[olug] [OT] $100 computer pledge bank

[Todd Christopher Hamilton]

Ceser,

I am a little disappointed also.  The OLPC project would help a large
part of the world have a chance at the opportunities we in the US (the
middle class, educated, not wondering where our next meal will come
from US not the other US no one talks about) take for granted.  It is
a shame the community did not actively support this initiative like we
could have.  I am not going to give up all hope though.  I am sure
there will be another opportunity to help our fellow brother/sister
humans in this way.

I am wondering though how close were they at actually producing such a
machine?  I wonder how many units have to be produced at that price
point to make it financially feasible. (Economies of scale that sort
of thing).  Also if you take $100 x 100,000 units Thats $10,000,000.
In the grand scheme of things not a lot of money.

I bet this initiative or another like it will eventually succeed.

Todd

On 11/1/06, Cesar Delgado <cdelgad2 at bigred.unl.edu> wrote:
> Well, I guess the pledge time is over and the 100,000 pledges needed
> never arrived.  Most of you might have heard about the $100 laptop
> that's being developed (http://laptop.media.mit.edu/).  There was a
> pledge drive where they were asking $300 for 1 laptop where the rest of
> the money would play for 2 more to be sent to the areas that have been
> decided upon.  Well, sadly it didn't work.  And reading the posts on /.
> about it just made me even sadder.  Most people are bitchin' and moanin'
> about the cost and how they wouldn't pay 3x for something.  I did, I
> pledge for 2 actually and I'm still a broke college student.  Most
> people on /., I'm quite sure, wouldn't even think twice about spending
> ~$300 on ThinkGeek stuff the first time they went to the website!  But I
> guess I have a different view.  As most of you know I'm from Colombia in
> South America (not one of the countries that are going to get these
> laptops any time soon BTW).  And I guess I've seen the need down there
> so I can imagine quite easily the need somewhere else.  Maybe it's
> harder for some people used to a prety decent public school system to
> imagine a need that big.  Maybe I should hire Sally Struthers to make a
> commertial about it.
>
> I'm disappointed at the community in general right now.  I know, for
> sure, there's more than 100,000 geeks out there.  And I'm sure most of
> them spend way more than $300 on stuff that ends up in a closet.  But
> when asked to help, well.. same as the pledge bank, fell short.  It's
> quite sad.
>
> -Cesar
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-- 
Todd Christopher Hamilton
(402) 660-2787