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OLPC Laptop to sell to public
news.bbc.co.uk — Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called "$100 laptop". The organisation behind the project has launched the "give one, get one" scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198).
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- dreea, on 10/17/2007, -28/+5who will do that? who has the money to buy two computers at once will not buy cheap crap, but something expensive. the computer company should rather donate 100 bucks for every computer they sell...
- ssam, on 10/17/2007, -2/+31because it is a really amazing laptop. it has many clever features:
dual mode screen (for direct sunlight)
mesh networking
advanced powermanagement (the cpu can suspend between key strokes, the screen can stay on with gpu off, network card still meshes with system power off)
very compact.
for what it is $399 is pretty good - thcobbs, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5OLPC: Bringing the PR0N to kids... WORLD WIDE!
- ShrimpCrackers, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Those are the first steps to World Peace. Why fight ethnic battles when there is so much to fap to? Thats right, these kids will learn that all ladies of all ethnic races and religions are equally hot. Now if you excuse me, I've got some OLPC compatible porn sites to make.
- teknomunk, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6This has bells and whistles that the name brands don't have (see ssam's post above)
- ChrisAlbon, on 10/17/2007, -2/+10Who will do that? I am more excited about buying a OLPC than an iphone.
- ssam, on 10/17/2007, -2/+31because it is a really amazing laptop. it has many clever features:
- jakethecake, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Bogin Boing's OLPC post
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/23/one-laptop-pe ...
OLPC XO laptop page. (Where you can sign up for an email reminder, when the laptops become available.)
http://www.xogiving.org/- MrAnderson, on 10/17/2007, -8/+2$400 for a $100 laptop. Fantastic. I have a $100, so why can't I afford a $100 laptop?
- louiedog, on 10/17/2007, -0/+4These laptops were designed for you, they were designed for kids in developing countries. You want to throw down $100 on a laptop you don't even need when the parents of these kids don't spend that much on food in a year.
- qwertydvorak, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1what would help these kids more? people not paying double to buy them, or people buying them at a small ($10-20 markup donation) and helping bring up the economies of scale.
- mushoo, on 10/17/2007, -0/+1You know what would help you and all of us more?
To think and read before posting uniformed comments.
No one is paying double.
(from the article)
"The machine's price has recently increased from $176 (£88) to $188 (£93) although the eventual aim is to sell the machines for $100 (£50)."
- louiedog, on 10/17/2007, -0/+4These laptops were designed for you, they were designed for kids in developing countries. You want to throw down $100 on a laptop you don't even need when the parents of these kids don't spend that much on food in a year.
- jakethecake, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2digg cut the link in half, sorry about that.
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/23/one-laptop-pe ...
- MrAnderson, on 10/17/2007, -8/+2$400 for a $100 laptop. Fantastic. I have a $100, so why can't I afford a $100 laptop?
- schestowitz, on 10/17/2007, -20/+9The project would have gone on as planned if it were not for Microsoft, Intel and some others who were interfering and sabotaging the project. This subversion comes to show that when charity comes in the way of greedy abusive monopolies, there's trouble. The world is still corrupt and it does not want social gaps to be bridged. Just money, money, money.
Sickening.- ssam, on 10/10/2007, -1/+18the project is going as planned.
the increased cost is mostly to do with the value of the dolar and an increase in features.
also the $100 price was never expected imediately. its the goal for the price once these are being produced in volume. - Phocion55, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6All I remember is Microsoft trying to piggy-back the project and get a crippled version of WinXP installed on it by default.
I don't think anything actually became of it tho.- Damhna, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Microsoft are developing an XP style application that will run on the system.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_myths#The_proposed_ ...
I know that doesn't really tie in with the whole Evil Empire thing but it is a little closer to what we like to call fact.- Phocion55, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4"But since the OLPC project is open we cannot (and maybe even don't want to) stop other people from developing and supplying alternate software packages."
.......and Microsoft profits off of open source yet again........ - Borgcube, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1So how does Microsoft profit of Open Source yet again? I don't think Microsoft even has ANYTHING TO DO with the laptops or the Open Source software on it,
- Borgcube, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Triple post, stupid posting system :/
- Borgcube, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Edit: triple post, sorry :/
- Phocion55, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4"But since the OLPC project is open we cannot (and maybe even don't want to) stop other people from developing and supplying alternate software packages."
