The project is being run as a non-profit. The money is to attempt to recoup costs and make the project self-sustaining.

Perhaps they should just buy old laptops from eBay add crank generators and software - then pass them on to the third world. That would mean much lower up-front capital requirements. I mean - I could organize such a project in my bedroom.

Take a look at the specs of the OLPC. It copes with pretty extreme conditions. Heat, moisture, accidental damage, lack of clean power. The screen is readable in African sunlight. I'd place a pretty decent wager you'd be hard pushed to find a $100 laptop on Ebay that'd exceed the life expectancy and usefulness of an XO.

Not to mention the nightmare of trying to create any sort of consistent environment on 1000's of disparate machines and the person-hours that that would entail. Furthermore, I recall reading something about trying to give the XO sort of a "kiddy look/feel" in order to discourage adults from absconding with them.

What I wanted to question was whether those huge up-front expenses needed to design and manufacture a new kind of laptop were worth it. I mean even if you had to pay $200 on ebay - you'd have virtually zero fixed costs.

Perhaps that project just does not need to scale down.

Sure the XO is a nice piece of equipment. I would even buy one myself for 100$ if it was available on the market. (Besides I'd really like to try a crank to power my computing - but it's does not come with the normal XO, or?)

not sure if you are being serious, but that approach is far from scalable. (Peru alone bought 270k XOs)

There are millions and millions of computers destined for landfills. It's a matter of re-directing them. Cost: Probably 20 dollars a unit or less.