OLPC Hits $200 Mark

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Things just keep looking gloomier for the OLPC project. The XO, which was originally supposed to be $100 has just hit the $200 mark…when purchased in lots of 10,000. Doesn’t sound too good when you can get a full featured ASUS Eee PC for about the same amount.

The One Laptop per Child Foundation, founded by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte, has started offering the lime-green-and-white machines in lots of 10,000 for $200 apiece on its Web site
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Thats the standard way liberals work. They bait and switch, offer you a good laptop for kids in developing countries at 100, then turn around and say they can't make it at that price, and it'll cost 200 instead.

So is this dude a liberal? In a government? Then why is this the case in this project?
 
Not sure of the people behind this program, but you dont need a MBA to know that you should probably find out how much it will be to actually manufacture the product before you tell people how much you will sell it for so things like this dont happen.
 
I guess the huge minimum order was a huge failure. :D
 
RoBo said:
I really am surprised... :rolleyes:
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qft

qbert95 said:
Not sure of the people behind this program, but you dont need a MBA to know that you should probably find out how much it will be to actually manufacture the product before you tell people how much you will sell it for so things like this dont happen.
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Oh, I bet they know very well. They also know that if they said $200 people would have backed out, investors would have withdrawn, and governments would have looked the other way. Perfect opportunity to get your business model worked in.
 
The olpc and Eee PC are not directly comparable since they're aimed primarily for different environments.
The olpc is ruggedized, and will work in very HOT and HUMID environments, the Eee PC isn't.
The olpc has a screen that will work in direct sunlight, the Eee PC doesn't.
etc, etc.

For gEEk home use, yeah, the olpc's extra features aren't useful, but in a rural environment where there is little or no electrical infrastructure (the primary environment the olpc was designed for) the olpc has no peer.

Anyways, I'd pay the extra $$$ to buy a full featured laptop for $400 for use as a "disposable" computer for home/travel use, I wouldn't go for a ditzy olpc nor Eee PC.
 
Ah, sweet ignorance.

When Asus goes non profit, releases a laptop with mesh networking, a daylight readable screen, 12+ hours of battery life, and that can survive being dropped and rained on, develops an operating system easy enough for someone who has never seen a computer to master, and then works with governments to get it distributed to those who need it, I'll be impressed.

The XO-1 and the Eee are not in the same category. The XO is a tool to provide children in third world countries with a better education; the Eee is a nifty consumer gadget.

Anyway, the lowest end Eee (2 gb SSD) is going for about 250 USD in Taiwan, and $300 in the USA.

What's more, this news about the OLPC isn't really news. It's been known for a while now that the actual manufacturing cost is currently $188. Because OLPC is a non profit organization, and has backing from some major companies, they can get it to a third world country for around $200 per laptop.
 
I've played with them. While they are both nice, until I see either one on a shelf, they're both vapor.

Several sites said that they'd be available through Best Buy and Newegg by now. Where's that at?
 
I don't see the poor really benefiting from these. The whole thing is a waste of time.
 
cmonkey said:
Ah, sweet ignorance.

When Asus goes non profit, releases a laptop with mesh networking, a daylight readable screen, 12+ hours of battery life, and that can survive being dropped and rained on, develops an operating system easy enough for someone who has never seen a computer to master, and then works with governments to get it distributed to those who need it, I'll be impressed.

The XO-1 and the Eee are not in the same category. The XO is a tool to provide children in third world countries with a better education; the Eee is a nifty consumer gadget.

Anyway, the lowest end Eee (2 gb SSD) is going for about 250 USD in Taiwan, and $300 in the USA.

What's more, this news about the OLPC isn't really news. It's been known for a while now that the actual manufacturing cost is currently $188. Because OLPC is a non profit organization, and has backing from some major companies, they can get it to a third world country for around $200 per laptop.
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You are saying ignorance, but yet you are justifying a promised $100 laptop that is now twice the price.
 
Ockie said:
You are saying ignorance, but yet you are justifying a promised $100 laptop that is now twice the price.
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It wasn't promised to be $100. $100 was simply the envisioned engineering (and unfortunately marketing) goal. As they designed it, they found that getting it under $100 would have required far too many compromises. It's not as if they designed a $100 laptop, are charging $200 for it and pocketing the difference. It's a matter of building a tool that will do the job, rather than something that won't, but reaches some mythical price point.

Adisharr said:
I don't see the poor really benefiting from these. The whole thing is a waste of time.
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They already are benefiting. Watch some of the videos of pilot programs.

The idea is that providing food, water, medicine, technology, etc to third world countries is a wonderful thing, but its not infinitely sustainable. The better (in the long term) solution is to provide third world countries with the tools necessary to educate the youngest generation to be able to bring their country out of poverty.

