Interesting Give 1 Get 1 Follow Up and Future

   
   
   
   
   

While surfing over on wiki.laptop.org earlier today I noticed that an interesting update regarding Give 1 Get 1:

olpc icon
Can't stand no more G1G1 sadness
Important information about the first G1G1: The deadline for activation of the T-Mobile accounts is June 30th. If you have not activated your account, please do it today! OLPC will not be able to help you after the 30th.

I assume if you're geeky enough to read this Web site you probably activated your T-Mobile account on day 1. However it would be a shame for people to realize on July 1st that they still haven't activated their account. So if you know any G1G1 people who might have missed this then let them know about the deadline.

If there are additional issues or concerns (replacement laptops, bad shipments) from the first G1G1, please send an email to HELP @ LAPTOP.ORG

I am wondering how many "get 1" XOs are actually being used these days and how many are sitting in boxes, on shelfs and in basements gathering dust since their owners realized that no, this is not a replacement for a $1000 Dell machine.

OLPC has begun planning for the next Give One Get One (G1G1) program which will be available to the US, Canada, and several other countries. It is expected to launch later this year. Please check our website for more information after September 1. (my emphasis)

Ah, interesting, seems like September 1st is D-Day! That gives OLPC some more time to address the plethora of issues that plagued the first Give 1 Get 1. Plus that Christmas delivery looks potentially feasable, even for the Canadian folks.

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15 Comments

check-using xo....skyping at work...(hee hee hee hee hee and they are not really certain what the funny looking computer is!)
not check-tmobile.....eh...i do not need it...
the next g1g1 should be interesting...
anyone taking bets on MORE or less xo's sold????

I've yet to encounter a T-Mobile hotspot, consequently I have never bothered to activate my subscription.


@strollin

You might want to ahead and activate it anyway, you never know when you'll be near "most Starbucks coffee houses, Borders Books & Music stores, FedEx Kinko’s Office and Print Centers, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Red Roof Inns, airports, and airline clubs of American®, Delta®, United®, and US Airways®" during the next year.

You can find more here:
https://selfcare.hotspot.t-mobile.com/locations/viewLocationMap.do

I was a skeptic about the T-mobile account at first - I've never really needed one before, but now that I do have access, its a great way to get access when in airports and on the road. I'm not sure it would be worth the $300+ if I were to buy it myself, but it does come in handy now and again.

This is prophetic given the discussion we had this morning on some G1G1 issues.

Tmobile was another promised feature we didn't get in Canada (yet I've heard it's available in the Ottawa Airport!), but let's not go there...

But yes, I'm ready with my list of 10 ideas +/- for the Foundation to think about before launching the G1G1 II, but since they don't answer the phone or my emails when I've got my official hat on, I can't see why they would listen to what I've got to say when I am just representing myself.

O_o

i signed up for my t mobile hot spot a while ago. if i recall correctly, you dont have to reallydo much of anything. you get a number from the olpc group that you need to get th free t mobilehotspot connection via e mail, and then you go on the t mobile website and fill out a form. no need to go find a hotspot or even the xo itself. just the number.


to the olpc group

if you guys ever put in a full sized laptop keybord into the xo (my guess is you woud break it in half and hve the user unfold it each time they opened it up) and gave the machine a bit more ram and processing speed (to the point where it can handle stuff like java based games and youtube, then i'll happily do the whole g1g1 again :-)

post script: did this post on my xo (and now i have cramps in my hands! woopie!!)

@clevergirl

you can represent me providing i agree with 95% of your ideas. a big problem in my opinion is that these things have an extremely niche audience. a few basic modifications and this thing could be a laptop that could be advertised a laptop that'll last you twice as long as any laptop on the market, and that goes for a fraction of the price of most. would be a great way to get the g1g1 going. also, props on calling them on the phone.

i know u have your deas, and have myideas too. there are plenty of other people with their own ideas as well. i think if we all had a rep (you and a few other people) we could come up with a smal list of key ideas, and as a community explain why the olpc group should put those ideas into the x0-2 and g1g1 2

@theif

less...alot less. there wi be a few newcomers, a few people who busted their original one or for whatever reason want/need another one, and people who for whatever reson missed the first time around, and will be getting one this time

heyquick question...has the price come down at al in the past 6 months? its still 400 bucks isnt it? as much as i would like to, we really cant do any physical improvements to the xo hardware wise until we bring down the price of the xo itself...

CleverGirl & Abe,

May I humbly suggest you submit your ideas for a new & improved G1G1x2 to OLPC News as a Guest Post?

While OLPC may be able to ignore a single voice, when its a open topic of conversation in a public form such as this, people take note and change often results. Just look at the input of the first round of G1G1 posts on getting OLPC to even acknowledge there were problems that needed to be addressed: http://www.olpcnews.com/sales_talk/g1g1/

Many thanks for reminding me of the expiration date. I would have lost it otherwise. I'm posting this through T-Mobile instead.

Still use the XO :)

I never bothered with the Hot-Spot, I move to Sweden in 3 weeks, never needed it. I also don't fly (if ever) and using it at an airport is out of the question. Also Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is 20 feet from my house, going to Starbucks to use wi-fi, when I have it at home, is silly.

Thanks for checking in with us. I hope G1G1 II in Europe will be a success.

Geeky enough to be reading this. Live in Seattle - plenty of free wifi without needing to go to Starbucks, so I haven't felt the need to install the T-mobile subscription.

But that's for the warning - I'll probably go home at lunch, dig out my g1g1 box and find the code I need to register (I NEVER received any emails from OLPC)....

As for what the G1G1 XO's are up to now - I think that would be an interesting forum post to hear from others on.... my story:

Mine (my daughter's, actually) is used sporadically - usually for the Maze or Implode activity, or there's picture-puzzle activity she likes as well.... Meanwhile - SeaXO (local user group) has quieted down (no meetings since March), and I somehow lost Opera - so I guess it's fallen into disrepair a bit.

The new build of sugar (703?) looks interesting, but corrupting my SD card doesn't sound good, so I'm still waiting. My wish list is simple: 1. Flash in a browser that works well (for starfall.com), 2. Easy file management into/out of Suger (we took a great picture using record - now, how to 'send' this to our iMac to share with others?).

I think of my xo as I do my chumby - the novelty has worn off, I'm not spending a lot of time with it anymore. But, it comes out now and then, it's still fun, and I still hold out hope that some of my needs will be addressed (before they're complete dinosaurs).

I use my XO daily as a surfing tool in the backyard. Dual mode screen FTW! I'm on it now, actually, but with a USB keyboard/mouse because of sticky keys/hyper-sensitivy problems.

I've been amazed it hasn't died yet since I leave it powered up outside 24/7 under a covered, but open-sided porch. It's closed when not in use, but has withstood an amazing amount of horizontal rain.

That being said, after dealing with sticky keys, touchpad hyper-sensitivity, and a random flash corruption, I'm probably going to buy a used Toughbook and put Linux on it. I'll give the XO to my niece if/when an easily maintained Release 1.x comes out.

Or I can always use the XO for a lavatory surfing machine if I get around to replacing the keyboard and installing a mousepad stand by the TP despenser. :)

Well, it's July 8th and the T-Mobile process to sign up for free Hotspot access still works. My free account expires on July 9th, 2009.

Just forgot about the June 30th expiration date and didn't expect to be able to get an account.

Wonder how long it'll be there before T-Mobile "dismantles".

Crap. T Mobile site down.

Kinda crappy. The fact that I've only encountered _1_ TMobile hotspot since having my XO doesn't make it any less crappy.

Oh well.

Experience 1 Lesley 0

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