OLPC was formed with the idea that for $100 a unit, governments could distribute laptops to every child. OLPC's official position is that it only sells large volumes to governments, meaning that individuals, nongovernmental organizations, and even individual ministries cannot purchase the machines.

However, Wayan Vota, editor of OLPCNews.com, said in a phone interview that OLPC has no official government orders. Carlos Slim, a Mexican businessman and the richest person in the world according to Fortune, said he would buy 250,000 laptops at a price between $250 and $300 per machine. Slim said he plans to distribute them to libraries, not to governments.

Libya's Gaddafi Foundation was to order 1.2 million units. But in May, Negroponte said the order had been cut to 250,000, with perhaps another 250,000 to be provided to Libya's neighbors.

No Orders Equals Rising Costs

"The price hike is directly related to the lack of large orders. First the production was going to be 10 million units, then it was five, then three, now it's one million," said Vota. As orders fail to materialize, production orders drop, prices rise, and the whole proposition becomes unpalatable to government buyers.

Vota calculated that in Nigeria, the richest country besides South Africa in sub-Saharan Africa, buying a $208 laptop for every child would consume 73 percent of the government's total income.

OLPC's experience in Uruguay is indicative of the initiative's fortunes. OLPC responded to that country's RFP with a bid of $205 per unit -- more than double the initial $100 price tag. OLPC explained that Uruguay's conditions included providing maintenance and support, which drove up the price, according to Vota. "That's not unique to Uruguay," Vota said.

"Most governments want more than little green machines," he explained. "They want to have a defined implementation plan." Vota went on to say that OLPC's woes are directly related to Negroponte's radical view of how the laptops fit in with education in the developing world.

More Than Just the Machine

"OLPC has been telling people, 'You don't need to work with the existing education system ,'" Vota said. "Their view is that most education systems don't work and that children should be allowed to learn on their own using the XO laptop. To some extent, that could be true, but countries need a strong helping hand to make that shift," he said.

Vota pointed out that with the government sales strategy is ruins, Negroponte will have to look at other distribution schemes. "He needs to leverage [OLPC's] vast amount of good will in the developing world and the wealth in the developed world to expand OLPC without relying on the governments of developing world, who are poor and resource-strapped themselves."

Selling to foundations and nongovernmental organizations in smaller quantities would be one way to get the machines into the field. In the U.S. and Europe, a "buy two, get one" scheme, in which consumers pay, say, $400 for a laptop, could help fund laptops for developing countries and get OLPC out of the business of selling to governments.

"People in the developing world want it and they want it now," Vota said. "They're frustrated with it only being sold to governments and it taking so long."