- Damhna, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Microsoft are developing an XP style application that will run on the system.
- ssam, on 10/10/2007, -1/+18the project is going as planned.
- sirhomer, on 10/10/2007, -2/+17Sounds like something I'd be interested in. Perhaps a school here in the states can take advantage of this offer?
- blackwallet, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1yea, just hope that this guy doesn't get his hands on those OLPC:
http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Thief_posts_his_own_p ... - flaare, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Why would you want it go to US schools? Isn't the idea of the OLPC to help children of developing countries?
- WorldRTomi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0if one laptop is offered to a child in developing countries for 1 laptop bought for a us child, I think it's fair.
It would be great to see children from both "world" collaborate on OLPC related projects and the children from developping countries wouldn't see those laptop as dumbed down laptops as the us children would use the very same tool.
- WorldRTomi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0if one laptop is offered to a child in developing countries for 1 laptop bought for a us child, I think it's fair.
- j2cad, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0with the majority of jobs in the us becoming more and more technical, and the amount of people that don't have the technical skills to do these jobs we need to educate the children (and adults) of this country to be able to do these jobs or we will soon be the third world country. i would like to be able to buy one for my own use or to donate to a local school and have the other donated in the US to someone else that needs and would use it.
- blackwallet, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1yea, just hope that this guy doesn't get his hands on those OLPC:
- DuffyDirect, on 10/10/2007, -20/+2But is it running ubuntu? If no, then this doesn't belong on Digg!!!!
- techmonkey4u, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1/sarcasm
- scenaRIOh, on 10/10/2007, -9/+0I have a feeling that we're going to be hearing about this "$100 laptop" for the next couple of years without actually seeing the damn thing
- grieks, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Your comment was valid a couple of years ago.
RTFA or just look at the pics - weeble, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5I've seen it.. held it in my hands.. and even used it. The design is simple and really quite smart. The way software is loaded and runs is also kind of slick. I tried to talk them into letting me keep the one I was using, but they insisted I give it back... I would love to have one
- GrendelT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I own one.
http://neodux.com/?view=sortby.php&cat=olpc
- grieks, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Your comment was valid a couple of years ago.
- Plotinus, on 10/17/2007, -11/+3errm, $100 x 2 is $200. What am I missing?
- redcard, on 10/17/2007, -9/+7It was $100 US at one time. But, it seems that they are doing many of the deals in Euros due to the weak dollar.
I remember when 198GBP was pretty close to $200. Now it's not. Thanks Bush. - graemee, on 10/17/2007, -0/+4Math lessons
- mushoo, on 10/17/2007, -0/+1He couldn't use them. It would require an attention span longer than his gold fish memory allows. He didn't even bother looking past the headline.
- redcard, on 10/17/2007, -9/+7It was $100 US at one time. But, it seems that they are doing many of the deals in Euros due to the weak dollar.
- leomyhero, on 10/10/2007, -4/+7glad to see this finally happening! Please digg up!
- pukufek, on 10/17/2007, -13/+2It would be ok if these laptops didnt look like ***** and come with an OS that looks even worse. Although id rather see these laptops sold in the developed world than give Nigerian kids more tools to spam us with and make western programmers redundant.
- Ansible, on 10/17/2007, -1/+6Yarr! Are you available for parties! I need a troll to ***** in my punchbowl!
- tedhead2k, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7This is a really good cause, and the laptop is half decent too, or at least something you can give to a family member who just needs the basics. If it's available to Canada, I'll seriously consider getting one.
- Hickeroar, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1If you know where you look, you can find a REAL laptop for under $200. I see no reason to spend the money on this goofy looking thing.
- pukufek, on 10/17/2007, -21/+2OLPC sold to 3rd world children has precisely 3 uses:
1) Spamming westerners
2) Watching western porn
3) Taking tech jobs from westerners
Before long, the only viable export the west will have will be the porn industry, and China will still beat us.- Rukaribe, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6No, look at the bigger picture. To have a good society you need infrastructure, which means you need educated people to build and economy to support that infrastructure which needs infrastructure in the first place. To break this loop you need a kick start, many nations did it by over powering other nations. But in this age that is not possible, the best way is through education, and with how life is now, education revolves around the computer. Once these children learn the basics of computers they will be much more able to become successful. Basically the computer is their window to opportinity. It's not as simple as you make it, there are so many variables and other such things that it is hard to explain. Basically this is a realistic program that has benefits that are hard to even anticipate.
