One laptop per child, one laptop for you

The “One Laptop Per Child” program, pioneered by Nicholas Negroponte, is breathtaking in its scope and vision.

I had the opportunity to talk to him a year ago, at the AMD Global Vision Conference in Los Angeles, and was impressed that the program focuses not only on the hardware, but pays just as much attention to the practical issues of culture.

OLPC knows it’s not going to be easy to incorporate the computers into an educational and lifestyle experience in developing nations.

Negroponte and the One Laptop Per Child Association realize that the OLPC program is as much about communication and community as it is about technology — and that this technology could potentially be seen as a disruptive influence, causing as many problems as it solves. They’ve put a lot of thought into understanding those issues.

Admittedly, those topics are far outside my experience and expertise, but it seems that they’ve covered all the angles.

From my perspective, however, there are two questions. One, how can I help distribute their XO laptops to where they’re needed most? Two, how can I get my own hands on one? The first part is easy: Much of the OLPC program is based on donations. For $200 you can give one laptop to a needy child, for $400 you can give two, and so-on.

However, Negroponte is a smart guy. He knows that many of us in the U.S. want one of those innovative little laptops ourselves, even though we really don’t need one. So, the OLPC folk came up with an interesting program: Give 1 Get 1. For $399 you can purchase two laptops: one goes to a child in a developing nation, the other goes to you.

The short-term promotional program kicks off Nov. 12. You can sign up to receive an e-mail when OLPC is ready to take orders. I’ve put my name on the list, and look forward to helping a needy child, while also satisfying my own curiosity about the technology. Please join me in supporting OLPC.