Ethics Newsline®

LONDON
With the holiday gift-giving season looming, talk in ethics circles is once again centering on the proper gift to convey a sense of social responsibility.

As has been reported in previous years’ editions of Ethics Newsline®, popular choices have included Fairtrade foods, ethically sourced clothing, charity donations, adoption of endangered species, and purchasing livestock for families in the developing world.

This season, though, the trend seems to be leaning toward the high-tech: Times of London reporter Jonathan Richards writes that “this year’s ethical Christmas present has a more 21st century feel — a laptop equipped with wi-fi.”

“The project that aims to bring $100 computers to the developing world, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), has said it will enable Western customers to donate machines as Christmas gifts.

“For $399,” Richards notes, “customers in the U.S. and Canada will be able to purchase two laptops — one for themselves, the other for a child in a poor country — as part of an initiative called ‘Give One, Get One.’ ”

The OLPC laptop, which developers say may in a few years live up to its original promise of being available for only $100, is specially engineered to withstand the strain of being used in rural villages. It features an extra-bright screen that can be read outside and a wind-up crank to power it.

According to the Times, orders for the laptops will be taken in a two-week period beginning November 12.