Markoff does a fine job of easing the reader into the concept of Nicholas Negroponte’s outside-the-box computer for the world’s underserved children. The vested interests snub the idea, having invested so much in more expensive, more conventional “cheap” laptops (especially those who don’t use Linux’s open source OS); the haves say the have-nots need something else, instead---which they aren’t likely to get. The resistance to a machine where children can take responsibility shows how ingrained is adult underestimation of the young mind: give the children in these five target countries these computers, and they will grow up with them as second nature, and focus on what they teach, rather than the medium that teaches them. The article, buttressed by a wealth of involving and concrete detail, moves in five large sections: the basic idea---the resistance---the roll-out---the self-extending network capabilities---and the actuality of the machines getting to the kids. The attitude “Since it hasn’t been done, it can’t be done” is undergoing a paradigm shift to “If it can be thought, it will be done.” One hopes that Markoff keeps us posted on how Negroponte’s project develops. Maybe the