RSSCommercial Price of '$100 Laptop' Rises, But For a Good Cause
By Tim Conneally | Published September 24, 2007, 3:21 PM
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization has announced a two-week sale from November 12 to November 26, with the objective of catalyzing greater support from philanthropists and generous consumers, as well as emerging nations whose citizens could stand to benefit.
With each new announcement, the price of the originally-dubbed "$100 Laptop" has, in fact, been rising, and that orders from emerging nations are not coming as swiftly as anticipated. As it stands now, the first mass-produced, commercially available XO laptops will be sold at just under $200 USD each, and only in quantities of two. For each sale, one laptop will go to the buyer, and the other will be a tax-deductible donation to a developing country.
According to a press release, the program is designed to promote awareness of OLPC's mission, to encourage the open-source community's involvement, and of course, to get the computers into the hands of children.
"Give 1 Get 1 is a means to trigger greater interest and commitment from governments of developing nations," OLPC's Nicholas Negroponte stated today, "as well as those of wealthier ones who wish to help the poorest and most remote children."
According to the Associated Press, sources say the first 25,000 buyers are guaranteed to receive their XO by the Christmas season. If US demand is high enough, it could mean a better future for OLPC, increased availability of its product, and a step closer to achieving its goal.
as they stated, its to allow indinviduals to help the mass production of these devices, and fund the company to help out, you dont have to buy one, and its so that you get sometihng in return. and like it was already stated, was not originally ment for commercial sale in our countries.
think of it like the teady bear parade, they could just collect bears.. but instead they offer you food, drinks and the parade, to help bring in more teady bears.
and also like schools funding gift angels, for poor kids in other countries, or even in their own, you buy something and give it away,
in this case you just get to keep one your self.
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You hit the nail on the head khetos. I thought this was a goofy idea at first, but then the more I thought about it, it seemed like a really brilliant idea.
As an incentive to get people to donate money to the cause of getting these laptops into developing nations hands, they are offering you a gift in return for your donation. How many times do we get offers from charities asking us to donate a sum of money and in return they send a book or DVD (PBS anyone). It's their way of thanking you for the gift.
Now look at it this way. A philanthropist wants to donate money to the cause. They are technically buying a laptop - but if they wanted to give a large share of money away - what are they going to do with all of these laptops. Most likely - they will also give the "gift" laptops as well. Or the "gift" laptops may be donated to local organizations to use.
Either way - I think this will help get a lot of these built and distributed.
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You are really not getting it. Thanks for telling.
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I might be being horribly cynical, but people aren't going to buy '2' crap laptops for $400 (one of which they won't ever know if it actually got anywhere) when they can buy 1 half-decent laptop for $400 (there's always one or two floating around at christmas time).
Maybe people will prove me wrong, but I doubt it.
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You're not getting the point here. It was NEVER actually meant for the commercial market. For what it actually is for it is more than good enough.
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why dont you do this then, buy a 400 doller laptop, cut it in half, and give the other half to a poor kid in another country..
oh wait, then your half is usless, as is theirs.. i guess you cant do that..
how about this then, but a 180 doller laptop, and keep it yourself... can you find a 180 doller brand new, factory sealed laptop? ...
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I'm all for it. But you might as well call it a $400 laptop.
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No laptop left behind..
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