OLPC's 'Give One, Get One' Program Might Arrive In Europe

Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child initiative might arrive in Europe after a year that can be hardly considered as good. The organization not only had to face a ruthless lawsuit with Nigerian LANCOR company in a dispute over a proprietary keyboard layout, but it also had to part ways with both Intel and OLPC's ex-CTO, Mary Louis Jepsen.

European supporters, however can rejoice, as the OLPC's XO sub-notebooks may soon hit the old continent with their "give one, get one" offer similar to that offered in North America last year. "At some point we might do it in Europe," said Walter Bender, OLPC's president, in an interview Friday.

The program was initially available in the US and Canada and allowed customers to buy an XO laptop for $400. The money covered the costs of yet another sub-notebook that would be donated to a child in a developing country. Most of the times, those who enrolled in funding the notebooks through the "give one, get one" program would donate their unit to the charity.

The most important factor that kept the XO notebooks off the European shelves is the fact that the notebook has not received all the necessary certifications to be sold on the continent. "We haven't finished all that stuff, so we couldn't do it in Europe yet," Bender said. The European availability is not a promise, it is more of an attempt, and depends on the receiving the sales approval. "We may or may not do it," Bender continued.

The OLPC initiative has managed to ship around 50,000 XO laptops to North American customers under the "give one, get one" program, while the others are queued for subsequent shipment. The program resulted in more than 150,000 units to be sent to third world countries.

"A lot of people [are] jumping in to the software, to learning and to support. ...That's what I was hoping Intel would do, but they didn't. The public is doing it instead," continued Bender, as a direct hit to Intel's having parted ways with the charity.

At the moment, the OLPC foundation is in the middle of a legal fight with Nigerian company Lancor and the XO laptops are sieged under a temporary injunction order.