money, I'd...I'd...well that'll never happen, so who cares what I'd do. I'm just a teacher.

Books for children are the best investment one can make. Computers can be costly distractions.

My mother taught grade school for years in Canada. Sesame Street, supposedly a great educational show, arrived in the mid seventies when cable came. It's an anecdotal statement but she attributes the arrival of Sesame Street with its short 2 to 3 minutes topic segments and then on to something else of negatively affecting childrens' attention span.

In my opinion computers are worst, especially as an entertainment source in the homes.