Birmingham City Schools Get 15,000 XO Laptops

After an extended voyage in the undeveloped countries, Negroponte's XO laptop has arrived to the United States schools. It may seem odd for a $200 laptop to emerge into schools where children are already familiar with computers, and you would rather consider the Eee PC solution than the rudimentary sub-notebook.

Well, Birmingham schools will be United States' first to benefit from the XO machines, thanks to an agreement that has been concluded during the weekend. Mayor Larry Langford signed a purchase order for as much as 15,000 laptops from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) foundation.

"We live in a digital age, so it is important that all our children have equal access to technology and are able to integrate it into all aspects of their lives", Langford said. "We are proud that Birmingham is on its way to eliminating the so-called 'digital divide' and to ensuring that our children have state-of-the-art tools for education."

The deal has been funded by the city and would allow each child from grades one through eight in Birmingham to benefit from an XO laptop. "Our students will have access to global thinking now", said Birmingham school Superintendent Stan Mims. "It becomes a tipping point in the digital divide."

According to Mayor Larry Langford, the laptops will arrive in April next year and will become part of the schools' learning material. The children will be allowed to take their laptops home, but they will have to turn them in when they graduate the eight-year studies cycle.

The main advantage of the XO laptops over the other low-end machines is their low price. They only sell for $200, pretty far below a normal, $500 notebook. Moreover, they are easy to use and are so rudimentary that there is no need for extra caution, as there really is nothing to get irreparably damaged. "Get the computers, get them in the children's hands and get out of the way", Langford said and mentioned that these computers are more than enough for the school students. "We're not trying to give these kids a computer that would launch a space shuttle", the mayor concluded.

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