Ambition Fails for One Laptop Per Child

One Laptop Per Child started with a monstrously ambitious goal – build laptops for $100 each, sell them by the millions to the developing world. But since then, cost overruns and attacks from for-profit competitors have ravaged demand, the Wall Street Journal reports. A mere 300,000 are being produced in this month’s inaugural manufacturing run, as developing countries withdraw informal commitments.

Many countries are opting for Intel’s “Classmate” laptop, which runs Windows. OLPC’s machines use Intel competitor's AMD chips and Linux. As countries withdrew million-unit commitments, OLPC had to scale down production, contributing to cost overruns that have made the $100 laptop a $188 laptop. “I’m not good at selling laptops,” admitted OLPC’s founder. “I’m good at selling ideas.” (More One Laptop Per Child stories.)