Is Technology A Saviour?

I'm a big fan of technology and am always amazed at how far we have come as a human race to rely on technology. Sadly that "digital divide" exists as much as the monetary divide in our world today.

Hence I've wanted to know how technology can help those people who need help the most.
Would providing computers such as those $100 laptops be what developing societies need to improve their standard of living?

Having pulled out an old Economist magazine (2005!) and reading one of its Technology Quarterly sections, it pointed out that for some really poor people, computers do not even rate on their radar of things. The sad part is that it is not that they are rejecting technology, it is that they are oblivious to it. They are more concerned with sanitation, land, health, things that matter to their very survival.
Of course, technology does help those who have that basic level of literacy, to assist them with crop prices, exam results (for the school kids) etc. This does mean that it is helping those that are well off become more well off.

It just seems that there is a cut-off from where it cannot directly assist. In those cases, the investments in technology may be better used in health. Other low cost options such as radios may already provide that communication link that many developing communities lack.

It could be in this area of communication that technology may be able to radically assist. Wireless communication could reduce the costs of transactions for all sorts of people. From this question and answer on what factors will affect developing countries using mobile phones as point of sales devices seems to have a bright future.

I am sure that going forward, there will be many more advances in technology to help developing countries, but until we get some of the basics worked out, it won't help those that really need it.