Re-Gifting Your XO Laptop to Benefit OLPC Developers

   
   
   
   
   

While it may surprise some, there are Give One Get One participants who feel that the XO laptop from One Laptop Per Child isn't right for them.

They could be parents who bought the XO for kids who wanted something else. Or adults who thought the XO would be a good business laptop replacement. And last but not least, people who believe in the OLPC mission but found the XO not suitable for their computer use case.

Nigeria OLPC
Boomer's XO Going to Bryan

Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Boomer, a G1G1 donor who is sending me his XO laptop to re-gift it to a deserving OLPC developer group. I have the great honor of sending Boomer's laptop to OLE Nepal, one of the most innovative and organized local OLPC groups.

While Boomer's XO is on its way to them, let's hear why he would voluntarily give up clock-stopping hot technology for free:

An interview with the originator of the XO regifting program.

OLPC News: Why did you decide to "regift" the XO you received in the G1G1 program?

Boomer: I am the president of the KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) chapter in my house. I was looking for an inexpensive way to check my e-mail while traveling.

The literature about the XO made me believe it would meet my needs perfectly. I also strongly support the goals of OLPC and thought that it was a Win-Win situation. My donation would provide a machine to a child and I would get a machine also.

The XO is small, rugged, and has built-in WIFI, making it a perfect candidate for traveling and checking e-mail. Plus, it would completely baffle the TSA folks at the airport. What is this balding 60 year old guy doing with a lime green flattened lunch box he claims is a laptop computer.

OLPC News: When did you realize that the XO might not meet your needs?

Boomer: I think the first clue was when I tried for fifteen minutes to open it before reading the instructions. The second clue was when I couldn't get it to work with my home WIFI system.

I joined the OLPC News Forum and read about connecting to WIFI and still had no luck. I then realized that the XO is a work in progress and clearly required someone with slightly more personal RAM than me.

I did take a Fortran programming course in 1967, but the field of computing has developed a bit since then.

OLPC News: Some donors to the G1G1 program have not yet received their laptops and you are giving yours away. What do you say to those who bought XO's as Christmas presents?

Boomer: I am still waiting for a number of presents I asked for between the ages of 3 and 10. And somehow I don't think they are arriving. At least the participants in the G1G1 program are assured that they will receive their machines. I know they are disappointed with the timing, but the since OLPC is staffed by volunteers, mistakes can happen.

I was a Day one Donor, and received my machine before Christmas, even though it would still be in the snow bank outside my garage door if I hadn't gone out to do some shoveling. I'm just happy I wasn't using my snowblower. I would have had to buy a new snowblower.

OLPC News: Can we get back to the first question. Why did you decide to "regift" your machine to a developer?

Boomer: I put a thread on the forum under other XO topics entitled "regifting" where I asked for suggestions about to whom I should send my XO. I received a number of excellent replies.

One I didn't receive from the thread was the idea of sending it to a forum moderator who would make sure that it went to a developer who could use it to help with the project. That one made the most sense to me. Someone who is willing to donate their time to improve the XO can help benefit everyone. I hope the OLPC program is a great success.

The other suggestion I didn't get was to sell it on eBay. While that might be the answer for some people, I believe my solution better serves the goals of OLPC, which is why I participated originally.

Related Entries

6 Comments

Boomer,

both yourself, Wayne and Bryan, I admire you and I only wish that the world was filled with a few more people willing to give instead of take, sadly the World is not and we will have to suffer with greed, self interest and large ego's.

Happy new year to everyone

I just want to clarify one thing. I am not one of those young men in the photo. I suspect their combined ages might equal mine! Wayan is on the left, Bryan on the right in the picture.

Oh man...

In all seriousness... I am in the process of setting up a dev team to develop for OLPC... I only have one XO for myself. It will be great if someone can donate one...

BTW the link/article about ebay resellers isn't quite true anymore, a quick search for OLPC's on ebay will find plenty of actual G1G1 recipients selling their units on ebay just fine, no auctions being pulled or anything. If anything this fact might at least actually show the actual market value of the OLPC, which currently btw is somewhere north of 400 US per machine if you follow any of the auctions and go by ebay as a deterministic source, something alot of insurance companies do these days when determing the value of used goods.

Ned

ebay, in conjunction with Mission Fish organise an "ebay for charity" scheme. Ebay sellers can automatically donate their sale proceeds to a charity of their choice. In which case, Ebay also donate the sellers fees. I'm considering selling my XO and if so, I'll be doing so in favour of a great charity I'm involved with called CAMDA. Perhaps those who don't wish to donate their laptop may consider ebay selling their laptop with the proceeds going directly to a charity of their choice.

Has this become an official program, by the way?

There are a few efforts (mine included) to put the G1G1 laptops to good use, educating students! Right now with our 5 XOs and classes of around 8-10 students, a few extra XOs would make a huge difference for our grade 6, 7, and 8 science students.

If any of you have an extra XO around, please email me or leave a comment on my blog:
http://whereisholden.blogspot.com/search/label/OLPC

Thanks!

Close