- wiirdo, on 10/17/2007, -12/+7Why not just $399 will donate two laptops to a needy child? You will look like a retard sitting in Starbucks with one of these.
- Damhna, on 10/17/2007, -0/+8It's not really designed for people old enough to drink coffee.
My 5 year old will be getting one of these for Christmas.
The altrustic elements nonwithstanding it is a great way for me to keep those sticky fingers off the keyboard/mouse on our primary family PC while he gets his fix of Noggin. - thestorey, on 10/17/2007, -2/+13You look like a retard sitting in starbucks in general...
- geminitojanus, on 10/17/2007, -0/+2You can donate right now $x00 where x is a multiple of 2. They have it set up already. So if you want to spend $400 and buy two OLPCs for some poor children somewhere, feel free.
The machines for the Buy One Send One program aren't available yet though.
- Damhna, on 10/17/2007, -0/+8It's not really designed for people old enough to drink coffee.
- i208khonsu, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22Can you write off half of the price as a donation?
- cakeeating, on 10/17/2007, -0/+6yeah. http://www.xogiving.org/faq.html
- ncc74656m, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I'm sure that the price difference comes in with the idea that this can only be the $100 laptop if a sufficient quantity is ordered, thus bringing down the prices for the components.
That said, I tend to agree with the above: Yes, we need to spread education and wealth across the world, but with millions of children below the poverty line in our own borders, don't we have something better to do with our money?
On the other hand, Kiva.org is a nice way to spread the economy, and it's not even a gift, rather, a loan.- drewskyjones, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I love Kiva. If you have $25 you can live without, you can truly help some small business owner in a less developed country. And it is a loan, so you get it back. I find that by the time I'm repaid, I don't need that $25 that bad and end up re-loaning it. Check it out...it's the best feeling you can get for $25 (well, since college, anyway).
- Alex.w, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Did you forget to link to the site or something?
- drewskyjones, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I love Kiva. If you have $25 you can live without, you can truly help some small business owner in a less developed country. And it is a loan, so you get it back. I find that by the time I'm repaid, I don't need that $25 that bad and end up re-loaning it. Check it out...it's the best feeling you can get for $25 (well, since college, anyway).
- blogger123, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4this could be the perfect laptop that parents could buy for children. It has some nice little features that a child would enjoy, but it doesn't cost a huge amount and it doesn't have a whole lot of power under the hood so it limits the child somewhat to minor activities, which is what the majority of the population use a computer for.
If I was parent, I'd give it some really serious consideration for anyone who'd like to buy a laptop for a sibling - NSMike, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3Augh, does anyone else see a serious problem with this initiative? What is the goal here? Provide 3rd world countries with technology and they will suddenly pop out of poverty?
- sirhomer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Teach a man to fish is better then giving him fish.
Basically it's much better then just shipping over crates of food and supplies. - directive0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Just my opinion, but the only real solution for poverty in the "third world" is providing employment to the masses that can support a higher standard of living. The best way to do that today is with education of the young upcoming workforce with "first world" level understanding of technology and concepts that make business and communication possible. So yeah, I do see a lot of promise with devices like these, and I also wouldn't mind playing around with one.
- NSMike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Could not much the same results come from shipping over books and building some computer labs rather than supplying massive amounts of laptops?
- trogdoor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Please read about the project goals and considerations, these types of comments have been addressed many times over.
- NSMike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Could not much the same results come from shipping over books and building some computer labs rather than supplying massive amounts of laptops?
- sirhomer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Teach a man to fish is better then giving him fish.
- DaniT, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Actually, for $400 you get 1 laptop, and you donate the other one. http://www.xogiving.org/
- rheaume, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Uh yeah I kinda got that from the part that said "the "give one, get one" scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198)."
- jjhat1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11As a Computer Engineering student I will probably buy one of these just for experience and the possibility of giving back to a good cause by developing for the platform. (That and it would be really awesome just to have one.)
