Design for the Poor

This speaks for itself - a NYT article on innovative design for the poor.

The one thing that I saw as totally brilliant is the rolling water jug. Of course - that will just free up more room on the person's heads. Now village women in Africa (the intended beneficiaries) will be pulling water behind them, probably in trains of 3-5 jugs per woman, with 60 lbs of stuff on their heads, and a baby on their backs. It's the productivity/technology curse, right? The more we invent to make our lives easier, the more time we have to get more work done...