The OLPC laptop isn’t the only one with price creep. The Eee PC laptop, based on an Intel/AUSTek design, will reportedly go for $260, not $199, when it appears in mid-October here in the States.
Even so, Phil Shapiro, a Washington, D.C., area activist with an interest in digital divide issues, says he’s buying one.
Ideally the price will fall if enough people follow in Phil’s footsteps and if Intel really is serious about this project rather than simply trying to preempt OLPC.
Keep in mind, however, that the screen probably isn’t as good for e-books as the OLPC laptop, which offers E Ink-range resolution.
Related: Two-timin’ Intel pushes Classmate PC in China while courting OLPC, in Ars Technica, via the unofficial OLPC News. The OLPC gizmo costs $188; the Intel Classmate, $225 (although the screen is not as good).
Also of interest: A Low-Cost Laptop War! OLPC XO-1 vs. ASUS Eee PC and Is Nicholas Negroponte Afraid of Child Bloggers?, in OLPC News.
