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One Laptop Per Child and Intel Join Forces
dan the person writes "A Wired piece informs us that Intel and the OLPC project have put their bickering behind them. They have joined forces to ensure 'the maximum number of laptops will reach children'. '"What happened in the past has happened," said Will Swope of Intel. "But going forward, this allows the two organisations to go do a better job and have better impact for what we are both very eager to do which is help kids around the world." "Intel joins the OLPC board as a world leader in technology, helping reach the world's children. Collaboration with Intel means that the maximum number of laptops will reach children," said Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop per Child. The new agreement means that Intel will sit alongside companies such as Google and Red Hat as partners in the OLPC scheme.'"
Wonderful. Intel, maker of the Classmate PC, a DIRECT COMPETITOR to the OLPC (or so they say) is now teaming up with it. This is a transparent bid to relegate the OLPC to permanent second-class citizenship. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
~Eien no Inori wo Sasagete~ Searching for my Hatsumi...
Just give them a Speak & Spell. It'll have as much value at a quarter of the price. Plus it already exists.
Does anyone else think that this was part of Intel's plan all along? Basically: create a cheap computer, and call the OLPC garbage, then offer an olive branch in exchange for a piece of their contract and a chance to push their crap PC worldwide?
that AMD processor won't last long in the OLPC machines ...
Before the US becomes a 3rd world country due to competition from
India and China who can get the OLPC Laptop in special deals to
make their next generation of children more competitive?
*** Sigs are a stupid waste of bandwidth.
The RIAA is really looking forward to the day when every child in the world has their own computer. There's tons of countries in the developing world that they'll now be able to target with threats of lawsuits for downloading copyrighted music!
that we're going to have a lot more children discovering internet porn sooner? :O
I can just imagine the next generation of kids.
OLPC guy #1: Looks like we're not going to be able to make this thing for $150. How are we going to get costs down?
OLPC guy #2: Guess it's time to sell some more ad-space. Where are we on the phone list?
OLPC guy #1: Looks like we're doing to the "I"s.
OLPC guy #2: Start dialing.
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I expect one of three things to happen:
1. The second generation of OLPC units will ship with Intel inside.
2. Intel will suck as much information as it can out of the OLPC project before going its own way again.
3. Intel will stay onboard at OLPC but do its best to bog the project down while pushing its competing solutions to the developing world.
None of those scenarios particularly appeal to me, but if I had to choose between them I'd go for the first one.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
It's a great idea and a noble goal. But there's still a lot of valid questions about how good an idea this specific project is. Aside from the clear opportunity for people, government and corporations to take advantage of good intentions, there's a consistent theme of imposing western/northern hemisphere values for the wrong people place/application.
It's not unlike the good intentions that led to rebuilding of "better" houses in Sumatra for instance after the great Tsunami. Modern, western style housing just doesn't make sense there. It uses and demands much more freshwater than traditional homes and no-one can afford to run them. As a result the population has typically abandoned the new homes, which remain unoccupied, in favour of traditional homes.
In fact I would argue that corporations (and governments who use money to buy these computers) will likely breed more hostility and resentment than anything by disseminating computers to people who can't afford three squares a day.
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Two laptops per child!
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The current device that the OLPC has created is neither the last nor possibly the only unit that the project might support. If you look at roadmaps, esp since Intel is 18 months ahead of AMD on manufacturing process technology, it will have much more powerful cpus than the dated old National Semi Geode technology that AMD bought - in a similar or lower power profile. Check out Silverthorne to see what's coming.
Negroponte was probably right to use Geode when the the first OLPC unit was designed, but looking into the future, Intel cpus will make much more sense for this.
In any case, there's no reason Intel can't create a different model for other markets, but with full embrace of OLPC by Intel, the project is actually much more viable.
Since the OLPC is running a FOSS OS core, and Intel is part of the OLPC now, I guess this leaves Windows out in the cold.
Not that I mind that or anything, but I find it interesting - after all, Intel and MSFT had teamed up to build the OLPC former competitor, yes?
As for AMD, I suspect that they and Intel will have to put their differences aside (w/o all the sniping commentary from AMD over a charity team-up announcement, at least as shown on the CNET version of TFA... man, that was just tacky).
