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So where are the Classmates here in the States?

I know you can buy Classmate PCs here in the States. Some smaller OEMs sell them, and you can even find them on Amazon (although this one is a first-gen model).
Written by Christopher Dawson, Contributor

I know you can buy Classmate PCs here in the States. Some smaller OEMs sell them, and you can even find them on Amazon (although this one is a first-gen model). CDW has them (here's a second-gen model), but they're priced at a point that makes them hard to justify, even given their rugged nature and software stack.

On the other hand, watching the video above (if you speak Chinese, that is), it's easy to see a whole lot of enthusiasm and publicity elsewhere in the world. According to the Classmate PC's Facebook page, Kuro Kids is finding quite a bit of success in Taiwan. They're even offering their incarnation of the Classmate at a discount with the purchase of a regular laptop.

How great would these products be for our younger kids? Price them reasonably and promote them and sales would happen in time for the holidays here in the States. Unfortunately, here in the US, too few people actually know that these exist. Most people are trying to get iPhones for their kids when they could have a rugged, well-thought-out, slick, backpack-jammable PC that their kids could use at home and at school.

Promote the Classmates, folks...Come on OEMs - Dells Inspiron Minis rock; so do the Asus Eees and MSI Winds. If you want something for the kids, though, it's hard to beat the rugged Classmates. Somebody should have handed Barack Obama a Classmate before he went on the air for his 30 minute spot. Hey, is that the beginnings of a platform on 21st century education I smell?

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