Why OLPC’s $100 laptop never stood a chance
On Version History: David Imel and Adi Robertson debate if the OLPC XO-1 was innovative hardware or just a bad idea.
by Verge Staff
Sep 27, 2026, 12:25 PM UTC
The idea was big, exciting, and inspiring: What if we could get every kid in the world access to a computer? For a bunch of thinkers and executives in Silicon Valley, it felt like the way to fix everything. But the One Laptop Per Child initiative, and the XO-1 laptop designed to be given away, were both more complicated than anyone expected.
In the next episode of Version History, David Pierce is joined by The Verge’s Adi Robertson and tech journalist David Imel to figure out why OLPC didn’t work, whether there’s anything to learn from the XO-1’s innovative design, and if this kind of computer giveaway could ever succeed.
We’re halfway through the fifth season of Version History...
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