OLPC XO may be on sale by Christmas for $350

Hot on the heels of the news that the OLPC XO has begun mass production, OLPC CTO Mary Lou Jepsen has told Reuters that the foundation is planning on selling the sorta-costs $100 laptop to consumers by Christmas for...$350. Or $525. Or maybe not at all. The foundation is looking for ways to subsidize manufacturing so it can ship more of the green-eared machines to developing countries, and it's hoping that consumer sales will help foot the bill -- although NickNeg and Co. haven't decided at what price the plan is feasible and won't announce a decision for another month. One thing is certain, however: releasing these things to consumers will definitely not solve that itty-bitty porn problem.

[Via OLPC News]

[Thanks, Wayan]

[ninjakamster @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:30PM]

And I'll still get the much better AND cheaper Asus EEE 701.

[tiuk @ Jul 24th 2007 10:24AM]

Couldn't agree more.

[ScOObyDoo @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:46PM]

If buying one of these would help get a kid in the third world one, then count me in.

[Brian Sexton @ Jul 24th 2007 5:28AM]

Because third-world kids deserve your help more than the many thousands of poor kids elsewhere in the world who you could be helping right now?

[rockintom @ Jul 24th 2007 9:24AM]

Ok, fine, Brian. Go save every single person in the world. EVERY ONE. And I will criticize you continuously until every person in the world is happy. Okay?

[Hawko @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:50PM]

I'm not buying this until they change that horrible green color. 3rd world children or not, no-one deserves to have a computer that sports such a color...

[White_Pheonix @ Jul 23rd 2007 8:16PM]

The idea is that their appearance deters theft. They are designed to seem like toys, not real computers.
I don't know if it actually works, but it's the idea. Besides that, they don't half to look good; their main selling point is the cheapness.

[Dave @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:42PM]

The idea is to train kids to do my job at less than half my salary.

[thekid @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:40PM]

As opposed to the alternative of.....? What amazing device out there did I miss that begins to compare to this, but with a more hip color?

[Hawko @ Jul 24th 2007 9:31AM]

I dont' get the idea of avoiding theft, if I was a thief going through a dirty, old, run-down african school, where usually the most vaulable things is the 30 year old chairs, and I saw a green flashy thing (the green color makes it really recognizable in the dark), I wouldn't have hesitated to steal it.

Also, while the laptop looks great when placed in a dust-free environment, such as a glass-monter or design-pictures, it doesn't when it is in daily use in an african outdoor-environment.

I once bought a hard-plastic-folder in a light blue transparent color to use at school, it looked great the first two weeks, but then it started to decay, get scratches and stains and all the stuff things get when they're moved around a lot. Due to the light-blue color, everything dirty around it got really obvious, and the folder turned from nice and fresh to disgusting.

I didn't want to make the same mistake next semester, so I bought a black folder. I treated it the very same way, and it probably became just as scratchy and stained, but the difference was that the black color didn't make it _look_ as disgusting as the light-blue color did...

[BatteryAcid @ Jul 24th 2007 9:34PM]

It looks better than Intel Classmate.

[BatteryAcid @ Jul 24th 2007 7:20PM]

It looks better than the Intel Classmate.

[Mp3 @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:56PM]

If buying one of these would help a kid in the 3rd world get one, f*#k yourself. How about their governments reduce corruption (as if) and spend some of the aid money they are sent on education.

[nuphanton @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:59PM]

the whole idea behind it is great...but after that little porn problem, I think countries will begin to reconsider, specially after that slight price tag change..

and I agree with hawko...the color just sucks

[thekid @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:38PM]

I don't see how surfing some porn even begins to remotely take away from the endless value this can serve as an educational tool.

[nuphanton @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:44PM]

True. But just cause it an effective educational tool doesn't mean that it'll be used as an educational tool. Kids could not only surf for porn, but video games and such. Some filters won't stop them. I know because filter didn't stop me from playing video games during class.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 24th 2007 10:53AM]

Better not give them plowshares either.
Not with their swordability, oh heavens!

Maybe _personal responsibility_ is something they can ALSO teach with these machines??

Naaah.

[Ben @ Jul 23rd 2007 8:11PM]

And if you want to play with just the OS you can download a VM image or live CD here:

http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/07/11520/

[Bosco @ Jul 23rd 2007 8:16PM]

Any word if the for-sale version comes with an interface to a standard 120v wall socket?

