Bill Gates Mocks MIT’s $100 Laptop Project

Bill Gates Mocks MIT’s $100 Laptop Project: “Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates mocked a $100 laptop computer for developing countries being developed with the backing of rival Google at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”

Normally I don’t post about stuff I read on the internet, but, what a complete bastard. I know Bill gives a lot of money to charity, but still. Yes a $100 laptop is going to be less spec’d than a $599-999 Origami computer, but I don’t see him giving those away to the third world. I am appalled that Bill feels the need to try to rain on the parade, of what I think is a wonderful project, for clearly business reasons. He quotes the major costs of software, support, and connectivity. Well connectivity is always going to be a cost, but these little laptops run on OSS. That means little or no software cost, and the support is something that can be learned and delivered from within the community.

In summary: if you don’t have a better solution to offer don’t bash charities, especially not for business reasons. It’s lame.

(Link via eWEEK Technology News.)