Give a little, get a little with OLPC

Good intentions aside, we might have snickered a bit at the trials and tribulations of the One Laptop Per Child project, which aims to put low-cost laptops in the hands of needy kids. The mythical $100 laptop is now closer to $200, and production has been delayed several times over. Most recently, the organization has resorted to asking individual consumers to pony up, offering the device for sale online, but only if you also purchase a second one to donated to, "empower a child to learn in a developing nation," a package deal that will cost $399 when it launches November 12.

However, the latest twist in the story is nothing but positive. T-Mobile is now offering a year of free Hot Spot Wi-Fi access, good at nearly 8,500 public T-Mobile Hot Spot locations throughout the country, including Starbucks coffee shops, Borders bookstores, and more than 70 major airports across the United States.

The offer is only good from November 12 to 26, and considering a 12-month T-Mobile Hot Spot plan would cost $359 on its own, we can see how this could lead to a lot of OLPC purchases. OLPC has set up a Web site, laptopgiving.org, which has more details.