One Laptop Per Child

My husband works in the tech sector. He had been following a program called One Laptop Per Child. He showed me their website and suggested we get involved.

The program morphed out of a goal to build a $100 laptop. They keep the cost low by 1)using a screen display similar to that of lower cost DVD player models 2)streamlining the operating system thereby reducing the necessary horsepower and resources and 3)the laptops will be produced in bulk and sold to governemnt ministries of education in countries around the world.

OLPC's mission: "OLPC is a non-profit organization providing a means to an end—an end that sees children in even the most remote regions of the globe being given the opportunity to tap into their own potential, to be exposed to a whole world of ideas, and to contribute to a more productive and saner world community."

On their website they have shocking stats. One in three children (out of over 2 billion children in developing countries) never progresses beyond the fifth grade. The amount spent to educate a child in these countries is often less than $20 compared to over $7500 in the United States.

The laptop is called XO (OLPC's symbol looks like an X and an O but the placement of these two letters makes the symbol look like a child). The XO "is a unique harmony of form and function; a flexible, ultra-low-cost, power-efficient, responsive, and durable machine with which nations of the emerging world can leapfrog decades of development—immediately transforming the content and quality of their children's learning." The laptop runs on less than 2 watts (1/10th of what a normal laptop runs on). There is also a hand crank to recharge the battery (it is not yet available but its supposed to be soon). For those going green-there are no hazardous components comprising the laptop. The keyboard is sealed rubber (making it spillproof). Its estimated lifetime is about 5 years. It runs Linux operating system. Keep in mind it is designed for children and is smaller than a textbook.

At the end of 2007, the OLPC foundation had a special program (this is what renewed my husband's interest in the project) where individuals could purchase a laptop to donate to a child (for $200) and for another $200 they would send you one of the XO laptops. These laptops were only made available to private citizens for a short period of time to generate interest and support for the program. You can still get one if you frequent ebay.

Last week our XO arrived and I must admit it is an interesting piece of technology. It has a fascinating music program to create your own music and you can access the internet. Too bad it didn't come with an instruction manual. It will probably take my husband until my daughter is 5 before we figure out all the uses of the laptop.