One Laptop per Child (OLPC) has launched their sales initiative to introduce a new type of laptop (XO Laptop) for children who are less fortunate and are living in developing countries. They are encouraging people in Canada and the United States to purchase a laptop for a child and they will receive one as well. I am quite excited about this initiative and the laptop is amazing!
The question I want to pose is … why hasn’t anything like this been introduced in the normal consumer market? The idea is brilliant and the cause is worthwhile. I realize the Linux operating system and many other aspects of the laptop’s technology have not been around for very long, but it still puzzles me as to why very little initiative was made to develop such an efficient and effective little laptop for children or tweens with regards to the common consumer market.
Sure, there are the Fisher Price or Fisher Price-like pre-school laptops and some other edutainment software/hardware that has been put together for the older children, but they lack the real substance that allows children to explore and learn. These are also incredibly expensive for what they are capable of whereas something like the XO Laptop is around $400 for two laptops that are solidly built and were designed for children to experiment, learn and expand their minds.
I would like to believe that ultimately the cooperation and goodwill of numerous tech companies and the collaborative hard work of people from around the world allowed for a solid product to be brought to fruition. If that is so … then it can be a prime example of how innovative business can be performed while truly helping others.
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