Whiny Americans Are Consumerists First, Philanthropists Second

The sheer number of news articles about delayed shipments for OLPC XO laptops in the U.S. is somewhat sickening. Simply, I do not understand what all the fuss is about. The fear is overblown, for one thing; lots of people have received their machines on time. Secondly, this is not a product that was originally even going to be available to developed nations because it is not intended for them. The XO is not being manufactured for profit, and the OLPC project's first priority is not to make an American clientele happy about some new gizmo to entertain them.

The response that OLPC received from the "one for them, one for you" program was well above what they expected, and naturally they are facing production challenges. The problem is not that OLPC doesn't care, it's that those who participated in the program seem to not have realized that it's first goal is to financially jump start laptops to be made available in places like Mongolia. I would love to see one of the larger blogs, such as gizmodo, remind its readers about the distinction between binging on consumerism and supporting what is supposed to be a benevolent intellectual experiment.