G1G1 2007/FAQ

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Financial support for OLPC?

How is OLPC supported? How does one make a financial contribution?

You can make a financial contribution to the OLPC foundation, which is not the same as the OLPC association. Contributions will be used for "grants and loans for the development and use of open educational resources and grassroots learning innovations that enhance the effectiveness of the XO" and for the Special Laptop Program. --Fasten 17:30, 27 February 2007 (EST)

Donations

after tonight's 60 minutes' show, you should revamp the site to accomodate the flood of donation offerings. How may i send one? best wishes, tom

Try this site[1] Bakersdz

Where or how can I get one?

Short answer: Either apply for an XO through the developer's program or get one through the Give 1, Get 1 program.

Medium answer: Given the characteristics of the project, the OLPC is initially available only to national government agencies—ie. Ministry of Education—allowing us to achieve the initial economy of scale and a sufficiently large impact to make it sustainable. There are plans and ideas on how to expand our market to include other smaller and/or distributed organizations that will cater to people, places and situations where government agencies are unavailable - in the future and most likely collaborating through and with other parties.

Trying to satisfy personal, individual or otherwise 'isolated' retail requests (many present in this section) will divert precious energy that would otherwise be more effective at larger scales and targets. This does not imply a lack of interest or sympathy towards these requests, many of which are at the heart of our mission, but rather a physical limit that has to do with trade-offs between wishful thinking and practical realities. By no means does this preclude or try to impede that private, NGO and other grass-root organizations or people lobby in their target countries to be included as recipients or to get involved—it just means that they'll have to be a little patient and not lose sight of their dreams and try to match it with our timings.

Keep alert, maybe in the near future there'll be news that will allow us to cater your special demand.

Future answer: YOU CAN, probably, almost. Quanta, the manufacturer of the OLPC laptop, may start selling $200 laptops in 2008 or so that resemble the OLPC laptop. See this.

Give 1 Get 1

See xogiving.org or XO Giving for further information on the "Give 1 Get 1" program.

For the full story on retail sales, read: this article (another article) (another in spanish).

Warranty

In the Give 1 Get 1 Program, how do you handle warrenty questions?


Technical Help

In the Give 1 Get 1 Program, how do private users, receive technical help if needed?

Through Internet resources such as this Wiki, the bug tracking system, IRC, and mailing lists. So far the technical help has been outstanding. --gnu

If the computer malfunctions, what is the return policy?


What power source will come with the November Give one get one XO for the purchaser?

What Power source will come with the xo laptop for the purchaser during this November's give one get one? WIll it be an AC adaptor and/or a pull cord? Thanks, Greg

AC adaptor.

Unlimited Give 1 Get 1 program

I think that OLPC has underestimated the general interest and strong demand for their laptops. I think that the Give 1 Get 1 program should run for now and forever, and not be just a limited 2 week engagement - there are far too many people in the US that want to provide a laptop for their children, like the laptop designed, and think that the Give 1 Get 1 program is perfect - they can get 1 for their children or relatives, and at the same time they can give 1 to another country that needs it. As many other people have requested in previous questions and comments, they wanted the ability to directly purchase the laptop or somehow provide it to their communities in the US. The Give 1 Get 1 program helps to fill BOTH needs simultaneously. Do not just run this program for the limited time. You accidently hit upon what can push this program into overdrive. As you have found, Governments will never shovel out cash for anything. BUT private individuals will - if they can get something for their efforts as well.

I don't speak for OLPC, but my guess is that they're going to gather up all the orders over that two-week period and then order and ship that number of laptops, so that they're ordering thousands at once for efficiency, rather than one or two at a time. I presume that if the first burst of orders doesn't satisfy the demand, they will be amenable to doing something similar every few months. (Of course, anyone who wants to invest in buying a bunch of XO's during that two weeks is free to sell them to others -- for whatever price they can get -- after the order period closes. So an enterprising person could make some money selling them for e.g. $500 during times OLPC is unwilling to do so. And people could then get them in small quantities at any time.) --gnu

How can I get an XO outside USA and Canada?

Why is the Give One, Get One program being restricted to the USA and Canada only? Lots of application/content developers in other countries will also be interested in buying an XO to work with. If you use the services of an international shipping company like DHL and accept credit card payment only, then it is really no more difficult to ship to other countries than to North America.

