[Olpc-open] Why not just sell the OLPC XO-1?

[Sameer Verma]

On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 5:54 AM, Josh Cogliati
<jjcogliati-olpc at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> I am curious why OLPC does not sell XO-1s?
> If they were sold at about 250 - 300 dollars, there would be roughly a 50 - 100 donation for OLPC, and then the price would be reasonably competitive with other netbook prices.  Also, I would recommend selling an XO-1 for about 50 dollars more that included a solar panel charger as well as the regular wall charger for a unique selling point.
>

First, I do not work for OLPC and this is my opinion only. It could
all be glorified hogwash :-)

OK, now that's out of the way, selling a product takes a lot more than
sticker price. The sheer logistics of selling, support, maintenance,
etc. will take energies away from OLPC's focus. Keep in mind, what you
get from G1G1 is not a sale, but a "Thank you" gift for donating $399
to a registered non-profit. That means, this is not a product you
bought. Its just like a hat or a tote bag you may get from your local
radio station for donating to their cause.

> I know the original G1G1 program ended because the logistics were taking up too much time.  As I understand it, the second G1G1 program ended basically because not enough were being sold.
>

This is largely incorrect. Donation programs thrive in the last three
months of a year, because we usually get generous as it gets closer to
tax season. We look for registered charities/non-profits to donate to,
and shed the load because Uncle Sam will take it away for sure! So,
the program begins in Nov and ends Dec 31. I would be very surprised
if it *didn't* happen again this year.

> I know that OLPC is not in the laptop business, but they still managed to produce the best kids laptop that I know of, and the best laptop to take on a camping trip.
>

Indeed. Yet, its their mission, not their market.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-M77C2ejTw

> Is there any particular reason OLPC is not to selling them?  It would provide at least some money, and with Amazon doing the distribution probably not cause that much of a distraction to OLPCs main mission.


Think of it this way. What if Dell started doing what OLPC did and
neglected its current market channels? They'd sink like concrete.

cheers,
Sameer

-- 
Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Information Systems
San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA 94132 USA
http://verma.sfsu.edu/
http://opensource.sfsu.edu/