LONDON, England (CNN) — For the first time, and for a limited period only, people in North America will be able to get their hands on the XO, MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte’s rugged little laptop that’s designed specifically for children. And for each cutting-edge XO purchased in the West, another will be given to a child in a developing country. The “Give One Get One” scheme is part of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project to equip the world’s poorest children with a learning tool. For $399, customers can order a laptop for themselves; bundled into the price is the cost of delivering a second XO to a child in a poor country.The laptops, which went into high-volume production on 6 November, go on sale online at 6 a.m. Eastern Time Monday until November 26.For all U.S. donors who participate in the Give One Get One program, T-Mobile is offering one year of complimentary HotSpot access. Value: $360.

CNN.com

 

It’s not a laptop project. It’s an education project.

In 2002, MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte experienced first-hand how connected laptops transformed the lives of children and their families in a remote Cambodian village. A seed was planted: If every child in the world had access to a computer, what potential could be unlocked? What problems could be solved? These questions eventually led to the foundation of One Laptop per Child, and the creation of the XO laptop.

OLPC’s mission is to provide a means for learning, self-expression, and exploration to the nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education. While children are by nature eager for knowledge, many countries have insufficient resources to devote to education—sometimes less than $20 per year per child (compared to an average of $7,500 in the United States). By giving children their very own connected XO laptop, we are giving them a window to the outside world, access to vast amounts of information, a way to connect with each other, and a springboard into their future. And we’re also helping these countries develop an essential resource—educated, empowered children.

For more information about OLPC’s mission, visit www.laptop.org.