Um even the article title is ignoring the point of olpc!! OLPC is an educational tool (and not a teacher as some people seemed to confuse it with, saying it won't "make" kids learn/study/etc.- neither does a textbook if you just give it to someone) for kids in developing, third-world countries- do you think they care about scholastic performance??? oh yes I'm sure they will be distracted from their other chores of being able to find food and water that's not contaminated! how can you compare that with kids who are being distracted from filling out boring math worksheets or SAT-prep homework? surfing online is way more productive in my opinion even if your grades are a little lower, b/c you're obviously reading/doing something you actually care about which is what leads to finding a hobby/job that you like, not worksheets and SAT prep.

And I replied in another thread, it really annoys me to hear this other often used argument- 'laptops for poor kids? this money would be better used buying them food and clean water!' That is a short-term solution that does nothing to actually help the people long-term or the social issues that are actually causing the symptoms. They need clean water? Give them a laptop so they can learn how to sanitize water with materials they have. Maybe they'll learn other things too, like about other countries and technologies or even inspiration to do something new to work on their country's problems.