XO - To The Children Only!

No Commercialization for XO Laptops!

(Business Wire) January 12, 2007 - The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization's goal is to provide free laptop computers for children in developing nations. Children in countries from Brazil to Rwanda will benefit from the non-profit organization's efforts at getting XO laptops to them. The OLPC has no intentions of selling these inexpensive computers to the general public, contrary to previous reports. The press release essentially restated the organization's intent for this to be a philanthropic venture.  

In a statement issued by OLPC, the organization's founder Nicholas Negroponte said:

Contrary to recent reports, One Laptop Per Child is not planning a consumer version of its current XO laptop, designed for the poorest and most remote children in the world. XO will be made available to governments in very large quantities to be given to all children free, as part of the education system. Many commercial ventures have been considered and proposed that may surface in 2008 or beyond, one of which is ‘buy 2 and get 1.' In addition, OLPC is launching OLPC Foundation later this month, specifically to accommodate the huge goodwill and charity that has surfaced around the idea of a $100 laptop.

OLPC is a non-profit organization founded by Negroponte and other designers from MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture and distribute these significantly inexpensive computers. The organization's goal is to provide virtually every child in the world access to the most modern forms of education. These laptops will be sold to governments and distributed on the basis of one laptop per child.

The machines are of a rugged and energy efficient design. They can be powered by the children themselves, and Mesh networking can give the children Internet access from a hub connection. Initial pricing will be around $100, and will steadily decrease as production costs decline. The new laptops are due to begin production once 5-10 million units have been ordered. Quanta Computer Inc. of Taiwan has been chosen as the manufacturer for these neat machines. Quanta is the largest manufacturer of laptop computers in the world! I bet most of you did not know that! 

The take!

This latest press release deals with the intentions of the people at OLPC, and reports that these cheap computers might be marketed for sale for profit. In light of this latest news, we should all breath a sigh of relief that yet another wonderful project has not gone commercial. My associate here at Profy, Paul Glazowski, has covered this program rather extensively, and in a great deal of detail. So, for a much more informative look at the computers themselves and excellent commentary, please see his previous posts. 

In my little world, if there is a candidate for Web 2.0 poster child it would have to be One Laptop Per Child . In all the hub-bub about where we are going, how we are going to get there, and what is going to take us there, the total web community has to be the larger consideration. The thing to ponder is, how can we be a world community, if millions of children are excluded?

What could be more appropriate than bringing the world to children who might not otherwise ever get the chance to have ears, eyes, or a voice in what goes on. To some extent, this new communication tool we call the web is a voice in the darkness. This could be especially true considering the plight of the world's helpless kids. I applaud anything that gives knowledge, laughter, and most of all hope to children. Events such as this, should really outweigh some billionaire making more billions.  

We all know how little kids love hugs and kisses, XO.