Update: In an emailed Q&A with MediaNama, Satish Jha, President of OLPC India said that the XO laptops will be provided to schools, upper primary at some places, primary at some others, and 9th grade at some. These schools are mostly in the rural areas, and in some cases suburban areas. Most of the orders have been placed by government bodies, and a small fraction by private institutions. About connectivity, Jha said that connectivity will be managed locally - where schools can access broadband, they may be given limited Internet connectivity. In case broadband isn't possible, a mesh network and server based virtual net experience will be the likely environment. The Price: For orders larger than 10,000 XOs, the price of the XO is Rs. 14,999, inclusive of all taxes, and Rs. 11,000 excluding duties in case the buyer wishes to manage duties. Content: one of our key concerns was about the content that will be made available with the XO - whether audio, video, or in local languages. Jha said that the XO is being provided as the XO, with a couple dozen utilities and applications that come with it, and MS XP and Office to those who want it. However, "local content creation is a local responsibility, and the decision on content sourcing will have to be made by schools and the departments or governing bodies." Responding to a question from one of our readers Shashikant Kore on why OLPC India has sought to partner with the government or…
