The name is a little confusing, but the cause is a good one. No Gadgets for Haiti is a site on which you can take the cash you were going to waste on yet another shiny plastic gee-gaw and send to to do some good in Haiti, where things seem to be getting still worse.
Unlike the rather sickening PR pitches that came our way on the back of the earthquake and seeking to profit from disaster, this site is merely a clever reframing of donations. We’re reluctant to donate small sums for a good cause, but happy to drop hundreds on an “essential” replacement for a gadget we already own. No Gadgets for Haiti twists this around, making €69 (the price of a Magic Mouse) seem like a cheap donation.
Lest you worry about the morals of the people behind the scheme, don’t. The small group of nerds and programmers from the Netherlands, headed up by Bart Veldhuizen (the renouncer of the Magic Mouse), doesn’t have anything to do with the money. Instead, you donate via the Red Cross or other respected agency and simply fill out your name, item and its price. It’s kind of a league-table for generous nerds, and best of all, you can always go ahead and buy the widget next week.
In fact, this project dovetails nicely with Last Year’s Model, a site that argues you should keep your old gadgets rather than upgrading to the latest shiny tonys.
The top item on No Gadgets for Haiti so far is the $183 Aiptek T-20 USB Mini Pico Projector, turned down by Joris. The sheer accuracy of that listing is quite wonderful on its own, and sums up exactly why geeks are such great people.
No Gadgets for Haiti [No Gadgets for Haiti] Thanks, Joris
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