Amazon will help distribute XO laptops for One Laptop Per Child project

After the success of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project “Give One Get One” last year, the OLPC will resume the promotion this year with the help of Amazon.com.

The non-profit group OLPC was very successful in distributing XO laptops last year, but had some distribution problems. This year, however, they want to overcome those problems with the help of Amazon’s supply centers in the United Kingdom and in the United States. OLPC’s “Give One Get One” allowed shoppers to buy one laptop for themselves and donate one more laptop to a child in a developing country. This campaign last year helped the company distribute 473,000 XO laptops in 31 countries including Rwanda, Ethiopia and Afghanistan and they still have 200,000 more laptops ready to be distributed. The price of the XO laptop is $199 but with “Give One Get One” customers pays $399 for two XO laptops. You can purchase the XO laptops at this Amazon link. The XO laptops are kid-friendly computers running mainly Linux Operating System and open-source software. They use less power and can be connected to the internet wirelessly, where internet connections are available. Microsoft is also planning to work with the OLPC and may start supplying its own Windows OS for the XO laptops next year. With Amazon.com, OLPC will be able to distribute laptops efficiently to buyers from their main distribution centers in the U.S. Amazon is not marking up prices for distribution.