“Three years ago, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) was a shining
example of innovative, nonprofit goodness. It had a bold
humanitarian mission to develop and send $100 laptops to children
in developing nations, and its founder, Nicholas Negroponte, had
ambitions of distributing up to 10 million units by the beginning
of 2007. The XO laptop won widespread acclaim and plenty of
accolades (including a 2006 Best of What’s New Grand Award in this
magazine).“But this past year has brought the high-flying OLPC back to
earth. Production of the laptops has stalled, and the price tag of
the machine has doubled to $200. As of January, OLPC had built only
around 250,000 laptops, and delivery problems left some critics
fuming…”