1. this money wouldn't be there if it wasn't for OLPC. It's not like there's just a pool of money that gets disbursed to whichever issue is most pressing. There are plenty of reasons people don't just donate to provide food, increasing dependence of the people is one. This money only exists because the people giving it felt that the OLPC was a worthwhile cause. Just like you can't tell Open Source programmers what projects to work on, you can't tell people which causes to donate to. You start a cause you believe in, and hope you can get others to believe in it too.

2. this isn't about providing Internet access. It's about education reform. There are few (if any) problems more pressing than education in developing countries. Education is one of those fundamentals (yes, like food). And many people think problems such as AIDS (which, at least in Africa, affects more people than starvation) and genocide are best reduced through education. Also, this is not a new cost for countries, but a replacement cost. The laptop is targeting the annual cost of per-student supplies. It pulls their education system from the dark ages to well ahead of our own, allowing them (as they get older) to participate in a global service-oriented economy that can provide an economic boost to their countries.

Greg, I agree with what you are saying, that education will ultimately alleviate a lot of the problems in Africa...but what about the short term problems like hunger? I know, some people will buy a family a goat, others will send some grain...and some will send laptops depending on their own interest. I tend to give based on my emotional reaction to the charity, and perhaps that is selfish but at least I know that someone is getting helped now because of some little thing I did.

OLPC is getting a lot of media attention, and I worry that perhaps all that attention is taking some well-needed attention away from more traditional charities.