I don't know the details of any country restrictions for the Give One Get One program, but please note that developers in other countries can also apply for a machine through the developer's program. —Joe 12:31, 24 September 2007 (EDT)
You've obviously never tried shipping outside the USA... shipping the XO prototypes had its saga of glitches caused by local bureaucracies and some 'issues' (to put it mildly) from the shipping company. So I would disagree that it would be no more difficult to ship to other countries... Xavi 14:05, 24 September 2007 (EDT)
I realize that there are some countries in the world where it can be difficult to ship things. I myself have experienced difficulties with Russia and Ukraine. But surely Western Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are pretty straightforward. In any case, this is not a prototype circuit board that someone thinks might be a bomb controller. It is a finished and packaged laptop. Every single box going out should be identical. This is the type of situation that a shipping company like DHL can easily deal with. --Memracom 16:16, 24 September 2007 (EDT)
My story, heard similar ones for Peru, Brazil, but also in Switzerland & France (iirc). Each country has their own rules governing imports & customs, and unfortunately DHL (and others) together with the recipient have to abide by them. So I wouldn't assume that shipping is some kind of fire-and-forget deal... Xavi 16:44, 24 September 2007 (EDT)

Distribution over missionaries?

The project wants the country governments for the buying and distribution of the XO to their students. But is there a possibility for missions (Christian) to buy laptops for their development projects? In many countries missions found schools and start educational programs. Are there possibilities for missions to get involved into the distribution of the XOs? The "give 1 get 1"-program is not an opportunity for the missions, because they can't afford the doubled price. I think missions could be a great distributor, because they go with schools where governments aren't.

We are open to discussions with NGOs.


Parallel Purchasing Program

Have you investigated the idea of having Dell or other major manufacturers give people the option of adding an OLPC Laptop to their orders? I think this is something my company and others could easily support; throwing in one of these laptops every time we buy a new computer. It would be nice, simple method of supporting your efforts. Just a thought

A Question about site submission

I was reading on one of the Wiki pages that you are looking for articles. But in the question and answer section you said the local communities will be adding things to the laptops internet mesh. Once the Laptops are received do you think it would be better to write to the government directly and submit sites based on simple graphics and texts that they can add them selves. I would like to submit but I wrote you people before and no one answered me and it is easier to get the Governments address and phone number . What do you think?


Well I think your idea sounds great! But you should hold off for right now in contacting the governments about submission ideas. If you look around the OLPC Wiki there are some ways you can make suggestions. But I am sure in the future once the program is off and running there will be ways to submit lessons and other suggestions to each OLPC location as well as to the OLPC program itself.

Bakersdz

Is the 'buy 2 and get 1' scheme going to happen?

Hi there, Is the 'buy 2 and get 1' scheme going to happen or not? There have been many reports that suggested that it was planned for next year.

It will run for two weeks in November 2007; see http://xogiving.org


OLPC's NEW FORMAT

how do i order one?

http://wiki.laptop.org/go/How_can_I_get_one%3F Crazybus 22:50, 11 August 2007 (EDT)

is this able to access yahoo and myspace?

It has a web browser so yes. Crazybus 22:50, 11 August 2007 (EDT)

If I make sites for kids how can the OLPC child find me? and can you give me the best Meta key words?

i am a homeschooler

are homeschoolers going to be able to get a laptop like this

It will probably depend on your country for now.
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quote from elsewhere on this page
As much as we would like to see an OLPC in the hands of every child on the planet, practical issues and humanitarian :criteria help decide the first people to get laptops:
  • Children and teachers in developing countries whose governmental leaders have partnered with OLPC
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But Quanta the manufacturer will probably be selling a commercialized version in the future for a higher price so you :may be able to get one then if your country isn't buying the laptops. Crazybus 00:05, 24 July 2007 :(EDT)

Single family homes

I have a niece who is in a one parent home struggling financially to make ends meet here in the USA, she has 3 sons, 2, 11 and 12 years old. Her oldest son is in the 6th grade, she cannot afford the monthly fees for the internet, nor the cost of a computer for her oldest sons. I think this is an unbelievable project! I checked the website out just to see if I could purchase one for my nephews but I see from the reading material I cannot.

