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OneLaptop Per Child Now 1 Per 2 Children?

Posted by Matthew Brodsky

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The OLPC vision of an affordable PC for children living in the developing world is finally coming to fruition, however the final cost is much higher than the proposed $100 per unit suggested in 2005.

AtLaptopical, we've followed the one notebook Per Child movement since it's taken wing. Thebrainchild of Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of the MIT MediaLab, the OLPC dream of a $100 portable computer for the childrenof the developing world is finally coming to fruition, and thosechildren might finally be getting their hands on their onelaptop, the so-called Children'sMachine XO. Yet word is, the $100 XO might not really cost$100.


Such wordis coming out of the South American nation of Uruguay, where theOLPC outfit there has ended the proposal submission from itslocal distributors. The final price, based on these proposals, is$205.

What gives? A 100 percent increase is devastating in thedeveloping world, where the cost of a XO could top the annualmedian income of a family. A spokesman for the OLPC has beenquoted as saying that currency fluctuations are to blame, as wellas the increased prices of nickel and silicon, two importantingredients in the laptop. The spokesman added that the OLPC isstill shooting to keep the overall price under $190.

That's still hardly the $100 per laptop as promised, right? Wasthat $100 ever possible, or was that just a marketing ploy usedto get attention to Negroponte's project? Others even wonder ifthe laptops will ever be shipped at any price. Maybe the wholedeal was just hot air blown up places where people don't need hotair blown.

However, others argue for the side of calm-and reason. Theexplanation, they say, for the higher price in Uruguay is thefact that the local distributors asked for additional features tothe laptop. And higher prices in general can be expected untilmass production of the XO gets underway, expected in October.

But the most convincing argument here is that, even at $200 perlaptop, the XO is still revolutionary-if only because Negropontehas gotten the big boys (Microsoft, Linux, and Intel) thinkingabout creating affordable products with the developing world inmind.

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  • By: Ronny h Aug 26, 2008 7:57 AM

    Cheap Laptops and are where it is at amigo.

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