[Robotgroup] $100 OPLC laptop not for sale

[Def Egge]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/14/olpc_no_consumer_version/

You want a $100 computer? For $300? No sale!

By Guy Kewney, NewsWireless.Net
Published Sunday 14th January 2007 03:59 GMT

One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a non-profit organisation with the goal 
of providing children in developing nations with laptop computers, 
today announced that "contrary to previously published reports OLPC 
has no plans to make the XO laptops available for sale to the general public."

Sad news for Computerworld's Frank Hayes who says he wants one.

Exactly where the idea comes from that the things would be generally 
for sale, isn't clear. Well, nearly; it came from the Consumer 
Electronics Show, where Michalis Bletsas, chief connectivity officer 
for the project, was quoted saying that eBay could be a partner to 
sell the laptop. "If we started selling the laptop now, we would do 
very good business," Mr Bletsas, told BBC News.

The Bletsas interview was long and detailed, and it's hard to 
understand how it might be wrong. But yesterday, the OLPC project 
went to the trouble of putting out a denial. OLPC founder Nicholas 
Negroponte: "Contrary to recent reports, One Laptop per Child is not 
planning a consumer version of its current XO laptop, designed for 
the poorest and most remote children in the world."

He said that the XO "will be made available to governments in very 
large quantities to be given to all children free, as part of the 
education system."

The denial went on: "Many commercial ventures have been considered 
and proposed that may surface in 2008 or beyond, one of which is 'buy 
2 and get 1.' In addition, OLPC is launching OLPC Foundation later 
this month, specifically to accommodate the huge goodwill and charity 
that has surfaced around the idea of a $100 laptop."

Which leaves Frank Hayes miffed: "Look, these machines. They're cute, 
colorful, rugged, and even at $300 each or more they'd be an 
inexpensive and very welcome addition to any long car trip with kids. 
Selling them to the general public would be a great way to raise 
extra money for the project, raise awareness of the project and 
generally feed the OLPC/XO machinery" he wrote.




All the best....

Mike