I just wanted to a take a moment and post a reminder about the OLPC Give 1 Get 1 program. From today until November 26th you can buy one of these great machines. Basically, for $400 plus shipping, which was about $25 for me, you by two laptops. One is mailed to you and the other one is donated. I’ve posted about this program before but since today is the first day anyone in the US or Canada can just buy one I thought it worth repeating.
I have already ordered mine which they said should arrive in time for the holidays. There is a note on the site mentioning that if you buy late in the program you may not receive it in time. This is a gift for me though.. so no worries there. I’ve been a big fan of this project since I first heard about it and was quite thrilled when they announced Give 1 Get 1. If I could afford it I’d buy more as they seem to be more powerful when you have a few of them together.
Please at least consider making the purchase. There has been a lot of talk these days about ultra-small, ultra cheap laptops and I believe they have been clouding the market and trying to compete with the OLPC. Something that is important to remember is that the OLPC project is not a laptop project, it’s a education project. The founder of the project, Nicholas Negroponte, is quoted as saying this right on the OLPC Vision web page. I’ve been seeing people comparing the Asus Eee PC and the Classmate PC to the OLPC and I have to say I find that disgusting. The OLPC isn’t about making a profit, it’s about getting inexpensive computers to those who need them most, school children, mostly in developing nations. Teachers will be able to provide students with their school books in the form of a PDF instead of having to buy expensive printed books year after year, an expense most places in the US can’t afford, let alone a developing nation. Teachers will be able to send information home to parents that can’t read by using the video recording on the laptops. All of this will be done on a small laptop designed for little fingers in harsh conditions. These machine have the ability to change the world, and that is so much more important then defining a new style of portable computer. These machines are, in the words of David Pogue in this New York Times piece