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One of the key requirements for the OLPC is that all the components are open source (even the firmware for the wireless component). AMD has worked very hard to make the OLPC compatible with LinuxBIOS and OpenFirmware, which are 100% Free/Open Source. I certainly hope Intel will do the same.
So between this and yesterday's news, are we going to see OLPC output one VM per child for those where infrastructure is possible to do so?
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They're crank-powered. Totally clean, renewable energy! Well, unless you count the methane emmissions from rice-and-beans diets ;)
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But at the same time I feel like it's a waste of money compared to better causes, like I dont know, FEEDING or MEDICINE for kids. Granted I grew up poor, and I wish I had a laptop when I was in high school and younger would have been able to kick start my career even earlier. But even then if it came to me having a free laptop, or seeing the kid down the street who eats government peanut butter on bread (no jelly) every day and no medical insurance. I'd gladly give it up to feed him/her for a while.
From a small thinking perspective this project is great, from the big picture it's just diverting funds that could have been better used. For those about to flame me, Yes we should go to Mars! But we should we get things straight down here first.
Your example is an all too classic The problem with applying "business tools"
to education. My wife is a high school English teacher. Do you know how well an
outlook calendar "maps" onto a class schedule? It doesn't. However, that doesn't
stop the all too stupid administration from expecting teachers to use it because it's
"a calendaring tool we have already paid for".
The great potential about the OLPC Linux distribution is that only applications
relevant to education need be written, packaged, and included. There's no 3rd party
trying to tell/sell applications that don't work for education. At least, that's
my hope.
In the grad scheme of things, I fear you may be right. Perhaps of the XO Linux
distribution includes a PowerPoint knock-off and no math plotting packages it will level
the global playing field down to one stupid common denominator...
*** Sigs are a stupid waste of bandwidth.
How so? In particular, how exactly do Western-style homes require more fresh water?
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I don't see a thing in that about power consumption. Given that the Geode LX that OLPC are using consumes a mere 0.5W I very much doubt that Intel will match this.
This laptops will only be a step to expensive ones , I am sure we'll continue to hear this story in the next 10 years.
I think you said Bill Ga&%@***NOTHING TO SEE HERE - MOVE ALONG - SLASHDOT MINISTRY OF TRUTH***
Silverthorne is described as running at 5W or more, while the Geode LX runs at less than 2W average for most applications when correctly using suspend/resume. The Geode should remain the choice in places where regular power is lacking. Although OLPC availability should speed up access to electrical power in many areas, on the Articulate Voting Populations principle.
(Disclosure: I worked on Geode documentation for National Semiconductor in 2000. AMD has the descendants of my documents online.)
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Doesn't Intel now have, what Teddy Roosevelt used to call, a "monopoly"? Isn't there a law against that? Shouldn't a monopoly be broken up by the government? Don't laugh, there was once a time when Americans elected leaders who actually defended us against the tyranny of capital.
Educational software and hardware in the 80s and then slowly fading in the 90s were far better than today.
Not only are the same "old school" goals at work on OLPC but one of the members, Seymour Papert is involved with OLPC. He promoted constructionist learning which was the concept behind LOGO and LEGO/LOGO (see "Mindstorms") and influenced intelligently designed software of that time.
Number Munchers and Oregon Trail were among a long list of wonderful MECC software designed BY EDUCATORS for the Minnesota school system (best school system in the nation back then. Oh, St.Paul schools was heavily involved in developing lego/logo I know the people who did it, even met Papert a few times.) In the 90s MECC was destroyed by our "free market" governor who privatized it; thus killing off the last source for truly educational software. (LOGO died slowly, even MN schools didn't push it as much without the political support to counter the teacher resistance; which was partially caused by the increasing demands for standardized teaching/testing etc.)
HyperCard/HyperStudio died with the hype of the web. The web is better with the exception of browser bugs and the increased complexity. HyperCard was not created for education but was so well made it fit in quite well; while HyperStudio made HyperCard for education.
