The computer isn't just another tool. It isn't like a hammer, or the steam engine, or the internal combustion engine... It's something that has already completely transformed the way everything in our culture is done to varying extents. Nothing compares to the effect that the computer has, and will have on humanity. So yes, getting people a computer won't neccessarily "turn things around" but it will give them opportunity to be more than a beast of burden when they are grown. More than any other tool of even 10x cost. It's a lifelong learning tool.