Interesting article in New York Times today about Microsoft’s efforts to bring computing to the poor. One of the images that still stick in my head of visiting China eight years ago was a guy riding down the street on a rickety bike talking on a cell phone.

Over on TeleRead David Rothman says he hopes that MIT’s approach wins cause it’s easier to read on a big-screen device. Hey, I agree with that, but most of the world doesn’t. Go visit London. I rarely see someone reading a laptop or Tablet PC, but EVERYONE is staring into their cell phone screens. It’s really a huge cultural difference between the US and Europe (same can be said of US and Japan too).

Also, don’t underestimate the readability on the new high resolution screens. I read thousands of words per day on my cell phone. It’s amazing how many things you can do on a two-inch cell phone screen.

I also watch the kids around me. They’d rather have a cell phone than a big computer. Why? Cause they can talk! And they can carry the thing around with them everywhere. Oh, and it’s affordable. Very few kids can afford a $1,000 laptop.

What do you think?