Price point plus sales to individuals

[Robert D. Fadel]

On Feb 18, 2009 at 10:24 PM, John Watlington wrote:

>I don't see how a non-profit can do this, as requires financing at 
>risk, and
>staffing for uncertain demand.    Let me know when you have the capital.

Absolutely true and I'm not sure the capital would be enough. Its 
difficult to imagine OLPC entering a retail channel, directly or 
indirectly. Perhaps I have misunderstood the intent but thats what it 
seems like when we talk about individuals buying small volumes, perhaps 
simply to tinker with a cool machine. 

In the immediate future I don't see overwhelming evidence that OLPC should 
devote resources to satisfy every volume demand in every channel. The 
outcry over discontinuing Change The World was far greater than the 
willingness of people to put up money. Very often those willing to pay 
were small-volume resellers. 

OLPC is better off focused on its engineering, advocacy and implementation 
efforts AND supporting accompanying networks of olpc-phile communities. 
Running an effective developer program is fundamental to all the above.

r.
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