OLPC's Give One, Get One returns to Amazon on November 17

We knew we'd be seeing a comeback of the Give One, Get One program this year, and now OLPC has confirmed a November 17 date -- just in time for the holidays, how convenient for everyone! We're still not certain on a price, but $399 is quite likely. It's not like they're doing the volume right now to drive those costs down, and the component-reduced XO 1.5, which is supposed to actually get close to hitting OLPC's $100 laptop goals, won't be landing until next spring. Dual-booting to XP is still unconfirmed.

[Thanks, Charbax]

[Rob @ Sep 30th 2008 9:39AM]

Holy crap. For a second I thought it read "give a lap dance, get a lap dance."

[Kris @ Sep 30th 2008 9:51AM]

Only in your dreams

[Rollins @ Sep 30th 2008 9:52AM]

I'm game.

[Shinigami @ Sep 30th 2008 9:57AM]

Since I don't qualify as a giver on Amazon ("country not supported"), I'd like to be a getter in this case :)

[iEye @ Sep 30th 2008 10:09AM]

I'd rather just give money to charrity and buy a cheaper better Netbook instead of this FAIL...

[BigTeebo @ Sep 30th 2008 10:15AM]

Tired: OLPC
Wired: netbooks

[bobartig @ Sep 30th 2008 4:36PM]

Where do you think netbooks came from? OLPC tried to make a $100 laptop. They showed that you could make a ~$187 laptop, and the industry responded by making a $400 laptop.

Now, the goal is to hit $75, hoping that they can land something in the low $100s, and that the industry will respond with a $200 unit.

The success of the OLPC project is definitely questionable, since they did not exactly meet their goal of distributing millions of low-cost devices around the world. However, they have seen moderate success in spurring hardware development and innovation, particularly in the ultra-low end laptop/netbook scene by showing that it is possible to manufacture devices this cheaply.

It is also interesting to see a hardware design that is not motivated by typical office/business functionality or profitability, although the usability of the OLPC leaves much to be desired (yes, I have one).

[XenoX101 @ Sep 30th 2008 10:40AM]

Come on guys! Porn isn't going to watch itself!

[Magallanes @ Sep 30th 2008 2:26PM]

In Soviet Russia, porn watches you.

[kurt.tappe @ Sep 30th 2008 10:49AM]

I'll only do it if they guarantee it will NOT be supplied with a Microsoft OS. I refuse to spread Windows around the world. Seriously.

[Unique Gift Ideas @ Nov 14th 2008 11:32AM]

I thought that I read that they were going to be ran on Linux Sugar UI?

[Jon Acheson @ Sep 30th 2008 10:56AM]

For a product which aims to "change the world," you have to ask "Well how much have you changed it so far?"

And the answer is, "not at all, so far."

At this point, I would rather see the money spent on bookmobiles or other types of effort which have actually worked out.

[d00b @ Sep 30th 2008 12:16PM]

Considering that OLPC was the inspiration for netbooks, I'd say it has already succeeded, although probably not in the way intended. As long as they're willing, I'd like for them to keep doing what they're doing. I'm very interested in the dual-panel concept of the XO2, more than its supposed $75 price tag. Imagine web browsing with one panel (in portrait mode) showing the entire page, while the second panel be a zoomed-in window for legibility.

Bundling Win XP is pretty boneheaded move, however. That may've made sense before the netbook invasion (which all can run Win better than the XO), but now it only relegate the XO to an overpriced and underpowered me-too netbook.

[martin @ Sep 30th 2008 4:16PM]

Hasn't changed the world? You mean after shipping 750,000 laptops to kids and spawning a huge new netbook sector of the mainstream laptop market? I know my fanboy is showing but that's not too shabby.

[meist3r @ Sep 30th 2008 11:04AM]

Thanks One License per Child laptop. Now we can introduce needy kids all over the world to Microsoft Office and Windows Firewall. I'm so grateful we're trying to help them as good as we can ...
No seriously now, I would have bought one (and that's no joke I even had filled out all the request a year ago) but when they made that silly move towards Microsoft I cancelled my order. If they would kids what "computers" are about that would be fine and that was what the OLPC started as, a vision of bringing understanding of technology to poor people. Now it's turned into a marketing gig for the Windows style computer usage that I've grown so un-fond of. They don't want to teach kids how to operate and create in a computer world (you would need the source code and enthusiastic teachers for that) but instead they are trying to school the next generation of Windows idiots that don't know how to install a printer because the wizard tells them what to do. That's exactly NOT the way kids should grow up around computers and especially not when the project effort used to be to give them a better chance. Understanding source code and stuff (after years of "free" (as in speech) training they could even have a slim chance to achieve something. Now all they will be is averagely underqualified Microsoft dummies that fall out of the clouds when a computer doesn't have a "Start" bar. Teach them how to use a computer in general, not how to deal with a specific set of software that get's replaced every five years.

Man I hate this so much. Nick Negroponte, I know you probably already left that sinking rathole but I still would like to punch you in the face.

[martin @ Sep 30th 2008 4:23PM]

Relax - that's FUD. There's no Microsoft going to kids, and about 750,000 have gone out with Sugar/GNU/Linux.

[Louis DiMeglio @ Sep 30th 2008 12:01PM]

I did this last time and I've got to say, while I'm happy about making a donation, the OLPC laptop let me down in every way. From refusing to stay connected to my home network, to being so slow that my 6yo loses interest, it just didn't do which I wanted it to. Then on top of everything else, despite its light use, the spacebar rubber has ripped slightly and each day the spacebar gets closer to popping off. If you're doing the OLPC thing as a charitable donation, go for it. If you're doing it to get an OLPC, skip it!

[nd @ Sep 30th 2008 1:55PM]

If it was actually $100 like it was supposed to be, then I'd be in (MAYBE even for $200). But to pay $400 or a crappy netbook? No way. If I was so motivated to give a netbook, I'd go buy a good one and send it to someone. But I'm not....I give in many other ways, most of which I am fully confident go to much better use than this.

[bobartig @ Sep 30th 2008 4:44PM]

You have to acknowledge that for $400, you are getting a crappy netbook, and someone else is getting one as well. Hence the name "Give one, Get one". So you can see it as sending a laptop for $200, receiving one for $200, and having to do both at once. So G1G1 is already in your Maybe list...

Also, buying a $400 netbook (a good one) and "sending it to someone" doesn't have anywhere near the positive potential of what the OLPC project hopes to achieve. They incorporate training, educational software, and some innovative networking solutions for collaborative work and sharing internet resources via mesh networking. Even a big group of people all sending a pile of good netbooks to a classroom of needy kids can't accomplish what OLPC has done already.

You can't just send technology somewhere and make a meaningful difference. You need to follow up with training, resources and curriculum. It remains to be seen if OLPC can accomplish this and make that lasting difference, but mailing laptops to Guatemala isn't going to do anything, except end up on ebay.

[martin @ Sep 30th 2008 4:16PM]

I did G1G1 last time around and I will again. The laptop's perfectly usable for web-browsing, fun/simple games, and is easy to improve / extend with add-on software. It's basically Fedora 9 plus some custom drivers and with a custom GUI (Sugar) which is really cool for kids and older adults because of its clear graphics.

And don't forget the super-rugged case, wifi reception, and read-in-the-sunlight screen. It's a lot more portable than a netbook to my mind.

And the Microsoft thing is just a rumour - if it dual-boots anything it'll be Fedora 10.