The reason the XO laptop deserves to be in the hands of kids in developing countries is that it is designed from the ground up for them. From their standpoint it is simple, rugged and friendly with very real educational opportunities for a wide age range. It lets them create, connect, and collaborate using an interface and software that are designed for kids - not adult business users. The secret sauce here is the inherently networkable open source software and not the price per unit. When kids transition from enjoying the bundled software to modifying and making their own we'll see a new generation of young people with skills to transform their countries. That's far more likely when the software is open source and why the Intel and MS XP offerings are oranges to this apple.
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The reason the XO laptop deserves to be in the hands of kids in developing countries is that it is designed from the ground up for them. From their standpoint it is simple, rugged and friendly with very real educational opportunities for a wide age range. It lets them create, connect, and collaborate using an interface and software that are designed for kids - not adult business users. The secret sauce here is the inherently networkable open source software and not the price per unit. When kids transition from enjoying the bundled software to modifying and making their own we'll see a new generation of young people with skills to transform their countries. That's far more likely when the software is open source and why the Intel and MS XP offerings are oranges to this apple.