Amazon launches OLPC 'Give 1 Get 1' laptop drive
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) association launched its Give 1 Get 1 program for a second time, allowing people to buy one of their iconic green mini laptops and donate one to a child in the developing world at the same time for just US$399.
This year, OLPC teamed up with Amazon for smoother ordering and distribution.
Amazon will begin taking orders for the XO laptops on Monday. The devices will be shipped within 30-days in the U.S. or longer for people ordering from the U.K. or other parts of the world.
All orders from outside the U.S. will be taken through Amazon's U.K. Web site and will be delivered in the first quarter of next year or later, OLPC said in a statement.
OLPC was started by people at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a goal of creating a low-cost US$100 laptop for school kids in countries where education budgets are less than $20 per child and most kids don't stay in school past the firth grade.
Although its initial laptop, the XO, costs double the target price, the organization has blossomed. OLPC has shipped more than 500,000 XO laptops to children in 31 countries including Afghanistan, Cambodia and Iraq. The organization hopes to deliver 1 million by the end of this year.
The Give 1 Get 1 program OLPC last year ran for six weeks and generated sales of 160,000 XO laptops, an OLPC representative said. More people opted to give the device outright, so over 100,000 of those laptops went to school kids in countries including Haiti and Rwanda.
"The phenomenal success of last year’s Give 1 Get 1 program created tremendous demand from both the public who wanted to give more and from countries that saw an opportunity to attack poverty through education," said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of OLPC, in a statement.
There are several ways to participate in the Give 1 Get 1 program.
In Give 1 Get 1, people pay US$399 for two XO laptops, one sent to a child in a developing country and the other sent to the donor. Those who don't want an XO can also simply give as many laptops as they want at $199 each.
People in the U.S. can order at http://www.amazon.com/xo.
People outside the U.S. can order at http://www.amazon.co.uk/xo.
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