Remember the lime greenish rugged computers that were predicted to be in every classroom 8 years ago?

Former MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte unveiled an idea so innovative that it had the potential of improving the lives of millions of people in developing countries around the world.  He founded the One Laptop per Child(OLPC) organization to transform his vision into reality.

However, it suffers a demise today. It’s officially dead!

Some divisions of OLPC are still servicing the major deployments in Uruguay, Peru, and Rwanda, and have licensed commercial rights to the brand to Sakar/Vivitar, which introduced an XO Tablet for American children. The fate of the OLPC in Kenya which is supposed to have kick started last year remains unknown.

So take a moment to mourn the loss of OLPC.

Editor’s note: On 18th April 2013, we wrote: 6 Reasons Why Africa Needs Raspberry Pi More Than OLPC

Image via OLPC blog