- ncc74656m, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'd actually love to have one to see if they're hackable. I'll wait a few more months to see if the rest of the 'net can do anything with them, then buy one if they have an interesting use. I can see this being an interesting media remote or something like that.
- gjscds, on 10/10/2007, -10/+2Why the hell are we trying to give away computers rather than food and other life essentials?
- felch, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Haven't you ever heard the whole "teach a man to fish" saying? I'll let you figure out why it might be a good idea to educate the impoverished, because I hope you're not as clueless as you sound.
- Gavagai80, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2But if you teach a man to fish he'll become good at it and drive your fishing business to its demise. Better to give him fish so he can't compete with you. You can even call it charity to assuage your guilt, and no one will question you, they'll just praise you.
- gjscds, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Maslow's hierarchy suggests otherwise.
- Deepmist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0"Teach a man to Fish".
Beat me to it. - Ademan, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Give a man a fish vs teach a man to phish.
- redxxx, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Seriously, what the hell is this going to do to the volume of 419 spam?
- felch, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Haven't you ever heard the whole "teach a man to fish" saying? I'll let you figure out why it might be a good idea to educate the impoverished, because I hope you're not as clueless as you sound.
- pukufek, on 10/10/2007, -13/+12For the price of one ***** up Haliburton contract that didnt actually deliever anything you could have given every single man woman and child in Iraq one of these laptops.
We're paying Blackwater mercenries 30K a month so they can murder civilians in our name, what the *****?- RooX, on 10/10/2007, -4/+5RAWR!!! IM OUTRAGE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- sonycam, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1Good cause but why do we keep giving money to install water supplies when they're getting free laptops? Logic?
l - bubba9999, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3This is a pretty stupid idea - for $100 more, you can get a "real" laptop that has 5x the power. It doesn't make any sense to buy one for yourself. Can you pay half and just have the single laptop sent to charity?
- Ansible, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2yes
- kazamx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3You seem to be missing the point. This laptop is designed to be tough. it can survive when your laptop with 5x the power would die. it is designed to be used in bright sunshine, to be used as a book and a dozen other things a standard laptop isn't.
this thing is fantastic for people in poor countries where they don't have everything we have in the west.- trogdoor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It is also better than even a very expensive toughbook in many ways, battery life and wifi capabilities being two of the most obvious.
- yish, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Dup!!
http://digg.com/hardware/Nicholas_Negroponte_annou ... - parbjohal, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8What are people failing to get about this?
This is a machine designed to aid learning and education for young children in developing / 3rd world nations, I doubt it was ever intended for the type of western markets people here are talking about. As far as I'm aware it will still be sold at the original price to those very nations - and now will be sold in the US for a higher price, whereby 2 machines are actually bought - with one being 'given' to the original cause. I can imagine US parents possibly purchasing the machine, give one to their young children and introduce them to computers, and IT etc - and have the other one donated to children of the same age around the world who would never have had the chance to purchase a computer, or access one in schools or libraries etc.
This was never a machine intended to be used in starbucks, to play WoW or to install various OS's and hack it to within an inch of its life etc... (though i'm sure someone out there will!) - nullcodes, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13To the negativists out there claiming it's better to give food and water .. the world has many people who ALREADY have those things but lack access to decent communications and education. This laptop will help them get better educated so they can earn more money and make better contributions to their society by taking advantage of computers to use modern design strategies for education, designing agricultural and sanitation systems .. producing goods that are in demand etc. It's not just the starving people who need help .. it's also people who are not starving and barely have their essentials taken care of and may fall back into that situation if not given the hand up out of it. A majority of the world's poor people are in that situation, and need resources made available to them cheaply so they can get be self sufficient and out of the fallback zone.
Now I disagree with the notion of not selling the laptops in the US for the going price. There are poor people in every country -- including the US who could use these laptops. These laptops would be great not only for students but business people and older students over there .. and should be sold to them. I also think they should be sold at wal-mart etc. for the same price they're being sold in other countries. - bib4tuna, on 10/10/2007, -12/+3i just want one for myself, i dont want to buy one for some african kid... this sucks
- redxxx, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Ditto, though it make me feel a bit like a tool.
