“Giving children basketballs will make them taller!”
In the mid 2000s there was a movement to give every child in Africa a laptop.
The laptops were supposed to transform African education and raise the standard of living.
Corporations and individuals raised hundreds of millions, shipping several million laptops to Africa.
The laptops often went unused, or became status symbols. Many broke down quickly and were unable to be repaired.
Later analysis found the laptops had no discernible impact on intelligence or reading ability.