Egad: "no-tech culture" usability experiment

I'm appalled. Found on Digital Photography Blog, an article in the Seattle Times: Digital world set to invade no-tech culture.

The isolated Huli Wigmen of Papua New Guinea don't know it yet, but they are about to land in the digital world... The excursion is the brainchild of Richard Bangs, a Seattle adventurer and travel promoter, who persuaded Hewlett-Packard to provide digital cameras and a printer for the trip... No, Bangs won't ask the Huli to invent. Rather, he'll ask them to take pictures of what they consider to be beautiful. His crew will do the same. The work will be posted on MSNBC.com along with a travelogue.

"The holiday retail season is an opportune time to demonstrate how easy our digital photography products are to use," Mary Bermel, an HP global-brand advertising senior manager, said in a written response to questions. "If villagers in remote communities can use and enjoy our products, so can the average consumer."

This is wrong on so many cultural, research, and social levels, they can't even be enumerated in a clippings blog.