In August 2006 we featured the ambitious OLPC project, which aimed towards placing $100 laptops, dubbed XO, in the hands of children throughout the third world. The idea was great, but reality was unkind, causing delays in production, squabbling amongst key corporate, academic and non-profit contributors, as well as a price that was well over and above the $100 dream. When the dust finally settled, this compact open-sourced laptop turned to the dark side, embracing the warm embrace of Microsoft’s Windows XP. Although the prenatal stage is essentially over for the OLPC, it has been an amazing ride for many, and will no doubt yield a few lessons learned next time around.
Just when we thought it was safe to utter the name Negroponte, “Nick Neg takes things back into the stratosphere with the unveiling of the XO 2.0. Due in 2010, the new laptop will employ dual sunlight-readable touchscreen displays in a smaller, folding e-book form factor. As if that weren’t ambitious enough, Nick calls a $20 pricepoint per display not out of the question, thanks to the ubiquity of LCD screens for DVD players, with a final laptop price of $75. Sure Nick, but 2010? Let’s work on getting the XO down to $100 first, shall we? Oh, and speaking of the XO, the Give 1 Get 1 program will be started back up in August or September of this year.”