But, I sure would like the idea of prioritizing single family homes as the first to receive them, if you eventually allow state or county non-profits to buy them for individuals or schools or maybe the USA federal government, naaa that would take too long.

Anyway, if a non profit could be set up in South Carolina, I would be willing to be a volunteer.

Thank you.


can i get one for my 2 kids???

dear sir/madam;

i am a mother of two from the Philippines, my eldest son is only 4 yrs. old, he's now at the nursery level, and i notice that he is interested about computers, he even know how to operate my laptop and start his educational game and i am proud of it. that is why i am asking you a question if i can get one for my eldest son so he can pursue his interest in studying by using laptop, and soon will teach his baby brother to use it.

thank you very much,

laarni muldong

As explained in several places, the short answer is no.
See

Not able to buy a your laptop?...

If I wish to raise and educate my child will I not be able to acquire the PC? Why is there a political barrier between your PC and my child (and every other that do not go to school)?

OLPC has no plan to ship XO laptop direct to the consumer market. But Quanta, the manufacture of the XO laptop, will perhaps sell a commercialized version of the same laptop to the normal consumer at about $200[2]. This Quanta version laptop will perhaps also use the same open Sugar OS system, like the official XO laptop, developed by Redhat and OLPC Project. --Scott Zhu 20.20, 01.May 2007(EDT)

Will it be distributed in developed countries?

As mentioned in the countries section, the decision to distribute in any particular country (including the USA and other developed countries) does not depend on the OLPC but on the government's decision.

Note must be taken that developing countries are the initial and ultimate target countries for the OLPC, although it does not preclude other countries from participating.

Why not the USA?

See above. Or for further discussions on the subject see OLPC4USA and retail.

individual use in USA

If I "buy one - get one," I would give mine to my 6 year old grandson. Will he be able to network with kids around the world? Can the camera-mic be used to communicate with kids in Nigeria, Peru, etc?

Yes. Don't forget that Peruvian kids probably don't speak the same language as your grandson. But they may be able to play together and show each other things. -gnu

Along the same lines, how will networking work outside the expected Mesh Network environment. For instance, can my 6 year old nephew use the WiFi hub in his home?

Yes. -gnu


Coming to the US ?

is this laptop going to be sold in the U.S. like in stores or just for the peolpe in need? If so how much would it cost and when will it come this is the coolest laptop anybody invented for years!!!! thanks for the help! email me at maddyj123@hotmail.com thanks sooo much!!!! i live in florida in the united states in ft. laraudale. thanks!

See Ask OLPC a Question about Distribution#Where or how can I get one?. —Joe 13:33, 1 September 2007 (EDT)
Yes, the laptop will be sold for a two-week period (Nov 12-26, 2007) initially; see http://xogiving.org. I presume that if this trial succeeds, a more permanent way to buy the laptop will be created. --gnu

The Needy Children of the U.S.A.

To all of those people that want to donate things to all of the children. Shouldn't we think of all of our children in the states?

Stop & think of who is responsible of all the teaching that the Americans are the enemy's. with all of the organizations in this country i would think that our country that a lot of AMERICANS FOUGHT FOR & SO MANY LOST THEIR LIVES FOR.THAT EVERYONE THAT WANTS TO START A DONATION &FUNDING TO SHOULD START IN THEIR COUNTRY THAT THEY LIVE IN.

STOP & THINK HOW MUCH DID OUR COUNTRY DO FOR A LOT OF OTHER COUNTRIES & WHAT DID WE GET ION RETURN.

THE BIG CORPORATIONS SEND ALL OF OUR WORK THEIR & PUT HOW MANY PEOPLE ON THE OUT OF WORK LIST.

JUST BECAUSE OF THE GREED OF BIG MONEY PEOPLE. I THINK IF ANY MONEY IS SPENT IT SHOULD BE SPENT IN OUR COUNTRY FIRST.THEN WHEN OUR CHILDREN HAVE ALL OF THE LEARNING TOOLS THEN WE CAN HELP OTHER COUNTRIES.

