The situation in Foxconn got so bad last year was partly because at first Foxconn compensated the suicide victims' relatives rather substantial amount of money, then copycat jumpers became epidemic.
The kid sold his kidney for $3000, a MacBook Pro 17" can easily command $3000. That's dangerously close to enough incentive.
I struggle to see a great incentive with I put $3k on a scale vs health issues, a major surgery, etc. I like to think kids are generally smarter than this one was.
I'm Chinese, some of us are getting richer by the day，some of us are obscenely wealthy, most of us are still poor, and then there are young kids in China willing to jump off a roof so that their family will get some $100.000 as compensate.
It actually makes me think that the iPad 2 part of the story may be entirely fictional: perhaps the kid made it up in order to seek publicity and attention.
But some will, and it would be tragic.
Also internet cafe and school both provide web access.