Can Consoles Plug the Digital Divide?

Why don't Microsoft, Sony and the other console manufacturers make it easy to turn their games systems into useful general purpose computers and announce that they are happy to have the hardware modified and new software installed, provided the resulting systems are used outside the developed world?

A few million extra computers could make a real difference in schools and colleges in Africa or elsewhere, and I would like to think that Max's old Xbox was helping someone else's child get online and change their life.

Perhaps Microsoft can celebrate its 30th year in business by opening up its hardware to the developing world and encouraging all of us who go out and buy its new games system to bring our old ones in for legal modification.

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~ Bill Thompson, BBC