Technology Gap

Is there now a technology chasm between the developed and the developing worlds?

For a while now something has been bugging me about all this wonderful web-based technology and these fantastic, new, freely available whizz-bang applications which could have an amazing effect on the education of our children. Don't get me wrong all these ideas really are superb, and there is a serious amount of work being put in to analyse the effect web 2.0 etc can have. BUT I am worried that all this stuff is being done for a generation for whom education is no-longer seen as a right with the accompanying responsibilities but as a mere disruption for 5 days a week; a generation to whom huge amounts are given yet relatively little is asked (that should be DEMANDED) in return.
Turn that around, what effect could all these resources, technology have on kids in the developing world, for some of whom school is an unattainable goal. Why shouldn't they be able to download free resources off the net to help them learn. Imagine if they could freely access learning resources instead of buying pre-loved text books (at close to brand new price). I, and many other fortunate people in this country, have experienced African children's desire to learn...over 200 students used to turn up to my Saturday morning classes.
If we could get this content to them the educational gaps which currently exist would surely shrink along with cultural misunderstandings. But here's the rub, HOW? I really wish I had an idea how something like this would work but I don't. Would pre-loaded mp3/4 players be an idea (a la DoBe)? How can countries whose telephone network barely functions bring it up to the necessary quality to enable high speed broadband...at an affordable price?
To be honest I would think using landline technology in somewhere like Cameroon would not work. But what about mobiles. Africa is the fastest growing mobile market in the world. Mobiles have completely changed how Africa communicates with itself. Would mobile phone companies allow for example educational resources to be placed on their portals and to be freely accessed by subscribers? Obviously requiring the necessary capacity on their networks? But then that would bring in the old chestnut of censorship...SMS has been disabled on the Ethiopian networks because anti-government protesters organised themselves via text during the last elections!!! Unfortunately I don't know the answers to these questions, but I am sure there are folk out there who do...and who will probably make a fortune out of the poor as usual.
Lets hope Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child idea manages to work out and overcome Intels Classmate.

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[Dave]

Interesting article, another interesting aspect I read about was a "developing world" creative commons license for books. Its a form of copyright, or copyleft rather, that means in developing countries there is no copyright on the book so they can be printed copied and distributed as cheaply as possible raising development.

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001217.html

The Developing Nations license allows, for the first time, any copyright holder in the world to participate first-hand in reforming global information policy. The fact is that most of the world's population is simply priced out of developed nations' publishing output. To authors, that means an untapped readership. To economists, it means "deadweight loss." To human rights advocates and educators, it is a tragedy. The Developing Nations license is designed to address all three concerns.