One Laptop Per Child - Opinions?

I have been watching the One Laptop Per Child project since its inception a couple years ago, and the review in today's NYT has me wondering if any parents from the surrounding neighborhoods are buying these for the holiday season.

In a nutshell, for $399, you get 2 OLPC laptops -- one to keep and one that gets donated to a deserving child in the "developing world" -- plus a tax write-off. The machines sound really interesting, particulalrly with their open source software, collaborative networking and green design (you can even get a solar panel to power the thing for an extra few bucks).

The whole idea seems to put the interest back into computing, being able to crack open the software and play around, rather than just a passive device. It takes me back to my first Apple in the late 1970s on which I would spend hours programming and soldering extra stuff into the motherboard.

Check it out here:

www.XOGiving.org

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin