One Laptop, Per Child - The Ad Campaign

Michael Gartenberg | November 14, 2007, 09:51 AM

I knew that Masi Oka had signed on to be a spokesperson for the OLPC folks. I even knew they were doing some TV ads like this one that popped up on House MD last night.

But I was really surprised to leave a dinner meeting last night and see this ad on the street in NY. Will the OLPC become the hot gift in Manhattan this year? Anyone seeing these ads in other cities?

I've talked a lot in the past about the OLPC project (although I haven't seen the final hardware or software yet). It will be interesting to see how many folks here in the US take them up on this offer. If you do buy one, there is this little caveat so it's not something I'd recommend for mainstream users.

Neither OLPC Foundation nor One Laptop per Child, Inc. has service facilities, a help desk or maintenance personnel in the United States or Canada. Although we believe you will love your XO laptop, you should understand that it is not a commercially available product and, if you want help using it, you will have to seek it from friends, family, and bloggers. One goal of the G1G1 initiative is to create an informal network of XO laptop users in the developed world, who will provide feedback about the utility of the XO laptop as an educational tool for children, participate in the worldwide effort to create open-source educational applications for the XO laptop, and serve as a resource for those in the developing world who seek to optimize the value of the XO laptop as an educational tool. A fee based tech support service will be available to all who desire it. We urge participants in the G1G1 initiative to think of themselves as members of an international educational movement rather than as “customers.”

I'm thinking of getting one to add to my oddball PC collection and while I don't totally agree with the cause, I do think their hearts are in the right place.