$100 Laptops

Don't get overly excited. This isn't about some hot deal at Futureshop or Staples (Price Match! Yeah!). This is about the folks at MIT trying to bridge the digital divide by mass-producing dirt-cheap laptop computers for children in third-world countries.

And no, I'm not here to discuss the problems presented by the digital divide. It's a fact, sad as it may be, that the third-world countries are at an increasingly extreme disadvantage when it comes to education and access to information. I'll let it rest at that for now.

What I really wanted to point out was one piece of this $100 puzzle. A most brilliant, most impressive, absolutely ingenious component that I think should come with every laptop. You guessed it: the hand crank-recharged battery. This has to be the brightest idea I've heard all year. Better yet, hook it up to a stationary bike and not only do you lower your electricity bill, but you get a decent workout to boot.