Holidays are a weird time. We think about what we want, and/or what to get people. Here’s a great opportunity for you to give to the larger world, and/or to get something interesting in return. The Give 1 Get 1 program has been extended until the end of 2007, so there’s still some time to order one of these to arrive before your upcoming holiday of choice. Here’s how it works.
Give 1 Get 1
Pay $399 USD and you purchase TWO of the famous One Laptop Per Child computers. One gets shipped to someone in a developing nation who can use this to change their future. The other gets sent to you (or, if you want, donate BOTH to the program).
The computer, the XO, is built for kids. It’s a lightweight, flexible, feature-filled computer running a flavor of Linux, and with all kinds of crazy learning experiences built in. For one thing, EVERY application toggles such that your child can view the code behind the application. Meaning, if they are so inclined, they can figure out how every little bit of the computer works. For another, the computers have a built-in mesh network that allows for collaboration with other XOs in the vicinity. This means that if someone’s working on a text document or editing a song, other people with the XO can be invited in to share in the experience.
Tax Write-Off and More Value
You can deduct $200 for one of the laptops, and further, if you keep the other XO (we’re giving ours to my daughter, who’ll turn 6 in June), T-Mobile has decided to make all their hotspots open and free to XO computers. So you can sip Ethiopian coffee at a Starbucks, and use the same computer Ethiopian children might be using to advance their futures.
Between those two values alone, the thing pays for itself.
Giving For Those Who Have Everything
Another way you can do this is to buy someone ELSE the gift of helping children, by making the purchase in their name. If you’ve got someone on your list worth $399, then buy one in their name. It makes a great statement, sharing the gift of giving to others (Anyone wanting to buy ME something worth $399 is certainly encouraged to buy into this program, that’s for sure).
Learn What They See
Forever the pragmatic strategist, Christopher S Penn points out that if all these developing nations are getting trained on XOs, he wants to see what their seeing and experience the device from their perspective, so he can have that leg up on his competition. So if nothing else, buy one to know what the developing world will see in the coming months as these become more ubiquitously deployed.
There. That’s all I have. I support this project. I think it’s a way to bring new value solutions to entire sectors of the earth that are currently struggling to find ways to contribute and drive value to their regions. Yes, feeding the hungry is important, but this is teaching a village to fish, and I support it.
Will you consider checking out the program for yourself and seeing if it’s of interest?