It is finally out. The One Laptop Per Child program’s Give One Get One program is finally up and running.
Here’s the text of the email I got:
Give One Get One starts today! From all of us at One Laptop per Child, thank you for your interest in our mission. Today marks the first day of our limited-time "Give One Get One" program. Starting today, when you donate an XO laptop to a child in the developing world, you'll receive one for the child in your life. The price for the two laptops will be $399, $200 of which is tax-deductible. Additionally, T-Mobile is offering donors one year of complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpot locations throughout the United States, which can be used from any Wi-Fi-capable device, including the XO laptop. Please visit www.laptopgiving.org to participate in Give One Get One and discover more about the revolutionary XO laptop. You can also donate by calling toll-free 1-877-70-LAPTOP (1-877-705-2786). This is the only time we're making the XO laptop available to the public and quantities are limited, so early purchasers have a better chance of receiving their XO laptops by the holidays. Once again, thank you. We sincerely hope you'll join our growing community of people working to create a connected, educated, enlightened future for the world's most essential resource - it's children.
Let’s change the world. Let’s help children around the world get the best possible means to an education. Let’s stop the wasteful technologies that are being created in the name of corporate profit. Don’t get me wrong. I love technology and would clamour for the coolest ones out there. Right now, none of the laptops – that cost in excess of S$1000 – come even close to the sub US$200 OLPC XO. And it comes for totally freed software – no encumerances, not “thou shall not share”, none. Empower the world. Do it now.