[Mac_Gyver @ Jul 23rd 2007 8:28PM]

Exactly how are these things going to connect to the internet in countries, towns, or villages that don't have power let alone WiFi or even phone service?

[raindog @ Jul 25th 2007 1:29AM]

Here's some chewing gum and an empty roll of toilet paper. Figure it out, Macgyver.

[302kid @ Jul 31st 2007 12:08PM]

They come with standard AC plugins (110 or 240 or anything in between etc)
They connect to the net via a central connection at the school (which is configured and serviced by OLPC's team) and each XO contributes to the mesh network weather or not the CPU is running.
Many of you are failing to recognize some of the simple and elegant innovations being demonstrated in these machines. From the low power consumption, to the full sunlight readable display, to the mesh network and the revolutionary UI this machine should turn the industry on it's head. Combining some these features in a more expensive platform might just make steve jobs look like bill gates
Before posting, try reading so you have some idea what your talking about.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 23rd 2007 8:28PM]

At first i wanted one to play with, but at that price I'll just get something from eBay or something.

[myles @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:03PM]

i'd rather buy a secondhand laptop from the electronic malls here in hong kong..yipes, look at that huge boxy design and the melamine-chopstick green color

[Sam @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:42PM]

Has anybody thought that once these kids get these, they'll use them to get onto ebay, and pretty much use the laptop to sell itself on ebay? Hell, in some of these countries, $100 is a lot, and there has got to be some kids who would prefer the cash to the laptop

[Summertime @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:05PM]

You make a verry good point. I mean $100 can feed a family for a few months. The internet can't help you when you live in the middle of the desert or isolated in the jungle.

[producerism @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:57PM]

sex is here to stay, let the kids see what the internet is all about.

[Jon Martin @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:47PM]

If this is like the first freeplay radios - where you buy one to have the company purchase one for a rural community, count me in

[Summertime @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:05PM]

This is awsome it helps people, dosent use that much power and looks cute too!

[thekid @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:28PM]

I've always put priority above function. I don't care much about how the car looks on the outside as long as it's decent, I'm more interesting in the interior. I don't care if a cell phone is as dull looking as a small flat box if does a better job than a flashy one. That's just me.

But people need to stfu about this green is icky bs. It's not designed for you. You have the luxury of picking out any dull black or candy blue or wtf color fits you're superior individualism. This is a life changing tool that could have monumental positive effects world wide. The people who will benefit most from this aren't browsing what looks cool at a fking best buy.
unbefkinglievable.

[bobartig @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:38PM]

At $525, I can't justify it. I'd rather get a Nokia N800, or something along those lines for my browsytablet thingy. At $350 or so, I can justify the purchase, and mentally write half of it off as a charitable donation (my karma will thank me later).

[idk @ Jul 24th 2007 12:49AM]

Screw these pieces of garbage... just give every kid a Compaq EVO N610c buisness laptop. most of them have 2GHz P4-M, Radeon 7500, 40GB for about the same price as this thing.. and the screen is SXGA+

Don't belive me, check ebay, people sell these things on a daily basis for about $250 each.
I actually bought one... and they're great for most stuff, just not gaming, but I don't think that is what these other OLPCs are made for either.

[thekid @ Jul 24th 2007 1:31AM]

I really didn't find my self all that committed to the OLPC before, but the constant stream of ignorant asshat-ary and negativity is making me feel you're trashing some project of my own.

I'd like to take comments like "these are stupid you can get a used p4 for less/the same" in stride, because they are obviously uneducated and the person making them obviously knows little to nothing about what the OLPC really is.

The problem isn't just having to sift past these stupid space wasting remarks. It's confusing the public at large as to whether or not this is worth supporting. It's easy to convince people of something that they really don't understand (computers/3rd world needs). I've been shocked to find so many people think this whole thing is purely economics. They think this whole group should just stock up on black friday or break a deal with dell. They don't understand these laptops are designed specifically for 3rd world situations/people.

I'm not going to bother listing what makes this different than your shoddy compaq and the OLPC. If you had any interest you would clearly know more than you do.
For those who are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$100_laptop http://laptop.org/laptop/

[idk @ Jul 24th 2007 1:45AM]

You actually had about the size of 3 entire paragraphs about ... uhm... nothing? you didn't even say why that the OLPC is worth anyone's money... infact.. you didn't say anything but make yourself sound ignorant. Are you the creator of these pieces of garbage?

Even the $100 price is too much, and now they seem like the care far more about the cash aspect than actually helping developing contries.

