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Comment by ojbyrne | Hacker News Reader

At a dollar each pair (from the full article), he could sell them in the developed world at a massive profit, then use the money to subsidize spreading them through the developing world. Even if they're not as attractive or usable as glass lens (and the article doesn't suggest that at all) they'd be disposable. $20 for glasses I don't have to worry about losing? I'd buy a pair.

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There is no country in the world where a dollar is not affordable. From the countries I know:

1$ in China = 2 Packs of Cigarettes or 3 bowls of noodles

1$ in Africa = 2 Meals of Rice or 2 trips on a motorcycle

Why subsidize something that is so cheap? It's pointless and counterproductive. Treat other countries not like aid recipients, but like real people who can be traded with, and are happy to get cheap stuff just like you are.

"The [World] bank said there were 1.4 billion people — a quarter of the developing world — living in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 a day in 2005 in the world’s developing countries. Last year, the bank said there were 1 billion people living under $1 a day."

From http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/washington/27worldbank.htm...

I'm not saying you don't have a point, but the last time that I bought a pair of glasses, the whole affair—getting the prescription, and the frames, and the lenses—cost well over one day's salary for me. I'm sure that even for someone making just 75¢ a day, $1 for a pair of glasses would be considered a bargain if it means the difference in being able to see.

Several years ago my prescription glasses broke, so I replaced them with cheap non-prescription glasses for about five bucks. They weren't quite as good (I have astigmatism) but they were serviceable. Only recenlty did I get another pair of prescription glasses specifically for computer use. I spent several hundred doillars (even after insurance discounts) and they are not significantly better than the el cheapo ones I have been using. Yes, there is value in getting regular eye exams, but non-prescription cheap glasses work just fine for lots of people (and mine won't get filled with algae after a few weeks).

FWIW, algae shouldn't be a problem, because you don't have to use water; any clear fluid with a similar refractive index would work. Another article says they're actually using mineral oil.

$20 glasses? What about $8 glasses ordered online and shipped from Hong Kong? A friend of mine got these and they're definitely cheaper-feeling than your typical $130 pair, but at 8 bucks a pop, you can get a whole bunch and you're bound to like one of 'em:

http://zennioptical.com

(I'm not affiliated with them in anyway... just another near-sighted person happy about cheap glasses)

Good point. Ok, then $4 a pair. Gonna go look for my prescription so I can buy some $8 glasses now, thanks.

Some nice blog posts on buying cheap eyeglasses:

http://www.43folders.com/2007/11/29/adventures-40-eyeglasses

http://glassyeyes.blogspot.com/2006/11/from-3mew-eyeglasses-...

Weird. I was routinely buying glass lenses in India at $10. Now I am in Canada and I pay $150 or more for similar lenses.

I know of a company that is adopting this exact business model to distribute vaccines around the world.

Out of curiousity, vaccines for what illnesses?

Malaria, polio, and a few others, I think.

Malaria has no effective vaccine. Polio only exists in 3rd world countries at the moment, so it's doubtful it's sold in the first world to subsidize the 3rd world.

If a company is claiming to do this, they are very likely to be scammers.

I have my facts wrong, then. I don't know which vaccines they are working on, but I imagine they are ones that are commonly given out.

The company has not, to my knowledge, claimed to have a vaccine for malaria. Malaria just sounded to me like the kind of disease they'd try to fight.

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