So after not-so-much deliberation, I have decided to get my six-year-old an XO and hell, I might get one for myself too. I wrote about the XO earlier, but since then I have played with one myself.


Mike Lee's Daughter Cici was at the BYOP '07 pumpkin carving contest with Zoe and me.
Mike Lee brought two XOs for us to play with.

Not only will I be getting the coolest toy on earth for my kid, I will be getting it for someone else's kid too - the buy-one give-one program says it like so:

"Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time in North America. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home. "

learn more here:
http://www.xogiving.org/

When she saw it, my daughter took to it like a fish to water. She was playing with it the moment she touched it, and immediately "got" the interface. She first began to make some music with csound, then she had fun just clicking about, and then when I suggested she try the camera she played with that for a bit. I kept on trying to get it from her and realized then that maybe we will need two in the house just for peace purposes.

There are some senses in which this laptop can really be a game changer - it is cheap, effective, small and light, easy to understand and hackable as all hell. Its networking capacities alone might change the way my daughter communicates with her friends. The little thing is bundled with everything an amateur might need to cause trouble or just have fun. That seems to be the ingredients for some serious innovation, and I would hope my daughter has the interest to tear the thing apart and build it into something that is different and unique. But if not, it is still a hell of a toy, if not as serious as any laptop out there.

But the real comparison - of course - isn't laptops. This XO laptop ISN'T a laptop, it is something else. Will my daughter use it like a phone? It is cheaper than the phone I just bought and because of the web mesh it uses, it has about the same range (2-3miles). Is it a book? Well, it is like a book in the sense that there is a lot of books it can access. Is it a tablet? Well, it is touch sensitive and she was playing and writing and drawing on it after 5 seconds. Is it a console game machine? Well, its form factor has obviously anticipated that, since it swivels and goes down flat. The answer is that I don't know what it is. But I know she might love it. And that the price is right.

So my advice?

Instead of an xbox, wii or some crazy playstation, get yourself and your kids the neatest computer to hit the market ever - an XO.