One Laptop Per Child, olpc, xo, harry mccracken, pc world

PC World editor is still waiting for his OLPC

PC World's Harry McCracken ordered an XO laptop from the One Laptop For Child charity on November 12. He gave a $400 "donation" — half to buy himself a laptop and half to buy a laptop for a "deserving child" in a developing country. After many emails back and forth and 35 minutes on hold, McCracken still hasn't received his laptop. Neither has a colleague of his. OLPC claims that they don't have a mailing address for him because he paid with PayPal.

Which is nonsensical: One of PayPal's features is that it gives merchants a verified address. And why wouldn't they get in touch to complete the order? Apparently he "might have good news in February." Some customer service that is. Snafus like this prevent the OLPC project from being taken seriously. If you can't ship laptops to a few reporters in California, how can you deliver hundreds of thousands of laptops to developing countries? Of course, the nonprofit has no profit motive to spur it to deliver on its promises. The invisible hand has a way of providing visible results.

2:20 PM on Fri Jan 25 2008
By Jordan Golson
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8 comments

Comments

sample032 at 02:42 PM on 01/25/08
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OLPC is just a secret government plan to make sure developing countries learn English in the event China becomes a global power.
che_leo at 02:51 PM on 01/25/08
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In their defense, the fact that Intel is trying to eat this project from the inside out doesn't help their cause, either.
Dan Dickinson at 03:13 PM on 01/25/08
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I'm actually in the same boat.

Last time I talked to OLPC, they promised me I'd get it by the 15th of this month. Unsurprisingly, nothing came.

I tried to call earlier this week, and got a strange "all circuits are busy" message. Never had that problem in December.

I'm about ready to ask Paypal to reverse the charge.
phil28 at 05:57 PM on 01/25/08
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Same situation for me. It's impossible to check status. Entering the ordering info on their page takes you back to the same page or to a 404 error.

I think this just shows the business ineptitude and naivety of Negroponte and those surrounding him. If these problems were committed by a private corporation, they'd be under investigation for mail fraud....charging my credit card months before being able to deliver.

Maybe it's time for a class action lawsuit. Personally I don't think this promotion was to "spread the word" for the sake of children. It was to get some cash and orders to keep the suppliers from dropping it.
InfoMofo at 10:17 AM on 01/28/08
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@Dan Dickinson: There's something unsettling about reversing a donation to a charitable organization... But in this case you might be justified.
mark-c at 01:59 PM on 01/28/08
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I had my XO shipped to my work address which is NOT my PayPal or PayPal verified address. Ordered in Nov. and it arrived Jan.6th. Hooked up the T-Mobile Hot Spot yesterday. It's a great package - sorry you guys are waiting.
Dan Dickinson at 08:03 PM on 01/28/08
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@Infomofo: It's a moot point anyhow, as I've just discovered PayPal won't open disputes for "this sort of transaction".
Slackferno at 01:47 PM on 01/30/08
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I was a Day One donor, and the screw up was on the part of FedEx, but it took until today to get it straightened out and delivered to me at the office.

All the other nerds are jealous.