The e-book reading capacities of the device were pretty much the same as they are now: great if you read a lot of public domain works, but don’t expect to be able to buy DRM infested works for it.

Same story for the infopad capabilities of the device; reasonable battery time and a good weight, but I have doubts about the quality of the screen and of the keyboard (the latter which is aimed at the small fingers of a child).

Times have changed; the sponsor plan is now twice as expensive, and in the meantime e-reader manufacturers have stepped in with their offerings.

In other words, 200 USD seemed like good value. For twice that amount, I’d seriously consider getting a Sony Reader (if all you want to do is read) or one of the more interactive readers from Jinke or Irex instead.

I am not against donating to good causes, but there are causes I find more worthy that get my money.

Of course, I might remember things incorrectly.

This sort of thing competes with any commercial XO deal. And holding off on the commercial deals might have been with this in mind. “Just in case we can’t launch to governments, we could do a ‘give 1 – get 1′ campaign. But we can’t do that AND a commercial deal. So let’s hold off on the commercial deal in case we want/need to try ‘give1 – get 1′ okay?”

The 2-week window?

a. A commercial deal IS forthcoming, so they must stop the give 1 – get 1 before that deal goes live?

b. “I don’t know, $400 is a lot for a toy…” (but if you don’t order now, you CAN’T get it!) Limitations spur business.

c. Estimations on demand indicate that the first wave of buyers, who would all buy in the first 2 weeks anyhow, is just enough to ‘top off’ the order with the OEM to make the minimum production run? (And if it still doesn’t do it, the window can be extended, ‘due to overwhelming demand!’)

d. The XO still is relatively unbaked, in particular the software. This 2-week window is really a glorified beta test?

e. By limiting orders to 2 weeks they boost demand during that period, which in turn will lead to exaggerated estimates as to how many they could sell otherwise? Which, in turn, whets the appetite of HP or any other commercial suitor (who would be selling the rigged-out retail version for about $400 anyhow) … boosting the demand and bidding among the computer/CE brands to get the exclusive rights?

f. By limiting orders to 2 weeks they boost demand…they also raise $$$ for XOs to add to country-orders. Who will get these ‘free’ XOs? This is potential bait to countries still wavering in deciding to order up their million base-order. (“Oh, you can only afford 900,000? We can give you 100,000 out of our give 1 – get 1 campaign.”)

g. The campaign is similar in nature to a public company offering shares of stock on the market? In other words, Company X doesn’t sell all its shares, only some, when they need to raise cash, and only to the extent they think they need. So maybe OLPC plans on doing this periodically, as limited-time-offers, whenever they want to boost demand or publicity?

h. Maybe they are really unsure about how much demand there will be, and are just testing the waters?

i. Maybe their OEM only has so much capacity to make these things? Or maybe they anticipate having only so many ‘extras’ left over after one production run?

All this is my own speculation, of course.