Stan Beer
Wednesday, 21 May 2008 18:17
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
One would think that the troubled One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization would have pulled back from making outlandish claims after failing by a long shot to deliver the fabled $100 laptop to the underprivileged children of the third world. Obviously, the rule at OLPC is when at first you don't succeed set an even more outlandish target - $75 for a dual screen laptop.
OLPC is having trouble getting the world to
believe it can deliver a widespread rollout of the current XO laptop
for $188, yet it claims that it will have a smaller dual touch screen
XO-2 model on the market for $75 by 2010.
To be fair to OLPC, at $188 the much heralded, sometimes maligned XO
laptop did break down some price and style barriers and the
organisation has managed to move about 600,000 units.
However, given the widespread publicity, as well as support from the
idealists within the open source and Linux communities, one can hardly
call the program a rip snorting success.
Having failed to deliver on much of its promise to bring portable
computing technology to places which would otherwise have no hope of
obtaining it, OLPC appears to have strayed from many of its original
ideals. Once a champion of Linux and open source advocates, OLPC now
seeks to reach an agreement with Microsoft to put Windows XP on the XO.
Amid tales of internal bickering, there have been high profile
resignations from OLPC and much public criticism of the organisation
from once loyal supporters. There have also been tales of an
unprofessional and inefficient product support and supply chain
infrastructure. Reports have also begun to surface about product
quality and reliability problems.
Having recently spoken to local advocates of OLPC, it seems clear that
there is a lot of fragmentation in the organisation. The very idea of
putting Windows XP on the XO is anathema to many if not most of the
original founders - except of course OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte.
The idea that the XO should be sold as a consumer product was also
contrary to the original ideals of the organisation. Yet the give one
get one program is said to be back in vogue, no doubt as a device to
boost flagging sales. CONTINUED