NOW STOP & THINK WHO HELPED US ON SEPTEMBER 11!!!!! WE NOW ARE INVOLVED IN A WAY IN A COUNTRY THAT TEACHES THAT ALL AMERICANS SHOULD BE KILLED. IS THAT THE KIND OF CHILDREN YOU WANT TO TEACH MORE TO?? STOP & THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER & HIS FATHER WOULD SAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO PLEASE STOP & TEACH THOSE CHILDREN IN OUR HOME COUNTRY. ALSO THINK THAT HOW MANY CHILDREN DO WE HAVE IN THIS COUNTRY FROM THE COUNTRIES YOU ARE GIVING THESE THINGS TO.

WE NEED TO BUILD THE U.S.A. BACK TO THE PROUD COUNTRY IT SHOULD BE.

There is a lot more i would like to say but it all comes back to we should help our Country first.

-- AN AMERICAN VET.

OLPC is interested in helping children in all countries, including the United States. We have been in discussions with many governors and are discussing possible deployments in individual school districts. That said, I have two comments regarding your note: (1) OLPC has not been diverting any funds away from the United States into other countries; and (2) it is our belief that one of the roads to peace is making sure that every child in every country has an opportunity for learning. If we can help to eliminate ignorance, perhaps we can eliminate much of the underlying cause of hatred and violence. --Walter 18:11, 7 July 2007 (EDT)


computers for my school

Hello, My name is Sonia Ponce, I work in two high school´s in Matamoros Tamaulipas, Mexico, Escuela Secundaria Tecnica #46 & Escuela secundaria Tecnica #76, I teach cumputer sience but the problem is that we don´t have the resorces to get new equipment, we ask our local and state goverment for funding to purchase the much needed equipoment but we get no answer, your computer, if the cost is $100 USD looks to me to be afortable, the schools are located in a area where the people just don´t have much money they leve pay check to pay check, or how can we get choosen for a trial basis?

Yours Truly Sonia Ponce e-mail, saponce@gmail.com


Partnering Schools

My children visit a small primary school in Scotland, which is actively looking to find a partner school in the developing world. From talking to other parents, I believe I would be able find enough interest to purchase 30-40 OLPC laptops on your 'buy two - get one' scheme. Would it be possible to distribute the 'donated' laptops in one particular school and such create a community between the two schools?

I don't know if it's possible to designate which country or school your "donated" laptops go to -- I doubt it, since that would increase the overhead of selling them to the public (and they're trying to keep the overhead very low). But what I suggest is that your Scottish school children find another school (anywhere in the world) which is also using the XO, and partner with that school. Nigeria might be a good candidate, since there would be less of a language barrier. -gnu
Also, you can probably run your own "School Server" by getting an ordinary PC and downloading the appropriate server software that's published on this site. You'll need either a Marvell USB-based Mesh WiFi dongle (not yet available, but maybe soon), or you'll need to use one of the OLPC laptops as your mesh portal (gatewaying the school server onto the mesh, so the kids can access it). -gnu

Can I raise funds to purchase olpc computers for a third world school and my own?

I am a principal of an elementary school in the United States with a significant number of students who are impacted by poverty. If I were able to mobilize my community to raise enough money to purchase these computers for a school in a third world country, would it be possible for us to purchase these computers for ourselves? I believe our community could raise $30,000 to fund the purchase of these laptops for a school of 300 students. I actually have a school in mind?

You might want to read the Ask OLPC a Question about Distribution page. —Joe 13:30, 1 September 2007 (EDT)
Yes! For the two week period between November 12-26, 2007, you will be able to buy OLPC laptops for $400 each. You could buy 300 of them for $120,000. This would fund a second 300 laptops for children in a developing country. -gnu


School Sponsors

After I saw the 60 Minutes piece I thought this would be a great school fundraiser. It would be cool to have US children e-mail children in third world countries. Much of today's issues, I think, could be improved with an understanding of each other. Do you have plans for schools to invest in a laptop and then have the US children e-mail the laptop's recipient? I know there are such opportunities in developed countries, but I know of none for third world countries. cmshaughnessy@msn.com

There has been some interest shown by the US and other First World nations. As the program grows this could be a very good idea for children to have email pals across the globe. Bakersdz

That would be great, but the OLPC software doesn't handle email. --gnu
Say what? The XO has a full-featured web browser, which is more than adequate for using gmail, among other email systems. We haven't ported a native email client to the laptop yet, as it is not as high a priority as other activity development. --Walter 21:35, 7 July 2007 (EDT)

How can a country get involved?

