OLPC America, new branch, same goal
There has been another development in the tale of the OLPC project this week as OLPC chairman, Nicholas Negroponte, announces plans to bring the project to the USA.
Originally planning not to launch the low-cost XO laptop in its country of origin and focus instead on bringing computing to children in developing countries, Negroponte has reversed the decision by announcing OLPC America.
OLPC America, the new branch of OLPC, already has a director and chairman in place and is likely to be based in Washington. It plans to begin distributing the low-cost XO laptop to needy students in the U.S. this year.
"To have the United Sates be the only country that's not in the OLPC agenda would be kind of ridiculous" said Negroponte. "We are doing something patriotic, if you will, after all we are and there are poor children in America".
OLPC America will help boost the OLPC project on a global scale, where to date it has struggled to have the impact many had hoped. Negroponte states the OLPC "is building a critical mass. The numbers are going to go up, people will make more software, it will steer a larger development community."
