I am not a big proponent of having more “stuff.” Most of the time having stuff is just a way of figuring out what to do if you have too much money (hint: the answer is have less money). One bit of stuff I think everyone should have however is access to the internet. This most often means that they are going to need a computer. I think the internet is so far one of the best things people have ever come up with. So long as it stays free and open (which not everyone wants) it allows the quick spread of knowledge, and you know what they say about knowledge and power. Think of all the searches done on Google in a day. Who answered those questions before the internet? Did people even bother asking them because they didn’t have a place to find the answer. With this in mind I think the One Laptop Per Child foundation is doing something pretty cool.

Information is a democratizing force. When everyone has access to knowledge they can make informed decisions, the nature of the internet, that it is open and so collaborative means that it also inherently brings us together. If you have friends you chat with you say live in Sweden, and a horrible flood happens in Sweden, you don’t care in an abstract way, you care in a very personal way.

There are a million other examples (good and bad) for how having access to the internet changes your life. Some bad, most good. I can’t wait to see everyone on earth connected. (and I am digging the idea of solar laptops for the masses, with solar wifi, could Africa leapfrog us?)