31 August 2007

Catching up with One Laptop Per Child

Update: OLPC has announced that, starting Nov. 12, it will begin selling the XO laptop to consumers through its Give 1 Get 1 program. From the site:

For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home.

Or, right now, you can donate $200 to send a laptop to a child in a developing nation.

[This summer], the US news show 60 Minutes rebroadcast its segment on Nicholas Negroponte and his One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative. As Bruno Giussani has reported on the TED Blog, much news has emerged since that segment first aired in May:

+ OLPC and Intel have agreed to work together, not compete, to put laptops in the hands of every kid on the planet.
+ OLPC's chief technology officer, Mary Lou Jepsen, said last month that a retail version of the laptop may be commercially available by this Christmas.

You can see more from Nicholas Negroponte here on TED.com -- he gave a rousing talk at TED2006, just days after he took a leave of absence from MIT's Media Lab to devote himself fully to One Laptop Per Child. Watch the TEDTalk and join the conversation >>

To contact Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child project, visit the OLPC website's Contacts page >>

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