Oh my God, I still can't quite believe it but apparently it's true, OLPC's Give 1 Get 1 program has finally made it to Europe!
Details are still thin on the ground but here are the initial answers to some of the most important questions about a G1G1EU that we asked back in October:
- When will G1G1 v2 be available in Europe? Monday, November 17, just like in the United States.
- At what price?Around $399 | £254 | €312 (No VAT will be applied only shipping costs!).
- Which countries will be included? The 27 member states of the EU, plus Switzerland, Russia and Turkey.
- Will we get customized keyboards? No, there will only be English/International keyboards.
- Which power-plugs will be available? European and UK.
- How will I be able to order or donate? Also via Amazon's online-store for G1G1 Global where you can pre-order XO's
It looks like OLPC Europe also managed to get some big partner companies to support G1G1 this side of the Atlantic. SWIFT has pledged to follow in the foot steps of News Corp. which last year ran "G3G1", doubling employee's donations to turn a $399 "Give 1, Get 1" donation into "Give 3, Get 1"!
There are still some unanswered questions such as how warranty is going to work, who will provide tech-support, whether there will also be a spare parts program and subsequent repair-centers, etc. We will try and report on these issues as soon as more information becomes available.
But for now I can't help but feel excited and happy, G1G1 Europe is here!
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In Europe, is the second XO tax-deductible? If so, is it deductible for residents of all EU countries or only some? If the latter, in which countries is it deductible?
Adi, this is still an unknown at this point. Stay tuned for the frontpage as we'll post updates as this information becomes available...
What about the member states of Europe that are not members of the EU, but contracted to the EU via EES (Iceland and Norway) ?
Wonderful news! This should turbo-charge some of the internationalization work.
Finally, but alas, too late! (At least for many, many potential customers...)
Why did it take you so long?
We waited for some months after getting one via a friend in Canada last year. We will surely not buy more than one this time, because "the market" was so much faster with it's netbooks. - Children of all ages cannot wait a year for something that may not happen at all... :(
Can you absolutely guarantee my donation will not go to an X0 with a Microsoft OS on it ?
Also is that price the price for one, or the already x2 cost ? (it should be obviously the cost for two, comparing $value), but stuff is stupidly expensive in the UK
I would also like to hear an answer to Damion's question. The way I see it, it's only charity to the Africans if they're not just being locked into MS like the rest of us :(
Seems a number of "dealers" have been appointed, in Denmark it's UNICEF together that will be selling the XO - http://www.verdensgaver.dk/shop/boerne-pc-koeb-en-faa-en-197p.html (in Danish)
I wonder if this is an official sales channel that Boston has approved?
The URL with a few more details (e.g., which countries in Europe): http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XO_Giving/G1G1EU
It's great for Europe! And I expect we'll have a big wave of people asking questions on the forums here and at OLPC proper. I'm also interested to see that it's described as an ongoing program (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/G1G1_2008 -- no deadline?).
Bites a little harder for Canada, of course. :-(
Dear all, thanks for your comments and questions, please keep them coming. I'm doing all I can to find the answers to them and I do hope to get a clearer picture within the next 36 to 48 hours...
@Sarah: [[G1G1EU]] on wiki.laptop.org is an entry I created yesterday evening as a single point of reference for all things G1G1EU related. So if you come across anything relevant please make sure to put it there. Thanks.
"There are still some unanswered questions such as how warranty is going to work, who will provide tech-support, whether there will also be a spare parts program and subsequent repair-centers, etc. We will try and report on these issues as soon as more information becomes available."
As a Canadian my natural reaction to this string of consciousness is... "Good Luck with that!".
Or am I just bitter? Not only are we Canadians no longer getting a G1G1 campaign, we have* no concept of warranty, tech-support, spare parts or repair centres.
* and never have had...
Hello!
Will the sale price be in Dollars? The British Pound is now about 1.49 to the Dollar and not 1.57 as originally shown above. The Euro just changed from 1.27 to about 1.25 today.
No Ñ ?!? isn't this supposed to be partially addressed for latinamerica?? Why there is no Ñ ??
BBC says:
"When it goes on sale the XO laptop is expected to cost £268 (313 euros) and should be available in 27 EU nations as well as Switzerland, Russia and Turkey. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7728881.stm
amazon xo website shows a bunch of non-European countries in the shipping information. Does it mean that it's not only for EU countries?
Last I heard a month ago, Canada was not included this year (they were barely last year). Has anyone got an update for Canadians?
@Saskboy : no update for Canadians at the moment.
@Damion and Mark : OLPC puts its efforts into developing Sugar and its Fedora spin, activities for same, and carrying out deployments of those machines. Your contributions would go towards all of these things.
Damion - yes, that is 2x the cost. Actually, it is 1x the cost in the UK + the normal cost of a Give laptop (which goes directly from China to a deployment country). And the pricing may change slightly to reflect currency fluctuations; it will be set in pounds since it is via amazon.co.uk.
@Jon - the international keyboard I'm using right now does have an Ñ alt character, for what it's worth :) Updates coming to blog.laptop.org and the
EU page cd set up.
SJ
Ok, so the page is now there, but no auto-redirect (though you have to click on the link at the bottom of amazon.com/xo which says If shipping outside the US...).
But when I click on it I see some a few things that do not seem to be ok (yet?):
- shipping is 50 pounds!! That's about 75 euro!
- if you scroll down a bit to Product details, it says "This item can only be delivered within the UK". Well, UK != Europe, so what's this??
Though when I look at the One Laptop Per Child Delivery Information (at the bottom) Europe is mentioned.
So anybody know if they're just not correct on the front page thing or...?
It looked like only the UK to me too yesterday. Canada is currently left in the cold!
I'm considering importing several dozen if I get lots of pre-orders, to Saskatchewan, Canada. I have a shipping address in Montana.
Saskboy, it looks as though Canadians are now able to participate via G1G1 Global, more details at: http://www.olpcnews.com/sales_talk/g1g1_2008/g1g1_2008_xo_sales_go_global.html