One Laptop Per Child project

When I left paid work in 2008, the One Laptop Per Child project was in its infancy. At that time the idea of a low cost PC or netbook was not really on the horizon, although the Linux 7 inch Asus EEE PC was a sign of the future.  As far as I can tell, the availability of low cost netbooks and tablet PCs has rather overtaken this project: low cost computing is now available from many sources.

The idea of making low cost computing and internet access available to under-privileged children and others worldwide is a noble one and one I fully support: knowledge is power and knowledge and education are  rights for all citizens of the world.

However, there seems to be some doubt about the success of the OLPC project 5 years on. It was a "good idea" but maybe market forces overtook it?

One of the reasons I like QRP projects is because they have the potential to make useful radio technology accessible to all at low cost.  Like the OLPC project, my dream is a simple, low cost, easily reproducible, HF transceiver design that really can produce useful results. There is something beautiful is "elegant simplicity" don't you think?