[Grassroots-l] Can OLPC distribution be run as a business?

[Edward Cherlin]

On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 3:44 AM, Sami Gharres <sami_gharres at hotmail.com> wrote:
> All
>
> Apologies in advance for barging in,

No need to apologize.

> but I am rather new to this forum and I
> have a couple of basic questions I would like to ask if I may.
>
> I was recently in an African country and I was shocked by how few youngsters
> have access to computers, primarily because no one could afford them. I came
> across this OLPC concept and thought about setting up a distribution and
> after care network there.
>
> My prime goal is provide a whole generation with a truly affordable computer
> but I also need to run this as a business that can generate revenues and
> support itself. I believe that a 170 USD laptop is within the reach of a lot
> of people there, most of them carry prepay cellphones worth that much or
> more. I also have few ideas to subsidize the price further for schools,
> youth centers etc. I have influential business and technical contacts in
> that country and I can get funds to set it up if I can put forward a decent
> business case.
>
>
> My question is, does a commercial distribution scheme sound like a viable
> idea, is it within the spirit of this scheme? If so, who can I contact to
> take this further?

I would love to work with you on this. The problem is that the current
terms are cash in advance and wait months for delivery, with no date
given until two months after receipt of your order. Current terms are

100 @ $299: $29,900
1,000 @ $249: $249,00
10,000 @ $199: $1,990,000

> Regards
>
> Sami
>
>> From: bryan.berry at gmail.com
>> To: sverma at sfsu.edu
>> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:31:33 +0545
>> CC: its.an.education.project at lists.sugarlabs.org;
>> grassroots at lists.laptop.org
>> Subject: Re: [Grassroots-l] Is this the "Idea Funnel?"
>>
>> On Tue, 2008-08-26 at 10:25 -0700, Sameer Verma wrote:
>> > IdeaTorrent/Ubuntu Brainstorm is a neat project. It is simple and easy
>> > to use. What matters though is that once such a mechanism is in place,
>> > people who propose and/or vote should be as diverse as possible,
>> > otherwise we get a bunch of developers who pat each other's back (self
>> > selection bias). I still feel that this project does not involve enough
>> > educators.
>> Absolutely, I share that concern
>>
>> > That's where majority of the ideas should come from.
>> Agreed, esp. While kids can tell us what they like and don't like. They
>> can't tell us what they aren't learning.
>>
>> > Educators know challenges in the classroom firsthand. They also know
>> > what works. So, in implementing ideatorrent or some such thing, the
>> > barrier to entry for an educator should be minimal.
>>
>> absolutely.
>>
>> > Once a project gets a lot of votes, the next step becomes crucial. How
>> > does an idea become a project? Who takes it on? etc. That workflow must
>> > be established as well.
>> >
>> > Sameer
>> >
>>
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