I guess, some people will be getting buying them for philanthropic reasons, and might sell the second one they actually get on e-bay or something. Negroponte talks about the recipients giving them to schools or children, but I can imagine too many schools or children in the states would really want one. Like, folks will do this, get one sell it for around $200 on e-bay and then maybe donate that money back to the program?
It could happen.- matrox212, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You'd have to be a pretty selfish person to feel like a tool for buying one of these and supporting a child in some god awful 3rd world country as opposed to the other options available that mostly just support wealthy people in this country (e.g. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, etc...)
- Gavagai80, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2Maybe you can request an asian, south amercian or massachusetts kid. I'm sure they don't want to prevent racists from participating.
- j0keR, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2You know, I sort of agree, but for a different reason. Any time the government gives "foreign aid," the money notoriously ends up in the hands of corrupt foreign governments that caused the poverty in the first place. Restricting the sale to government entities or only if you donate one to a government entity makes their project suspicious. They seem highly state influenced, and I would never voluntarily contribute to a government organization as long at they are still coercively funded. In other words, it seems like a welfare program for foreign bureaucrats. Voluntary at this point, but no thanks. And what proof do they have that they aren't coercively funded? The government entities that will be buying them sure are. If this is really about charity, then why can't I buy them and then distribute them myself? Leave it to a socialist to create a so-called charity program that simply redistributes wealth to those that need it the least.
- j0keR, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2I like turtles.
[/double post]
- redxxx, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Ditto, though it make me feel a bit like a tool.
- barl0w, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Here's a photo of one at LinuxWorld next to a Dell D620: http://flickr.com/photos/barl0w/1101266148/
- syroncoda, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4i want it...i want it nooooow now now now. i hope it doesn't jump in price.
- DigitalBrian, on 10/10/2007, -9/+1And why is it I want a laptop that cant even play tetris? and I have to crank a handle for it to work? oh please do remind me. I can as well buy a decent one on Ebay for the same price.
- Gavagai80, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5A quick google says there's already a tetris game for it. You also have the option of splurging on getting electricity delivered to your home so that you can plug it in. Enjoy.
- redxxx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Very high resolution reflective monochrome display. That's all I want it for. Just to be able to read digitally distributed works without my eyes hurting, which will work with any sort of format. Kinda like one of those digital book things, but it would be cheap and wouldn't suck ass.
Should also work as decently as a wireless remote terminal for my desktop. - redxxx, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1double post. freaking comment system.
- xst4t1kx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"And why is it I want a laptop that cant even play tetris?"
Apparently (according to you) Tetris is more CPU intensive than Doom...
- 1020dog, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I wonder what the Microsoft versions will cost: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/08/olpc_and_m ...
I don't consider myself a conspiracy theorist, but I do wonder if some of the "heads of state" mentioned in the article said no because of pressure from a certain monopolistic corporation? - Stevethegreat, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4No thanks, I would go for Asus EEEPC for $199 and then I can write of a $200 check for the project. At least the EEEPC woud be a better laptop, I see no big deal to OLPC when it is that far beyond its promised $100.
- kazamx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5The reason its over $100 is partly because of the falling value of the US $.
The components need to be bought from asian companies. the cost of each part has increased as the value of the $ has fallen. - kidcodea, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3maybe its better, maybe its not. depends on what you are doing. also whatever u are doing with the asus u have to do it in 3 hours. with olpc its endless as long as u have arms some stamina.
ps: asus has the worse support ever- ricksbots, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Asus has great support from my laptop experience. I dumped a can of coke on mine and they replaced the mobo and keyboard for me for $200!!
- Disfnord, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2the eee is now $400. There is a cheaper $270 version, but it only has 256megs of ram and 2 gig storage. This actually isn't that bad a deal in comparison. Better battery life, a screen that can be read in direct sunlight, much more durable design. Ugly little sucker, though.
- GrendelT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Sure the EEE is better. (even though it technically costs more per laptop)
Aside from the fact that the EEE doesn't have mesh networking, indoor/outdoor visibility on it's screen, requires active cooling, has a shorter battery life and less wifi range - but other than that...
- kazamx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5The reason its over $100 is partly because of the falling value of the US $.
