OLPC at a turning point

The key part of that quote is "a well designed learning tool" - the hackability is not the
main goal, although in my view (and the author's) it is also important.

OLPC is not just a laptop, it's a way of very cheaply distributing textbooks and educational
applications, compared to the cost of printing text books, paying for many extra teachers,
etc.  It may actually be a very cost effective way of improving education, and it's certainly
worth a try - existing approaches have not generated a step change in the number of children
who reach a high level of education.

OLPC's openness is important for developing countries as a secondary and longer term goal,
because it will also spread technology awareness and help create a small percentage of real
hackers who will be able to kick-start the country's IT industry when they are a little older.