I agree that OLPC crushed itself, but I think that had more to do with CIA associations (in the minds of possible client nations, even if not in reality) and with the kind of paternalistic "we know what is good for your children" attitude, combined with the "sign up the whole country or we won't sell you a single machine" avoidable problem with adoptability, and plenty of promising what they could never deliver (promises which, unfortunately, were repeated mouth to mouth throughout the FLOSS community). By the time they sold their users down the river to Microsoft, they were already years late and an enormous disappointment.
So, the $100 laptop is real. It just isn't very FLOSS-friendly or made by OLPC. Instead, the mainstream $100 laptop is an Android tablet or cellphone, or maybe an iPad or iPhone. It's Apple and Google's fault that those machines are so user-hostile and dangerous, but it's not their fault that OLPC failed to provide a user-friendly, safe alternative.
So, the $100 laptop is real. It just isn't very FLOSS-friendly or made by OLPC. Instead, the mainstream $100 laptop is an Android tablet or cellphone, or maybe an iPad or iPhone. It's Apple and Google's fault that those machines are so user-hostile and dangerous, but it's not their fault that OLPC failed to provide a user-friendly, safe alternative.