| OLPC "Give 1, Get 1" promo starts Nov. 12 in the U.S. |
Sep. 24, 2007
 One Laptop Per Child's "XO" device -- commonly referred to as the $100 Linux laptop -- will be offered as part of a "Give 1, Get 1" promotional program in the U.S. and Canada beginning Nov. 12, the organization's director of software said Sept. 24.
"You give a laptop to a child in the developing world and get a laptop for yourself (or to give to a child or school) for $399, where $200 [of that total] is a tax-deductible donation," Walter Bender told DesktopLinux.com from his office in Cambridge, Mass.
"The goal is two-fold: jump-start the laptop program in the least-developed countries and broaden the community of users, developers, and support group for the laptop -- to engage the broadest possible community in this global learning project," Bender said.
Bender said he expects most Americans who participate in the program will donate them to local schools or youth organizations, while others will keep them for their own family or their own use.
Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of the nonprofit project told The New York Times today that even though the early reviews have been glowing and mass production is set to start next month, orders are slow.
"I have to some degree underestimated the difference between shaking the hand of a head of state and having a check written," Negroponte told New York Times reporter Steve Lohr. "And yes, it has been a disappointment."
Background on OLPC
OLPC, based at the MIT Media Lab, aims to distribute -- free of charge -- millions of low-cost, self-powered, low-cost Linux laptops to needy children around the world, with governments making the purchases. The original cost target for the OLPC laptops was $100, but that number has drifted upward slightly, over the past year or so, to $188.
The idea behind the OLPC laptop is to provide children with the opportunity to learn about learning itself -- to explore, experiment and express themselves, an OLPC spokesperson said. The laptops will be distributed in schools.
Key features of the OLPC laptop include a 7.5-inch 1200 x 900 pixel LCD screen, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera, built-in 802.11b/g wireless connectivity, and a customized version of Fedora Core Linux tailored for remote regions.
The device is based on a low-power, x86-compatible AMD Geode "embedded" processor clocked at 433MHz. It has 128MB of DRAM, along with 512MB of nonvolatile flash memory for program and data storage, and is equipped with three USB 2.0 ports for expansion. It boots via LinuxBIOS into Linux.
The OLPC project, based at the MIT media lab in Cambridge, is well into its second year. OLPC founding include AMD, News Corp, Google, Brightstar, Red Hat Linux, Nortel, Marvell, eBay, Quanta, Chi Mei, SES/Astra, and Citigroup. The United Nations and Inter-American Development Bank are its non-profit partners.
-- Chris Preimesberger
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