To be sure, there's a lot to like about One Laptop Per Child. For starters, in an industry that's frequently, unapologetically driven by forces of blind capitalism, the company's mission statement offers an altruistic approach to personal computing. Second, the company's brilliant team of engineers has pioneered some rather useful technologies both for the initial target of developing nations and, by proxy, users in more developed nations such as the U.S.

Among the most touted features of the company's first model, the XO laptop, was the durability to withstand the bumps, shakes, spills, and drops that tiny hands often dish out--especially important as many of the locations set to receive the notebooks aren't exactly within walking distance of the nearest tech support.

With that in mind, it's disheartening to hear that kids are having an rather easy time peeling keys off off the XO's green rubber keyboard. At the OLPC forums, users are suggesting replacement USB keyboards and an Instructables hack that replaces the entire keyboard. But sadly, most of the recipients of these notebooks don't have access to such luxuries.