While I don't necessarily agree with everything in the book, C.K. Prahalad's "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" has a lot of insightful points on this issue. To get you an idea of what it's about, ill just quote: "If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up."
 
cmonkey said:
It wasn't promised to be $100. $100 was simply the envisioned engineering (and unfortunately marketing) goal. As they designed it, they found that getting it under $100 would have required far too many compromises such as taking a cut on their salaries. It's not as if they designed a $100 laptop, are charging $200 for it and pocketing the difference, they only envisoned $100 to the public all while fully knowing that there was no way they would be able to provide it for nearly that much. It's a matter of building a tool that will do the job, rather than something that won't, but reaches some mythical price point.
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Fixed for you.
 
Ockie said:
Fixed for you.
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To the public? It's not a consumer product. In fact, those who are getting the educations are not the ones paying for them.

Besides, the price is the actual manufacturing cost plus shipping. Meaning, as production ramps up, manufacturing costs drop, and prices drop by the same amount. If they really do hit several million produced, prices will start to approach this obsessed about $100 price point.
 
cmonkey said:
To the public? It's not a consumer product. In fact, those who are getting the educations are not the ones paying for them.

Besides, the price is the actual manufacturing cost plus shipping. Meaning, as production ramps up, manufacturing costs drop, and prices drop by the same amount. If they really do hit several million produced, prices will start to approach this obsessed about $100 price point.
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Did I say they sold it to the public? Also, FWIW, the public can obtain one.

But going back to what I said, the promise was made to us, the public, and to the rest of the world.


Several million produced and then you think you'd see the 100 price point? lol. You produce several million alienware laptops and I'm sure we would be seeing this price point too.
 
Ockie said:
Did I say they sold it to the public? Also, FWIW, the public can obtain one.

But going back to what I said, the promise was made to us, the public, and to the rest of the world.


Several million produced and then you think you'd see the 100 price point? lol. You produce several million alienware laptops and I'm sure we would be seeing this price point too.
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No, if you produced several million alienware laptops, the CEO of Dell gets a bigger yacht.

The public can buy one (of two) for $400, which is neither $100 nor $200.

You keep using the word "promise." I'm not sure why you don't understand the difference between "promise" and "goal."
 
Um what's to hate about the OLPC goal? Really don't quite understand Ockie's comments unless he's trolling. And I'll bite because I think it is a nice non-profit for a geek to support.

As if there is some sinister motive to them trying but not getting to the $100 price point.

Seriously do you see these guys trying to help people in a way they feel is positive sitting around a room a couple years ago saying,

"Muahaha I know what we'll do, tell people we're going to sell it for $100 and then double it to $200 because obviously we're that evil and stupid!"

Ockie do you even know what their salaries are? Did you know the founder is a MIT professor? Or that the $200 is the cost of manufacturing, packing, and shipping to these countries? That they have been in touch with several US States who are interested and hope to open the program to them as well?

Of course not, why read up about facts when you could bash a project that has ZERO impact on your life if you choose to ignore it, with its heart in the right place.

For those of you who would appreciate the work gone into this project on November 12th you can get a XO laptop computer for you as well as give a laptop to another child for $399 dollars.

http://www.laptopgiving.org/
 
alienz said:
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The laptop could never have been $100 - $100 for a laptop delivered to a child in Asia/Africa/Wherever was never going to happen, ever since the start of the project the cost has slowly crept up. $200 is double the original price. DOUBLE.
 
RoBo said:
The laptop could never have been $100 - $100 for a laptop delivered to a child in Asia/Africa/Wherever was never going to happen, ever since the start of the project the cost has slowly crept up. $200 is double the original price. DOUBLE.
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So their original price goal was unrealistic; that doesn't make the project any less worthwhile. It's still a great cause, and they are still doing great things.

The first run costs $188, and prices can only drop from there as production scales up and the parts get cheaper.
 
The start of something new will always be expensive. Gotta buy hardware to make hardware. Now that they have it all and produced some decent OLPC PC's, they can concentrate on lowering the cost in their second gen model using existing infrastructures.
 
RoBo said:
The laptop could never have been $100 - $100 for a laptop delivered to a child in Asia/Africa/Wherever was never going to happen, ever since the start of the project the cost has slowly crept up. $200 is double the original price. DOUBLE.
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And? This somehow makes the technology, software, and goal of the project lessened by some huge degree?

It's not like they're forcing anyone to buy this thing. They're not forcing anyone to donate to their NON-profit project. In fact if they fail the worst that comes out of it is some really cool tech, some new ideas, and some broken hearts of those who thought they could succeed.

So the cost increase offends some people why exactly?
 
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