No OLPC Laptop for Me For Christmas

I feel guilty even bringing this up, but I've received word from the OLPC folks that shipment of the XO $100 $200 laptop I'm entitled because I paid for one for a child in a developing nation has been delayed. When I took advantage of "Give One Get One" back on November 12th, I was told that my XO machine was scheduled to ship between December 14th and 24th; now, it's supposed to go out by January 15th. (The e-mail that gave me word on the delay also included a link to a PDF "gift card" informing the child you're giving the XO to that it'll be on its way before long, but in this case, the child in question is me.)

I'm not that anxious to get it--and I'm on the road until January 1st anyhow. And I understand that the idea here is to be at least as interested in the system that goes to the deserving child. But OLPC's e-mails have spoken of me getting preferential shipping because I was one of the folks who signed up on the first day of the program...and my friend Bill Pytlovany (author of PCW fave rave utility WinPatrol) made his donation later...and has had his XO for awhile. So jumping on board instantly turned out not to be a guarantee that you'd be one of the first folks to get an XO.

Bill is doing some interesting blogging about his experiences at XOActivity.com--the good, the bad, and the unexpected--and his notes are just whetting my appetite even more for trying out my own XO. When it shows up...