And once again, your entire reply stated absolutely nothing.

[BloodyIron @ Sep 11th 2007 3:17PM]

Did you visit the link?
Did you read anything on this product, or do any back-ground check of your own?

Here, let me summarize to you, because your browser clearly cannot handle URLs...

1) Power efficiency. The OLPC design is rated for an average power usage (depending on modes) from 0.2watts, to 2.0 watts (from what I can find 2.0 watts is the absolute maximum). Comparatively, other laptops use power from a range of 10 watts to 45+ watts, I imagine the gaming laptops probably exceed 45 watts. On a full charge, it is estimated to have a battery life of 10 hours, or more, depending on what you do.

2) Smart design. The entire operating system and suite of applications is designed pretty much from the ground up. The User Interface and features of the Operating System are oriented for educational purposes, making things efficient, convenient, and informative. The Operating System can handle multi-tasking, but not as much as conventional computers; considering this, the system is writen to focus primarily on the task at hand, shutting down different aspects of the computer that are not relevant to the task. Additionally, the permissions on the system is designed similarly (if not identical, I am unsure) to that of the GNU/Linux environment, in which different applications have different permissions on a sort of user-level permission system.

3) Mesh networking, and then some. The method for connection between the OLPC and other OLPCs is unique in that it is a Mesh network, similar to an ad-hoc network, but a lot more dynamic. You are able to view approximations of where other OLPCs are in relations to you, see devices on the "network", as well as conveniently place other objects on this network, such as documents, and various other aspects. Additionally, internet access flows through the mesh network. If even one member of the mesh network has internet access, so does everyone else. OLPCs anonymously route network traffic between other OLPCs, even if the system is offline.

4) Friendly and durable design. While green may not be the best color at first glance, there are things you might not consider. As outlined in the description (at the URL your browser cannot handle) of the monitor, human eyes respond the most to the color green, thus it is friendlier to young-adults and children. Additionally, the design has many durable aspects, sealed keyboards, sturdy casing, rubber padding on the edges, and minimalistic designs so as to avoid snags and other encumberances.

5) You can develop for it. The developers of the OLPCs are making it so that, should they choose to, users of the OLPCs can expand on it. They can install new software, attach external devices, even develop software on it, perhaps to modify the UI, or update applications, etc. Imagine users in the third world country, adding to the GNU/OS/etc development world? That would be a sight.


These are just the major reasons the OLPC is an awesome project, if you look furhter I know you will find more. So, before you start criticising something you really do not know what youre talking about, perhaps you should look into something that can benefit so many, while costing so little.

[Wolfticket @ Jul 24th 2007 12:05PM]

Hmm... It worries me that these pc will be going to places that lack the infrastructure to support the project. Do you think children with no clean or easily accessible water supply and no reliable electricity supply really need a brand new laptop?
IMO a few pcs per classroom (FPPC?) would be a better plan, or using thin cleints to keep hardware costs down? Maybe ex-business machines or old unwanted home pcs running optimised linux?

[mac84 @ Jul 24th 2007 8:39PM]

Bravo. At last a little common sense around this issue. These things have hand cranks to generate electricity so they can be used where the famlies don't have electricity. But wouldn't it be better to spend the $100 per child to buy and give a community a generator they can use to power those ten desktops per child, and allow them to pump water so the kids can spend time in the classroom instead of carrying buckets of water to the livestock and to water the crops and bathe the baby? A well meaning extravagant grand gesture that's a waste of resources.

[K @ Aug 2nd 2007 3:03AM]

I don't know why anyone ever has listened to Nick Negroponte. He read too many cyberpunk novels in the late 90s and based his plan to save the world on them. He isn't actually in touch with the real technology world in any way.

Considering VIA is coming out with a $200 subnotebook in the next year, $350+ for this Fisher Price toy is just a bad idea. Is helping kids in Africa surf the Web with one of these a good enough incentive to shell out that much for one of your own?

[Dragos @ Aug 6th 2007 12:55PM]

- hand crank for electricity
- opportunity for kids to share learning at night or at school - wifi that shares on village or region internet connection
- they do not have the infrastructure, wireless does not need it, these places have the option to skip a few infrastructure steps
- endless applications for economy, or chances to start one
- one way to play catch-up with the rest of the world, sort-of
- there have been cases where kids in villages invented their own math comparable with "developed world" theories. can you imagine what can happen with untapped human intellect if given a laptop?