- TJATL, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Yep, just what third world countries need, bypassing the industrial age of their country and jumping in to technology. Yet some students getting these laptops don't even have electricity and have to hand crank these in order to work. Laptops > power, water, agriculture?
- tsaylor, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2How about you get an XO and they get a steam engine?
- Ansible, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1Yeah, until they get their own chip fabs running, what need do they have for laptops? Jeez.
- matrox212, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The project is called "One Laptop Per Child." They're for teaching children, not for what you're talking about.
- Ansible, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Er - sarcasm. Of course let them buy laptops. There's no need to go through the 19th century to get to the 21st, why not make use of the tech that's available? If a country can go straight to the information age without going through the 'pillage our natural resources' stage, more power to 'em.
- matrox212, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The project is called "One Laptop Per Child." They're for teaching children, not for what you're talking about.
- ssam, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1it will charge on anything from 10-20 volts, so that makes it good for renewable sources: wide turbines, solar etc. aswell car batteries, or generators.
- kidcodea, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1im sure the brilliant minds of this project never came across that argument! MAIL THEM!
- code2joy, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2So not even starving Ethiopians want a ***** Linux laptop?
- Phocion55, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Is it November 12th yet?
- vonskippy, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1As usual, some pie-in-the-sky project runs way over on expenses and then puts it's hand out expecting the American people to fund their ***** up. How about using the money to build schools, train native teachers, teach the basics (like food production, health care and birth control) instead of stupid little toy computers that are basically useless without a very high tech (and most likely non-sustainable without even more basket loads of money) infrastructure to support them.
- nirav72, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Moron..do some research before you post something like that. The reason the OLPC is more expensive now is because of the value of the dollar and also additional features added to the original design. They're still expected to go for lot cheaper once they ramp up production and decrease the manufacturing cost. Also, its not like you're getting taxed for this.
- GrendelT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You might do some research on OLPC before making assumptions, vonskippy. Most of the world's problems stem from lack of education. By empowering people everywhere to "self-teach" or "learn to learn" they will be able to better their own lives with less aid from the outside. (Look at how something like Kiva.org has helped immensely - and with little fanfare) Food Production, health care and birth control (i didn't know that was such a massive problem like food) can all be fought using educated masses. Teacher training comes with the ability to access resources not available otherwise - think how getting teachers online and "plugged in" can boost their resource base to make learning more interactive and personal. (lookup the "Learning Pyramid")
If you have any background in education you'd realize the potential that exists in getting usable technology into the hands of willing and able learners, alot of other problems are less tangled once people are empowered.
- idyllhands, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1sweet
- cryptoki, on 02/01/2008, -5/+1how about a world power program first. theres millions of used p3 and p4 computers for 100 bucks on craigslist...
craigslist UNITE!!!!- GrendelT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1RTFM (s/M/w/ ???)
http://wiki.laptop.org
- GrendelT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1RTFM (s/M/w/ ???)
- patbingsoup, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2How can we expect to have OLPC in the developing world, if we don't even have OLPC in the United States????
Shouldn't the united states goverment/dept of education be the number one and biggest inital buyer of these laptops? If not how the hell could this computer system ever be expected to flurish anywhere else?????- matrox212, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2These laptops were specifically designed for countries that have very meager or often no educational system. The United States isn't in that category (yet).
- ricksbots, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Who cares what they where designed for.....if the US purchases a ton of these, it will only benefit every 3rd world kid who recieves these, and allow the costs to remain low
- ricksbots, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Who cares what they where designed for.....if the US purchases a ton of these, it will only benefit every 3rd world kid who recieves these, and allow the costs to remain low
- GrendelT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The US Dept of Education should be encouraged to look into the laptops. After all, $188/student is a mere *fraction* of what the current per-student "cost" is for each school district. I think school districts should be allowed to order lots of XO's for their own students, once OLPC begins to relax the buyer requirements.
- synkdorbit, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Any _government_ can buy these things, regardless of country. It so happens that Massachusetts has expressed interest in buying them.
- matrox212, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2These laptops were specifically designed for countries that have very meager or often no educational system. The United States isn't in that category (yet).
- nirav72, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3So I wonder if someone buys one of these and donates the other one..do they receive a receipt from OLPC stating that they donated this as charity?..If so..could write this off on taxes (atleast half $200) and get one for my son.
