Laptops for Kids. Two Computers for $399.

Kids love computers…and understandably so…they love them for the same reasons you do - they’re shiny, makes funny noises, have lots of blinking lights and let them do all kinds of cool things. If the computer hasn’t become central to your kids’ lives yet, it will soon.

And therein lies a dilemma for you:

You know that computers and kids can be a great combination. They can help make learning fun, encourage self-expression, facilitate problem solving and over a lifetime help overcome barriers to entry into the global workforce. You also know that any delicate (and often temperamental) technology and kids can be a recipe for disaster or at least an expensive service call to Geek Squad.

Computers - especially laptops - were not designed with kids in mind. You don’t want sticky hands all over your nice glossy 15.4 screen and unless you own a Panasonic Toughbook, you’re pretty sure it won’t fare well in an “unplanned drop test.”

So what to do? You either designate an older machine as theirs, hope for the best and patch it back together after an “incident” or nervously hover over yours like a news chopper over a high-speed chase - where it goes you go. Bummer that nobody makes a “kidputer.”

A problem for sure but there are bigger… While we worry about what our kids will do with our computers, governments, NGOs and public policy people worry about what will happen to kids without computers. Their cause for concern is that as economies become ever more dependent on computing technology and technical skill, the HUGE technology gap out there between developed and developing countries will perpetuate histories of disadvantage and poverty.

Arguably, in attempting to solve for this problem, these people have larger barriers to overcome than you and I but in solving for computer availability and access, they may have simultaneously solved our problem also. See, they have developed a “kidputer.” Enter the XO Laptop you see above.

Recognizing both the need for and the challenges inherent in increasing access to computers, a bunch of very socially-minded overachievers set out build a machine that bridged the haves vs. the have-nots technology divide…and in a particularly marketing-savvy move, are giving you the opportunity to solve for your problem at home while helping them with their mission. They’re giving you a chance to buy two ruggidzed laptop computers for $400 - you get one and the other gets donated.

The One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) set out 5 years ago to develop an ultra-cheap, rugged, easy to use and maintain laptop designed specifically for kids and the way they interact and learn. The point of doing so was to get these laptops into the hands of as many of the world’s children as possible regardless of economic status, where they live or what kind of electrical and networking infrastructure is in place there.

The resulting machine - the XO Laptop - promises to be a wonder of simplicity, open source goodness (and good will) and to aid the spread of technological acumen to the farthest reaches of the planet.

Running a version of Red Hat’s Fedora Linux OS, it includes a web browser, document viewer, open source wordprocessor, RSS reader, email client, chat client and multimedia program that covers music, video, graphics functions. It also includes an innovative wiki-based journal.

All this comes packaged in a pint-sized, rugged, reinforced and kid-proofed portable sporting a 7″ TFT high-resolution screen (with outdoor viewing mode!), sealed keyboard, rabbit-ear wi-fi antennae, a built-in web cam and mic, all the requisite slots and perhaps most enviably for us road-warriors, a hand crank to juice the thing up!

If you’re thinking, “heck, this sounds like it was designed for me!” then you’re not alone but the XO has many features that make it particularly perfect for smaller and sometimes fumbling hands. It sports a chunky handle, is waterproof, can survive a 3 foot drop, converts to a tablet-like (no touch screen) game player and its guts are streamlined and simplified such that it should stand up to just about anything your munchkins can dish out.

Though we haven’t tested the XO yet (be assured, a request has been submitted), the XO’s specs seem to give it real cred having been designed by some very smart people and civic-minded companies. At $199, it may very well change the world. OLPC’s goal is to, over time through economies of scale, reduce the unit cost to $100. Now that would change the world!

The deal is this - for a limited time, beginning November 12 through OLPC’s Buy 1 Get 1 Program, $399 buys an XO laptop for your kids and one for a child in a developing country. Smartly, this is the only way US consumers can get their hands on an XO Laptop. To get yours, just go here. And feel good all around!