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Give one laptop, get one sooner or later

If you donated an XO device to the OLPC with the expectation of getting one back for yourself, you've probably been on hold for several months amid shipping snafus.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit
2 min read

The One Laptop Per Child organization's "Give One, Get One" program has hit a few snags in recent weeks, as donors are apparently having trouble getting their end of the bargain to come together.

The program offered fans of the XO laptop a chance to donate $400 and send one of the laptops to a needy child and one to themselves.

There were enough XO laptops for this Nigerian classroom. Ahmad Dan-Hamidu

Harry McCracken, editor in chief of PC World, is still waiting for his XO laptop. He was one of the first to participate in the promotion, donating $400 to the OLPC on November 12.

Originally, the OLPC told McCracken that he'd have his XO by Christmas, but that got pushed into January, and now representatives tell him he "might have good news in February."

PC World did a more in-depth story on the problems the OLPC is having fulfilling the second part of the "Give One, Get One" program. An OLPC representative said the organization is prioritizing shipments of XO laptops to needy countries, which probably makes sense. But the laptops are in short supply, and issues with addressing and order tracking have compounded the problems.

Peter Glaskowsky of the CNET Blog Network received his XO laptop before New Year's Day, so some shipments are apparently making it through, but the whole affair is another example of the OLPC's rough start to its charitable venture.

The price of the XO laptop has risen steadily, the mass production of the device has been delayed, and founder Nick Negroponte has engaged in a very public spat with Intel over the right of OLPC members to market their own low-cost laptops to the world's developing nations.