- GrendelT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Because OLPC is a non-profit, you could possibly get the entire $400 as a write off. You might run it by your tax advisor (if you have one) to double check. If not, you could probably ask OLPC directly. http://wiki.laptop.org
- trogdoor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4To all the idiots saying that you could get a better laptop for $xxx remember ( or realize ) that in certain ways ( battery life, wireless, screen that can be used in bright sunlight, durability ) this is the best laptop on the market, for any price. Or please find any other laptop that has all the features that the XO has before commenting.
- mystyc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4How about this...I buy one laptop and the second is sent to some needy person IN THE UNITED STATES!!! Maybe (for a change) we should help our own people instead of everyone else (who usually end up hating us anyway). Just imagine the utopia the US could be if we cleaned up our own house first...then help others. Ya know...like every other country does!
- matrox212, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I'm somewhat shocked that so many of the comments surrounding this article about the philanthropic venture that is the OLPC project are based around people saying "what's in it for me?" IT'S FREAKIN' CHARITY STUPID!!! If that concept is totally lost on you than just congratulate yourself for not having drowned yourself in a bucket yet and buy a Dell.
- vonskippy, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1No, it's a stupid idea with a completely non-workable business model. It's like sending tic-tac's to a starving nation. Sure, it's charity, but it's not really going to help them solve their core problems.
- matrox212, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I completely disagree. First, it's a non-profit organization and not a business. Second, it has a very specific mission and that's to provide an educational tool to children that may not have the opportunity to get an education in any other way. It's not a magic wand but it is a small but valuable step in the right direction.
- vonskippy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Non-profit doesn't mean Free-Money, it's a business that doesn't need to generate a profit in order to please investors. It still has to have a viable business model in order to "break even". Since their entire idea, business model, and management style sucks, they're now resorting to begging for small change from American's dumb enough to buy into their "get one, give one" plan. There's many many many better ways to use $400 to help people then this crackpot idea.
- matrox212, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I completely disagree. First, it's a non-profit organization and not a business. Second, it has a very specific mission and that's to provide an educational tool to children that may not have the opportunity to get an education in any other way. It's not a magic wand but it is a small but valuable step in the right direction.
- vonskippy, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1No, it's a stupid idea with a completely non-workable business model. It's like sending tic-tac's to a starving nation. Sure, it's charity, but it's not really going to help them solve their core problems.
- whiskeysquared, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3My only question is will the OLPC automatically stop the user from sending me Nigerian scam emails?
- ettin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Will i be able to cyber with other OLPC's?
- kd1s, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Why the hell not target this to kids in the U.S. Then they can have their own school computers.
- synkdorbit, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The best way to accomplish that would be to lobby each state Department of Education and convince them to buy these things. According to their website, OLPC is willing to sell to any government, including the U.S. and its states.
- nroose, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Huh. Buy one for the price of two! Great marketing campaign. I think it all depends on what they are used for. If it is just a charity gaming platform, then it is not such a good thing, and will just exacerbate the divide. If people actually use them to do real things, then it will be great, and those with them could leapfrog those who were formerly the "haves".
- dreea, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1i agree 1000%
- GrendelT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I already have mine. k thx.
http://www.neodux.com/index.php?view=sortby.php&ca ... - enterneo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1LOL
- petebot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2
Wow. There is some serious hate for this idea, and it seems like most of you people didn't RTFA. I would have thought that this idea would get some serious support here on Digg. The idea here is to bring computing and education to places that are wayyyy off the grid. It's for developing nations. It's not like they're going to hand one of these to a starving kid instead of food. This is a completely different venture. BTW--the price of these will come down. It seems like their having problems with countries ordering the computers and then not following through.
As far as giving them to American kids--most schools and libraries in the US have some sort of computer lab. Kids here can have access to computing, whether or not they have access at home. We also have a school system in place. In a lot of rural areas of the world, kids have NO access to either computing or education.
There's also an instructable somewhere for using one of these as the brains of an iRobot.... - dreea, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1for education ist computing not the first thing. there ist NO hate about this idea, i just blame stupid marketing. help is about help to help yourself, and the only thing that here happens ist some companies making more money. i'd rather spend it an NGO. is it better to be able to write or to type?
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