One Laptop Per Child Goes Over to the Dark Side

The New York Times reported on Friday that Microsoft and the One Laptop Per Child program have negotiated an agreement to make Windows available on OLPC computers. If you are not familiar with the One Laptop Per Child program, I highly recommend checking them out. It is a great example of ingenuity and problem solving for a great cause.

Their goal, as the name suggests, is to make technology available to children all over the world, regardless of the financial and infrastructure capabilities of their community. Needless to say, there are a lot of obstacles to this goal, and the solutions that OLPC came up with are really fantastic. I'll list just a few of them here, but you should check out the website to see all the cool things they came up with.

Problem:
Computers are expensive, making it hard for governments and NGOs to buy enough laptops.
Solution:
Produce a laptop that can be purchased and delivered for around $200.

Problem:
Laptops break and need replacing on a regular basis.
Solution:
Build a laptop with thicker more durable casing and a simpler more reliable internal structure so that they last and last.

Problem:
Many communities around the world do not have reliable electricity.
Solution:
Build laptops with solar panels and hand cranks that don't need to be plugged into a traditional power source.

Problem:
Many communities do not have Internet capabilities.
Solution:
Build laptops that easily and wirelessly network with each other, to create an automatic local network every time multiple laptops are in use within range or each other.

Problem:
Computer software is expensive.
Solution:
Create user friendly open-source software that comes included on each laptop.

Ironically, this last solution is where the program has hit its major hurdle. The laptops were designed to run Linux and their own open-source software. Many of the governments who were interested in buying the cheap computers were turned off by the lack of Windows. They wanted the students learning on the computers to get experience with the world's most used operating system.

As a solution to this problem, the agreement with Microsoft is a good thing for OLPC. At an added cost of about $3 per computer, the laptops will now be much more attractive to many organizations and governments. The agreement has not been without a cost, though. OLPC's president in charge of software development resigned over the agreement. For him, and for many others inside and outside the organization, the open-source software was part of the mission, providing the users with the opportunity to learn to program, and to shape the computers to their own needs.

As the ambivalent capitalist that I am (not to mention lifelong Mac guy), I can't help but be a little sad about the agreement. I'm all for anything that will bring these technologies to as many children around the world as possible, and in that sense the Microsoft agreement is a good thing, but it just feels like OLPC had to sell off a little piece of its soul in the bargain.