By starting talks with the OLPC at national or ministerial level—minister or similar high-ranking government officials—not at individual level. Individuals should lobby their government to participate. More info.

Where can I see an OLPC in the UK?

Hi,

I'm really interested in the OLPC project, and often add things to the wiki... But I've never actually seen one in real life... How many are there in the UK, and what are the chances of actually viewing one? Maybe you should do a grand tour?!

Well, you can try the alpha software in emulation: Using QEMU on Windows XP. If you run into problems, you'll have to research and learn. --Jeff 27 Feb 2007


I would desperately want...

Hello!

I've heard about your project on the program "Click" at BBC World. I think the idea of a 100$ computer is absolutely marvelous!

I would desperatly like to get one of these computers myself, eventhough I can afford usual computers. The problem is, that I'm living in Switzerland, which is still tinted grey on your world map.

I would be prepared to pay double the price (200$) to get one of these computers. That way, you could actually build two of them and donate one of them to a child that really needs it.

I think it would actually be a great idea to allow people who aren't eligible to own one of these computers, to get one for double its price - thus financing a free notebook for a child who really needs it.

It would also prevent people who are eligible to get one to put it on an auctioning site to sell them to people who don't really need them.

Thanks for a reply!

Best Regards

C.Beeli - Switzerland

It's good to read about your enthusiasm, but alas, quite some people had similar ideas before as the "Ask OLPC a Question about Distribution#Availability - Can XXX in YYY get one paying ZZZ ?" section shows, and to which the short answer is no. A longer answer is that you can still participate and collaborate with time and effort to make the project a reality. And a full answer would be this whole wiki, your government, local NGOs, etc. --Xavi 07:23, 5 January 2007 (EST)


Can NGOs and charities get them?

The short answer: see the XO Giving page. Groups should refer to the Give Many page. Individuals should refer to the (retail) availability page.

The OLPC efforts are currently focused at national level, and although we would love to make it available without restrictions, this would disrupt and overload our launch process in order to deal with the vast number of NGOs that are interested in participating. After the initial launch, plans include the opening up to include them. See here.


minimum order

NGOs and retailers are supposedly excluded based on quantity, but that really doesn't make sense. In theory, an NGO or retailer could order many millions of laptops.

Some countries are initially excluded because they are too small. It seems you want quantities of 1 million.

Is that the magic number? If an NGO could buy a million, would you then work with them? What if Walmart wanted a million?

Would 5 million do the job? How about 10 million?

It'd be nice to replace all the "NO YOU CAN'T BUY ONE" stuff with a more-understandable "minimum order 1 million", or whatever it is.

AlbertCahalan 00:42, 20 February 2007 (EST)

The fact is that the OLPC does not want to sell large numbers of laptops. Rather, they want to get large numbers of laptops in the hands of children along with educational support for those children to ensure that they actually receive educational value from the laptops. In addition, the OLPC is at a very early stage in its project, so they need to focus their relationships on a small number of countries which are willing to put a lot of energy into pilot projects.
There is no minimum order number because the OLPC is not selling laptops, not at retail and not at wholesale. Sometime after the pilot projects are well under way and there are a few million satisfied child users of the laptops (2 years or more) then there will be alternative distribution channels for the laptops. However, NGOs may take lower priority than small quantity projects with ministries of education in smaller countries, or poor countries which cannot support a full national rollout at one time.
If an NGO really wants to get involved in OLPC laptop distribution, then they should start by providing people and resources to support projects in the countries where OLPC has an agreement. That way, the NGO personnel will gain experience and will be able to speak with the OLPC project on a more reasonable basis than waving dollar bills and demanding minimum-order-quantities.

Who will get one?

As much as we would like to see an OLPC in the hands of every child on the planet, practical issues and humanitarian criteria help decide the first people to get laptops:

  • Children and teachers in developing countries whose governmental leaders have partnered with OLPC
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