The buying is done, the presents have been unwrapped, the after-sales have yet to begin. I've dragged myself out of my Christmas-dinner-induced food coma long enough to ask which Christmas gadgets were hits, and which were disappointing lumps of coal?
Flytech Dragonfly
Good thing this is a family blog because most of our gadgets were toys. Our 8-year old loved the WowWee Flytech Radio Control Dragonfly. She was able to overlook the fact that this toy was marketed to boys. After all, who wouldn't love a dragonfly? I spent the day wondering whether we'd make our way up the learning curve to work the controller before the dragonfly self-destructed during normal use. Yes, the dragonfly has to be ultralight, but with a styrofoam body and plastic fasteners (key elements that repeatedly popped off on "landing") we'll be lucky if the dragonfly lasts until New Year's Day. I was truly unimpressed by the remote control's engineering, particularly the connection between the remote's power cord and the dragonfly's body. The microscopic connection was hard to see and difficult to engage. Within a couple of hours I had to straighten out the connector pins. The good news is that dragonfly does fly, and one one spectacular run I actually got it stuck on our house's roof. My bad--thankfully we were able to back it out of the gutter via remote. My daughter is thrilled with the toy. I found it disappointing but maybe that's because at $40 a pop I am wondering how many minutes of fun we'll get out of this purchase.
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One happy blogger
(Credit: Michael Tiemann)Santa's elves worked overtime to ensure that little green laptops would make it to homes across North America by December 24th. After reading of another's horror story (give one get none), and then after reading more and more reports of XO laptop deliveries elsewhere throughout my corner of cyberspace, I'd begun to wonder when my pair would come. Amy called me just before noon to let me know my shipment had come in...
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Confirmation
Thank you for participating in Give One Get One. Your donation will bring education and enlightenment to children of the developing world, and, in recognition of your gift, you will be receiving an XO laptop for the child in your life as well. If you have any questions or problems, please contact One Laptop Per Child at service@laptopgiving.org. Should your employer wish to match your donation, we are a 501(c)(3) organization and our EIN# is 20-5471780. Thanks again, and welcome to the One Laptop Per Child community!
Why two?
... Read moreI woke up Monday to the announcement that starting September 24, the XO laptop (famous as the little laptop that could) will be made available to buyers in so-called first-world countries, in quantities less than 100,000 units. In fact, for less than $400 you can give one and receive another--an excellent solution to an age-old moral dilemma.
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