The One Laptop Per Child project as re-launched its Give One Get One program, making it possible for individual customers in developed nations to donate an OLPC XO laptop to a child in a developing region—or donate a notebook and set their hands on one of the OLPC XO laptops for themselves. Although the program was embraced last year by donors willing to support the project to get computers to children in developing nations, the initial Give One Get One program plagued by shipping and delivery problems. This year, the One laptop Per Child project has partnered with Amazon.com to handle shipping and fulfillment in hopes of improving customers’ experience.
“The phenomenal success of last year’s Give 1 Get 1 program created tremendous demand from both the public who wanted to give more and from countries that saw an opportunity to attack poverty through education,” said OLPC chairman Nicholas Negroponte, in a statement. “Renewing the program now will help us scale existing deployments and expand into many other countries as well.”
The Give One Get One program is available today through Amazon in both the United States and the UK: customers can give a laptop to a child in a developing region for $199, or both donate a computer and receive an XO laptop of their own for $399. The XO laptop features a 7.5-inch, 1,200 by 900 pixel dual mode sunlight-readable display,a 433 MHz CPU, 256 MB of RAM, three USB ports, 1 GB of flash-based storage, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi wireless networking, and built-in speakers, camera, and microphone. The XO systems available through Give One Get One are pre-loaded with the XO’s Linux-based operating system and Sugar user interface; XO laptops running Windows XP are not available through Give One Get One.
In 2007, the Give One Get One program raised more than $35 million; the OLPC foundation says it has distributed more than half a million laptops in more than 30 countries, and hopes to deliver a million by the end of 2008.
