I had the pleasure of attending Nicholas Negroponte’s keynote at the Boston LinuxWorld conference early last year, where he took the opportunity to update everyone on the status of his fascinating One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. Responding to questions at the keynote conclusion, he said that the laptops would not initially be available to the general public, as the likely demand generated for the low-cost laptops would conflict with the primary goal of distributing the machines to third-world populations.

In a dramatic turn of events, the BBC is reporting that the project has switched course, and will indeed be selling them to the general public, provided two laptops are bought: one for the purchaser, and one to be sent to a third-world destination.

Sign me up. At just $150 each, I’ll gladly pay the premium in order to obtain one of these ultra-cool laptops. (click to see pictures).