Richard Littledale's
Views on the News: December 2005

All I want for Christmas 2005…

…is a lime-green wind-up laptop. At the recent UN Net summit in Tunis, Professor Nicholas Negroponte of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology unveiled his prototype wind-up laptop for children in developing countries (see BBC website story. This remarkable, robust machine will be made available to governments in developing countries at a cost of $100 per unit. Children fortunate enough to be provided with one will be able to use it for homework, for communicating with each other, for accessing the world wide web, and even for watching television!

There is no doubt that the technology involved to make such a complex machine so simple is awesome. Furthermore, even a cursory look at the projections (see BBC website summary) shows that the gap between info-rich and info-poor is set to continue. If it does so, many in these countries will end up not only physically poor, but educationally and technologically isolated too. That said, would a wind-up laptop be at the top of the Christmas list for children in the world's poorest countries? With hunger snapping at their heels, aids threatening their bodies, and brothers and sisters lost through preventable diseases and poor sanitation, maybe it would not. The clash of needs, and the struggle between the immediate and the long-term exercises some of the finest minds in strategic planning.

Even those with many resources must make tough decisions about where to place them. Choosing gifts at Christmas time gets harder, and not easier, as one's choices and resources expand. Have you chosen your Christmas gifts yet? Will you opt for utility or frivolity? Will you choose the gift that you know is needed, or the unexpected gift that is sure to surprise? Choices, choices…

With all the resources of all the galaxies to choose from, God chose the gift of his own flesh and blood for a needy world. At Christmas we remember a God who chose with great care for the recipients, but a scant disregard for the cost to the giver. As we see the Christ child lying in the manger, we see the love and wisdom of the God who chose this as his gift to us. Unlike anybody else, rich or poor, he really knew what was needed most.