XO Laptop

I've been meaning to write about this since Christmas because my four-year-old daughter received an XO laptop from her grandparents. She has been loving it and goes to it each day. She now has an email account and has been feverishly sending emails to family and friends. So far folks have been quite kind and quick to respond. We'll see how long that lasts. My husband has done a lot to make the computer work for her and has been adding activities to it regularly.

She dropped it off the kitchen table yesterday as she was trying to pick it up and it survived without problem. The keyboard is tough for me to use, but works well for her little fingers.

I was finally moved to write because I just read an article from BBC news. It seems that Intel has pulled out of the OLPC project rather than stop backing Classmate, a rival low-cost laptop. I'd love to think that competition will push all of this forward, but I have reservations. I know the XO is far from perfect, but I am very impressed with the entire project. I hope that the loss of Intel does not hinder the good work happening here.