Mary Lou Jepson, Chief Technology Officer for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) non-profit organization, reported that an unforeseen delay in production would spell a shortage in the amount of laptop computers they would be giving away as part of their holiday program. Ms. Jepson said that last minute bugs were responsible for the delay, though she also mentioned that the bugs have already been resolved.

While production of OLPC's XO laptop was originally supposed to have begun last October, production has now been moved to November 12 instead. The result, Ms. Jepson said, is that OLPC's original plan to get laptops to South American kids by December may prove difficult. Nevertheless, Ms. Jepson expressed confidence that OLPC would still be able to produce 100,000 laptops this year, hardly a surprise when they have both Intel and Microsoft backing them up.

Incidentally, One Laptop Per Child is offering a Give 1 Get 1 promo that provides buyers with both a laptop of their own and another one for a poor child overseas. If you're interested in playing Santa to a less fortunate child somewhere, then go to OLPC website as indicated at the bottom of the source article. The OLPC foundation will begin accepting orders starting November 12.