Taking a Bite Out of Planned Obsolescence

Our Infinite Family came through again for African teens struggling to keep on track on the bumpy journey to put Covid behind them. Just as school was starting again full-time for all of our Net Buddies – plus afterhours classes to recoup lost lessons – Microsoft announced the upcoming sunset on the operating system that runs the majority of Infinite Family’s laptops. We’re all for progress, but not such big fans of planned obsolescence, especially when it means we have to replace 80 laptops!

To gain inspiration and motivation for this big lift, we turned to our Net Buddies and some wisdom they had shared with us before: How do you eat an elephant? While some of us might debate the best cooking techniques or sauces, their answer was most practical: One bite at a time.

Luckily, GlobalGiving’s recent Little x Little campaign was timed perfectly to support our first “bite,” and the second and third. Thanks to our Infinite Family, we have the first 16 laptops in process for installation at our LaunchPads. It’s like Christmas in May! Thanks to you, our Net Buddies’ homework, research, English and math practice, and, of course, their very important VCs (video conversations) with their Video Mentors will be so much easier, faster and more predictable to achieve!

You can be sure these laptops will #powerup our Net Buddies work today and every day for many years to come. We appreciate your quick action and #makingadifference in our Net Buddies’ daily lives!

Did you miss GlobalGiving’s campaign? It’s never too late to replace another laptop – we have 64 more to go.