One Laptop Per Child Gets 4 Million Laptop Order

An anonymous reader writes "DesktopLinux.com is reporting that four countries have together ordered 4 million low-cost, Linux-based laptops from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. The countries of Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand have each placed the 1 million unit orders."

Let the 419 jokes begin!!!

[lecithin]

"The countries of Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand have each placed the 1 million unit orders."

Dear Mike,

Thank you once again for finalizing the order. You will know that this transaction is 100% Guaranteed.

We will send our certified funds after the customs are paid by you. Please send the customs fee of $37,000,000 ($37*1 Million Units) via wire transfer to:

Barrister MUGO Gy PAN Oguami
419 Scam DEC
Lagos, Nigeria

>>Hi Mugo,
>>We have approved your order and are ready to ship. You mentioned a custom's fee that we are very ready to pay. Please let me know how much per unit we will need to send.

>>Thanks again for the business!!!

>>Mike Undundrum

Starving programmers

[dotslashdot]

What's next? Outsource to malnourished kids. All they get is a little cookie (or several, depending on their privacy settings.) You can pay them even less than the Indian & Chinese programmers since these kids don't need money for food. They can just eat the cookies without getting any cache.

In Other News:

[darkonc]

Bill Gates has just announced a whirlwind 4 nation third-world tour. Currently in Africa, supposedly on a safari . . . . .

Spoiled rotten nowadays...

[HillaryWBush]

When we were their age we installed Ubuntu just to look at Goatse, and we were glad to get it!

Unfortunately...

[mypalmike]

Each of those countries has more than 1 million children. In order to fit their "one laptop per child" criteria, there will be a lottery. The winners get the laptops. The losers get to choose a method of execution.

More importantly

[eclectro]

The laptops are part of Nigeria's "leave no scammer behind" initiative.

Re:Linux share in the desktop market

[wwwillem]

If the designers of these systems have done their work well, I hope these kids won't see any Linux (ls, vi, etc.) at all. I expect that that's all hidden below an appropriate GUI. What remains a winning point of course is that they are not confronted with a green-hill-blue-sky landscape during their first computer experiences.

Re:In Other News:

[Ohreally_factor]

Would Bill the Intrepid Explorer [microsoft.com] really go on a Safari [apple.com]?

compo time!

[Pliep]

Now how long before someone starts a "be the first to install Mac OS x86 on this machine" competition?

Re:my guess

[Ohreally_factor]

Four million kids, some of whom might never get a chance to see a computer, are going to grow up with marketable skills for the 21st century.

What are you talking about? They will probably be forced to use OO.o and the Gimp.

Joke! Joke! I'm totally kidding!

Re:my guess

[Ohreally_factor]

I don't have a handy link from the CIA Factbook, but (using the time honored tradition of pulling a number out of my ass), I'd say that the literacy rate here on slashdot was around 47%.

Re:I guess only one thing can describe ...

[mrjb]

I don't think Negroponte or any other "owner" is going to be exploiting starving children or their poor governments in order to buy shiny red Ferraris.

Me neither. I think he'll go for yellow.

Re:Pass out something other than Laptops....

[Riktov]

I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to say, but if it involves cutting off David Spade's balls and sending him to a third-world hellhole, I'm all for it.

Re:I guess only one thing can describe ...

[KarmaPolice]

Ehhh, 1M computers for 1M dollars??? Forget about the factor 1.5x built cost. I guess you forgot some zeroes here and there. On my little calculator 1 million $100 computers is still 100,000,000 dollars. :-)

Actually is't oooone huuuundred meeeeeellion dollars!

Re:Linux share in the desktop market

[Anonymous Coward]

What are the implications of widespread Linux use in the Third World?

• Women and girls who were previously denied educational opportunities will be able to establish themselves as insular, boring, pedantic geeks on an equal footing with men
• The long-standing argument about vi versus emacs will be settled with a truckload of black market AK-47s
• In some cultures, bloated software will actually be considered more attractive
• Indian CS undergrads will be able to talk about how great the internet was in the good old days, before all the clueless n00bs arrived
• Third World businesses will have access to new markets for their agricultural produce, manufacturing services, and r3d H0+ z3r0-d4y w4R32
• The highways on the internet will not become more few

laptops ARE birth control...

[anon mouse-cow-aard]

* how easy is it for geeks meet women? Were trying to spread geekdom, right?
* how much longer will it take these people to meet the opposite sex if they are laptop obsessed ?
* now we just need some really involved mesh network games.
* if they get educated, they will want to stay in school longer, and again delay reproductive activity.

ITs win, win, win...

Garry Glitter, is that you?

[giafly]

Not all Americans have such a narrow vision of the world. A few of us have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel (as opposed to vacation in tourist areas) -- Sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.

Re:What ever happened to the $100 laptops?

[AcidLacedPenguiN]

for some reason I don't expect "every child shot into space" would be very popular. . .

What the fuck!!???

[Eternauta3k]

My government spends 100 million dollars in notebooks and there isn't even a mention in the newspaper? WTF?

UMPC pitch

[Mateo_LeFou]

Why buy $100 laptops when you can buy UMPCs? They do twice as much at six times the cost!!!

Re:More importantly

[IAmTheDave]

I must compliment you on your "deffered" linguistic ability.

Check the sig, sweety.

I'm waiting for Firefox 2.0 before I start spell-checking all my /. posts.

Re:What the fuck!!???

[keeboo]

My government spends 100 million dollars in notebooks and there isn't even a mention in the newspaper? WTF?

Ah, you do live in Brazil too?!

Re:One GBU per child program ...

[slashdotmsiriv]

"Didn't realize the pentagon had anything to do with Qana." Where do u think those GBU's come from? Also, what do u think they mean by opposing cease fire and instead advocating for sustainable peace, while the whole infrastructure (including power plants, roads, hospitals, damns etc) of 3 million ppl nation is turned into ashes and while 800 civilians die under rubbles. You my friend need to seek for a news source other than Faux news, fair and balanced (TM)