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OLPme

For years the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative has been trying to launch a fabled $100 laptop for children in developing countries. There’s been concerted effort during this whole period, if not longer, to garner enough international support that several million units could be produced en masse, thereby driving down the costs of both production and distribution.

As was widely expected, the laptops never did make it under the $100 mark, even after taking advantage of economies of scale. They’ve skidded in at just under $200, still a bargain (according to me) considering the remarkable amount of hardware packed into the device. And now the OLPC committee has decided that for two short weeks in November 2007, it will make the device publicly available to Americans in a “Give 1, Get 1″ program. This bumps the price up to US$400, but means that the person who buys one of the devices will also be paying to have one sent overseas to a student in a developing country.

David Pogue from the New York Times has reviewed the XO-1, the first iteration of the OLPC laptop. Here’s a video of his time with it.

I want one. I’m definitely considering buying one when my stipend comes. I know it’s a real piece of junk in terms of a laptop, and I know that I’d look like a complete fool if I’m ever seen in public with it. But I really, really want one. Buying one in November would also mean that I’d be foregoing money I should be spending in Europe, for example on traveling.

So I’ve some deliberating yet to do. But I have a yearly gadget allowance for myself, and this fits the bill nicely. Thus far it’s shaping up much better than picking up an iPod Touch, though I might change my mind on that if I ever see Linux and/or Rockbox running on a Touch.

The OLPC is the start of something big, whether a soaring success or an utter failure. Either way, given my interests both personal and professional, I think I want to be on board at least in a small way like grabbing one for myself and one for a student far away.

Plus, I could look at porn on it.