p2pnet - rss feed: Intel: horning in on OLPC project?
p2pnet.net news:- Intel “should be ashamed of itself” for trying to undermine the XO One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project, says the man behind it, Nicholas Negroponte.
When the project was first announced, Intel boss Craig Barrett said the OLPC unit was no more than a “gadget”.
The idea was, and still is, that children in poor countries will get inexpensive, but highly functional, laptops, paid for by their local authorities.
Then almost exactly a year later, Chipzilla said it would, “provide greater accessibility to the world’s underserved by rapidly creating access to fully capable, affordable PCs that are tailored to meet their needs”.
Negroponte told Reuters the OLPC the foundation will start ordering components in bulk for the devices within the next month with production on an initial batch of three million machines starting in September.
The XO will come in at $176 instead of $100, the original hope, and now Negroponte has accused Intel of selling its own cut-price Classmate at below cost, “to drive him [Negroponte] out of markets,” says the BBC.
Negroponte said Intel had hurt his mission “enormously,” says the story going on, “Speaking to US broadcaster CBS, Intel’s chairman denied the claims. ‘We’re not trying to drive him out of business, said Craig Barrett. We’re trying to bring capability to young people’.”
Reuters has Intel vp John Davies saying his company has no immediate plan to crank up production, but, “that could change if Negroponte’s effort shows strong demand for such devices”.
According to Davies, “It’s going to be driven by the market - at the rate at which the market can afford and wants to absorb it. We can speed this program up - probably faster than the market can absorb it.”
Intel’s ‘Classmate’ costs $285 now, but that could be cut to about $200 if production were ramped up, he said, adds Reuters.
Negroponte, “offers an Intel marketing document which outlined the shortcomings of the OLPC approach (compared to the Classmate PC) as ‘proof’ of Intel’s wrong-doings,” says Engadget, continuing:
True, says Barett taking credit for the document, “that’s the way our business works.” All this because the OLPC features an AMD processor? Maybe, but it sure sounds like sour-grapes to us. Assuming you buy into Negroponte’s premise of supplying the world’s poor with computers, then who really cares if the children use a computer spawned of monetary self-interest or (supposedly) altruistic motivations - just as long as the kids can play Doom on something?
Anything with Intel’s name on it will come bundled with software purpose designed to create a vacuum which can be filled by product manufactured by the big players.
“Although it is still too early to determine which of the two competing budget portables is best suited for the needs of students, it seems relatively clear that both devices have their own strengths and weaknesses that reflect suitability in different regions and markets,” wrote Ars Technica’s Ryan Paul, last September.
“Although some might see this duplication of effort as wasteful and counter-productive, I think that choice is very important and I hope that, in the long term, the availability of competing products continues to promote innovation in the field of budget portables and helps to bring technology to developing countries on a scale that neither device could achieve alone.
XO laptops will have Wi-Fi, a speaker and microphone, a webcam, a screen that can viewed in the sun, 128MB of memory, and 512MB of storage. And they’re based on the open source Linux O/S, to Microsoft’s disgust.
However, “Microsoft Corp. is developing Windows drivers to enable its operating system to work on the laptop,” says Reuters.
Also See:
no more than a “gadget” - Intel boss scorns MIT laptop, December 9, 2005
year later - Intel takes on OLPC, December 6, 2006 than in
Reuters - Non-profit group to ship low-cost laptops in Oct., May 19, 2007
BBC - ‘$100 laptop’ sparks war of words, May 21, 2007
Ars Technica - Intel reveals specifications for budget-priced Classmate PC, September 29, 2006
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