Re: [MLUG] Anyone planning on getting a OLPC laptop?

["Jonathan King" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On 11/12/07, Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:
>
> I can see why it is a tricky problem from their perspective.  I could work
> out scams like this:  I'll pay $200 each to ship to Ecuador, but in
> Ecuador, they'll pay $100 to ship them back to me and I'll send them $200
> in exchange.  Then I'll sell them here on Ebay for $300 -- everyone makes
> money but the poor kids lose.  That would be a nefarious scheme, but I
> would not put it past some people.

Uh...what are you talking about? Nobody "loses" in the scheme you
suggest unless the unit one cost of the laptop is being subsidized
somehow. There's also an issue that if people in the US are willing to
pay $300 for these, then (wait for it...) charge them $300 for one,
and then the Ecuador ruse disappears. The thing that seems really
screwy here is that they are somehow afraid of asking a market price
for these in the US. Instead, they have this weird "buy one, give one
away" scheme that is just plain awkward. There are apparently people
who are very interested in donating money for them to reach their
goals, and governments who are interested in the project as well. This
is nice. There are also people who are very interested in the machine
for reasons that have nothing to do with the charity project. That's
even better: make money off of them, and use the profits to do more
good.

jking

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