Somewhere between communism and libertarianism there must be a healthy middle way, such that overall growth is promoted.

Inequality is a fact of reality, with disparities of intelligence, physical abilities, resources, and environment to be acknowledged and worked with, rather than ignored or artificially equalized.

Inequality can be a motivator for individual, and thus group, progress. But excessive inequality can be demotivating.

Sharing the wealth is effective only up to the point where it helps to give everybody the opportunity to be successful. I believe this includes basic healthcare, education, and safety.

Given more than that, people lose the motivation to be productive. Given less, people lose the ability to be productive.

Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Labs, has been outlining designs for a sub-$100 PC.

The laptop will be tough and foldable in different ways, with a hand crank for when there is no power supply.

Professor Negroponte came up with the idea for a cheap computer for all after visiting a Cambodian village.

His non-profit One Laptop Per Child group plans to have up to 15 million machines in production within a year.

A prototype of the machine should be ready in November at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia.

Children in Brazil, China, Egypt, Thailand, and South Africa will be among the first to get the under-$100 (£57) computer, said Professor Negroponte at the Emerging Technologies conference at MIT.

The following year, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney plans to start buying them for all 500,000 middle and high school pupils in the state.

Professor Negroponte predicts there could be 100 million to 150 million shipped every year by 2007.