One Laptop Per Child

I have been looking into this program for a while and now that they will do a “buy one give one” program this November ($399 will get you an XO laptop and give one to a child in a developing country) my interest is piqued again. Coincidentally, as I was looking at their site a colleague with a joint appointment in the Colleges of Education and Information, Science, and Technology came for a meeting. He works in south Asia with education programs and is not a fan of OLPC. (The developers have not listened to locals for advice, or experts in the regions for their advice, too “western” in plan, the cost of one computer is a year’s salary for an adult in many regions, etc.) So I am wondering, what do you all think? Is this a good plan or not?

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Vision: Children in the developing world are inadequately educated

“It’s an education project, not a laptop project.”
— Nicholas Negroponte

Our goal: To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.