Even more worryingly, the fascination with the internet by people in rich countries has moved the international community to worry about the 'digital divide' between the rich countries and the poor countries. This has led companies, charitable foundations and individuals to donate money to developing countries to buy computer equipment and internet facilities. The question, however, is whether this is what the developing countries need the most. Perhaps giving money for those less fashionable things such as digging wells, extending electricity grids and making more affordable washing machines would have improved people's lives more than giving every child a laptop computer or setting up internet centres in rural villages. [...]