XOs reaching Buy One Give One folks—and tech support forums are already online

By David Rothman

While the press is abuzz over the Kindle, One Laptop Per Child is also making some news—with the first shipments of XO machines to donors in the Buy One Give One program.

Guess what I bought instead of a Kindle? It still isn’t too late; deadline is December 31.

The XO’s promise as an e-book machine

The XO won’t read DRMed e-books, at least not for now, but screen resolution is 1,200 x 900 pixels in the reflective black and white mode (warning: possible contrast issues for some users). And it’s also promising in the backlighted color mode, with a perceived res of 1024 x 768. See Robert Nagle’s thoughts on the XO as an e-book machine.

The library angle

Hello, librarians? Isn’t it possible you might want to try out XOs, not just DRM-hobbled machines like Kindles? The software probably won’t be ready for prime time for typical patrons, but geeks can develop library-friendly apps much more easily than for Kindle-style hardware. Perhaps if need be, some would have DRM. But I’d love to see libraries experiment with business models that at least reduced the need for such infestations. And meanwhile, how about Kindles for displaying public domain and Creative Commons works and in-depth information on topics of special local interest?

Meanwhile, from our friends at the unofficial OLPC News, here are some recent links:

• G1G1 Shipping information for XM Lotto Players. The XOs are coming out of Libertyville, Illinois, via FedEx ground. Here’s how to check up on your order.
• An OLPC Give One Get None Horror Story. “My OLPC box arrived today… WITH NO PC IN IT!!! I got the Give One, Get NONE!” May FedEx find the Scrooge-ish thief ASAP!
• Optimal XO applications development model process. How can geeks with XOs help educational systems in developing countries? How to systematize the process? And time to start the same process for U.S. libraries interested in XOs and future variants?
• The already-busy OLPC News Forum, where you can share your XO-joy and also get technical assistance. In addition, the official OLPC has started a support initiative.
• The OLPC Learning Club, D.C. which will hold a meeting Dec. 18. Get the lowdown on OLPC’s progress and gawk at XOs and other gizmos brought along by Washington-area tech geeks. Among the people involved is Mike Lee of the AARP, who is running the club’s blog and is personally excited over the potential of e-books for the elderly.

Also see the blog of Doug Johnson (photo), an early buyer, who says everything worked out of the box. His early impressions:

“This seems to be very much a computer made for children, not adults. From the short time I’ve played with it, the stripped down feature set of the web browser, text editor, and operating system, are designed for simplicity, not extensibility. The ASUS Eee, on the other hand, feels like a machine made for adults. This will NOT be a replacement for a regular computer for grown-ups, I don’t believe.”

The e-book case for the XO

But, at least as I see it, the XO could be still dandy for e-book reading by adults, too. What’s more, keep in mind all the nifty apps, such as readers, that I hope XO-crazed geeks  will be developing—ideally while using the IDPF‘s .epub standard to expand the range of books. As much as I hate DRM, I’ll hope that the interoperable variety will be available in an XO-ready e-book reader someday. I like the idea of XO users being able to enjoy books from large publishers even if these houses now love DRM; let’s hope that will change.

Update on Mobipocket and the XO: Pepper Computer tells me that it does not know if the current XO will work with its app suite, which includes DRM-capable Mobi. Alas, Pepper’s eval unit is some months ago. Any geeks care to test this out and get a little fame and lots of applause from the TeleBlog?