I just got my (daughter’s) new XO Laptop from Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child initiative from laptopgiving.org.
Basically, it’s this great, little laptop that was designed for children in developing nations. It was designed to handle extreme environmental conditions such as high heat and humidity, as well as technological issues such as local-language support.
You can participate in the Give One Get One program through 12/31/07. For a donation of $399, one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and you will receive one.
According to the site…
Up to $200 of your donation may be tax-deductible (your $399 donation minus the fair market value of the XO laptop you will be receiving).
The XO laptop is tiny, maybe 2/3 the size of my MacBook. It’s meant for a child, but it has the core functionality to be a productive, extra laptop for any adult. It runs on the Linux OS.
It comes with a bunch of applications installed, and there are a wealth of programs you can download and use with it for free.
And back to the part about the good cause. If you get one before 12/31/07, you will receive your XO laptop in early 2008. Your donated laptop will reach a child in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, Mongolia or Rwanda in the same early 2008 time frame.
I got this one for my eight year old daughter and she totally loves it. Since I couldn’t pry it from her little hands, I decided to order an extra one yesterday.
More information at http://www.laptopgiving.org/.