Make a Difference : Buy a child a laptop and get one for your family.

One Laptop per Child begins its kickoff program where US citizens can purchase a laptop for $399 and the Organization will donate 1 laptop to a child in a developing country.



Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman of the program has this as the purpose of the organization:

"The OLPC Foundation's mission is to stimulate local grassroots initiatives designed to enhance and sustain over time the effectiveness of laptops as learning tools for children living in lesser-developed countries."

Here is a link that takes you directly to the hardware specifications of the 1LPC laptop.

I think this is a great idea with a lot of potential, but I also think that we need more programs focused on increasing our populations access to affordable computers. A lot of youth and families cannot afford current prices and this type of product would be beneficial for ensuring their access to good computers and the web.

Attention non-profit grant writers: Use this 1LPC program to get affordable laptops for your school or youth program. Use half of the laptops to get affordable laptops for your program and then the other laptops are already donated for you and you can use it in your pr that your group donated through the program. You might even go as far as, starting a web-based "pen pal" program with the children who recieve the laptops.

Mass production for the laptops is already underway and the program may have a rival sooner than they hope.