We Need Schools... Not Factories
In the Developing World, Books Are Alive and Well
Those of you reading this may be from a download society, but in the developing world, books are not dead. Books need no electricity or power switch and require no maintenance. Colorful children's books are single-purpose devices; a child can focus on the book fully with no distractions and thus have a richer experience. I am often asked, "Why aren't our children's titles available in digital form?" When asked this, my mind flashes to the tiny remote villages I have visited in Nepal, Cambodia and India where running water and food are in short supply. Electricity would be an extravagance and broadband is a luxury that has not yet reached hundreds of thousands of villages. I sincerely hope I live to see a day when any child in the world can walk into a digital library and access thousands of books, in their chosen language at the touch of a button, but I believe that day is further away than we imagine. There is the risk of putting the cart before the horse.
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