Some points that I think are being lost here are:

1) It's basically a 'teach a man to fish' kind of idea. I think it's too early for anyone on any side of the argument to say authoritatively how well that will work out.

2) People are transformed by the ideas they're exposed to -- even if they're warlord lackies with computers forcibly removed from the clutches of starving children. Hell, I assume the world will ultimately see some benefit from Nigerian youths using computers to execute 419 scams. Someday.

3) Because many people have gotten fired up about the OLPC idea and donated that would never donate to the Feed the Children fund or what have you, the choice isn't really between give starving children food or give starving children laptops -- in probably most cases, it's between give starving children laptops or give starving children nothing.