Were you one of the 3,678 people who signed Mike Liveright's Pledgebook page to buy one laptop for $300, with the other $200 going to buy two for children in the developing world? Were you disappointed when the pledge expired October 31st, with the 100,000 pledge goal unmet?

And yet, unlike Kevin Manley, do you still want to help OLPC come to America? Do you still want an OLPC for your child? In your school? In your life?

Then rejoice! There is still a way for you to help the One Laptop Per Child $100 laptop CM1 2B1 XO Children's Machine appear in your children's classroom, right here in the United States of America, and long before OLPC's appear on eBay.

You can join OLPC4USA!

Founded by highly concerned volunteer Edward "Mokurai" Cherlin, OLPC4USA proposes to:

"lobby the US Congress and the various state and territorial legislatures to buy into the OLPC program"

In that noble cause, Ed's OLPC USA needs volunteers to get the program going and if you're interested, he even has his own OLPC USA F.A.Q.. Do note that, like OLPC News, OLPC4USA is not officially endorsed or related to the One Laptop Per Child organization.

Also, Ed might run into considerable resistance from Quanta Computer, OLPC's original design manufacturer. The Financial Times reports that Quanta Computer expects to produce cheaper laptops for wealthy countries based on the Children's Machine platform:

"The machines sold in developed markets now have many more features than most consumers actually use but they are made to pay for these features," said [Michael Wang, Quanta President and Chief Executive].

"If you offer a slimmed-down machine which still offers those key applications that are really needed for, say, US$299, many parents of students in developed markets are set to prefer this."

And Michael Wang would prefer $300 per laptop instead of $130 per laptop, especially if he's selling to one of the wealthiest countries on earth.