Nicholas Negroponte Weighs in On OLPC's Future
by Sam Dean - Jan. 29, 2009Comments (0)- Related Blog Posts
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The other day Kristin provided a good analysis of the demise of the One Laptop Per Child project, which recently announced drastic staff and development cuts. Today, Robert Buderi reports on a meeting he's just had with Nicholas Negroponte, patriarch of the project, on what OLPC 2.0 might bring. His report follows OLPC's own mission statement for its goals going forward. Here are some of the notable points.
In the OLPC's "Refocusing Our Mission" post, the organization pledges to concentrate technology initiatives around these goals:
1. Development of Generation 2.0
2. A no-cost connectivity program
3. A million digital books
4. Passing on the development of the Sugar Operating System to the community.
In Buderi's post after meeting with Negroponte, he says that Negroponte attributes most of the sales shortfall for OLPC systems to the poor economy. That is probably a part of the problem, but I also think the fact that devices came in at $200 price points rather than the promised $100 goal played a part.
In any case, OLPC officials say that they have enough cash to operate for at least a year. They see the laptop market as poised for continuing growth, and plan to set up autonomous regions around the world that can take orders for OLPC systems and fulfill the orders. OLPC is also planning to work closely with former OLPC executive Walter Bender and his Sugar Labs effort.
With 32 employees left, and very limited funds, it's easy to cast aspersions on OLPC, and I'm not sure regional outposts are going to jump on the opportunity to become distributors. However, there are some indications of promise in Buderi's post. Have a look.
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