How would it help Chinese workers is they are out of jobs???
It wouldn't. But slave labor and unemployment are not the only options.
How would it help the developed world if everything costs more???
You might see a resurgence of a local service industry repairing these more expensive components. So the chinese could get paid more to build higher quality parts, and we wouldn't need to buy a new keyboard every year, and there would be some moderately skilled service jobs in the developed world.
When people/companies/countries trade, then both of the trading partners are better off. Otherwise they wouldn't trade...
Trade is generally, though not always, good for society as a whole. It is always good for the traders. It is often not good for the labors, especially when one partner in the trade uses unethical labor practices to reduce prices.
I'm no Microsoft fan, but it sounds as if $59.25 to get a completely different commercial OS, XP, isn't an egregious fee when you purchased the crummy consumer version of the newer OS, Vista.
In order to purchase the XP 'downgrade', you also had to purchase Vista Business. So the actual cost over Vista Home was closer to $150 dollars. Linux, or no OS, was probably not available as an option, arguably because of Microsoft's unfair business practices.
It runs with two chips, one from ARM and one from Intel. The ARM chip, provides instant on booting and is much more power efficient, while the Intel chip provides the juice to run apps that require more computing power.
So Linux can do heavy lifting, but the ARM chipping running it can't.
What does string instruments have to do with anything? The word you're looking for is "voila"
Technically it is voila` (can't seem to use the correct accent character).
As for why it's expensive, batteries cost a lot, as do wireless certification and licenses (802.11x or Bluetooth).
All of which are irrelevant for a wall-wart powered device developed by the Indian government using a COTS wireless chip.
Actually, the photo posted in the addendum blog makes it look like this isn't even a wireless device.
After Goliath's defeat, giants ceased to command respect. - Freeman Dyson