Part of the problem is that back then, there were smart people trying to teach kids how to THINK and that is "unamerican" now. Standardized testing becomes a method of control to prevent alternative education methods; I'm not opposed to it used in moderation. Here in MN the testing discourage THINKING and CREATIVITY by making the test the only concern and getting better stats each year as if it was a public traded corporation.
Kids now only learn to use MS Office software because that is what is in industry and to research thru google, wikipedia, and echeat.com.
Its about raising consumers who "covet thy neighbor's property."
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If Intel can get their CPUs on board OLPC then maybe they'll stop pushing their Windows-based alternative so hard and poor kids might get the machine/OS they need rather than the bastard offspring of a mega-corporation.
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Mod my comment flamebait if you like. It's true nonetheless. If you don't agree, try making a rational argument to the contrary instead of just using your mod points to mark comments down that you disagree with.
A-Bomb
I'm glad that cooler heads prevailed & thought about the children- since this is what the whole idea behind OLPC is about (& not some bickering about who should do what). Having this marriage benefits everyone- the kids win now & our world wins in the future. Additionally, the technology & peripherals used in these laptops will be deployed commercially so we'll all win in the near future (since the technology used is miles ahead of what current laptops have the capacity to do- full weather-proof laptops, screens that aren't affected by sunlight at all & better wifi antennas, etc.).
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. -Mahatma Ghandi
Firstly, this project has nothing to do with water supplies or diarrhea. The fact it doesn't save children from these horrors has nothing to do at all with the design or intent of the OLPC. You created what is known as a strawman argument, arguing that the OLPC is useless because it doesn't do something it was never intended to do. Strawmen arguments are logically flawed reasoning and as such are often used as flamebait.
Your second point shows you are fundamentally ignorant of the OLPC and its aims, which doesn't really help your stance at all. If it was a genuine question, it was worded in a rather terse and abrasive manner, again it read like a flame. The answer is of course yes, they are well aware that electricity supplies in 3rd world countries are sporadic and sparse, as anyone spending a little time thinking about this project would gather.
If you had a genuine question, perhaps just ask it instead of trying to insult that which you don't understand.
Pull-cord, I believe.
Anyway, the of this is really to further education and improve local economies over the long term. There are other projects to help kids who are starving... this one is focused on the far greater number of families who are surviving, but can't afford decent education. In many countries, kids have to pay to go to school, and many families can't afford it. The kids end up helping the family farm or taking menial jobs, maybe, but with a better education they could have started businesses or gotten better jobs. Doctors (you know, the people who help when kids are dying of diarrhea) are in short supply almost everywhere, and where are they supposed to come from? Better education = economic growth.
OLPC is supposed to replace textbooks and notebooks and make education cheaper and more accessible. Personally, I don't know... in those countries where basic education isn't free, the governments paying for it might do better by paying tuitions.
I'll just respond to say that mine was not a strawman argument. I've lived in developing countries for nearly two decades. The need for laptops is not just slightly but grotesquely outweighed by the need for more urgent measures of socioeconomic redress, of which safe drinking water and reliable electricity are merely the tip of the iceberg. The notion that delivering laptop computers to millions of children in the developing world is somehow a constructive use of time, energy and financial resources given - just for example - the genocide that is occurring in Darfur and the more than one million unlawfully displaced refugees currently on the edge of starvation in Uganda, is catastrophically naive and speaks to the appalling ignorance and cultural ethnocentricity of this project's primary actors. What it shows is that we have a very serious problem in how the west - and America in particular - views the rest of the world through the lens of its own myopic concerns.
A-Bomb
Learn the lesson. Use free software, dude!
I believe the OLPC project is not aimed at countries/children who are starving. It is aimed at (rural?) communities that are largely self-sufficient, but lack the excess resources required to drastically improve their lot beyond its current level. In many of these places children already go to school. The idea is to reduce the cost of one of the most versatile resources humanity has created, and hopefully enable an acceleration of socio-economic development.
Some of these places may well be at risk from famine, but history has shown that simply rescuing countries from such disasters when they occur, while necessary and highly laudable, is insufficient in itself to help progress, and prevent their reoccurrence.
You're correct that there appear to be ways the money could be better spent, but bear in mind that another aim of the project is to have the machines built locally. This means two things: 1) there are wider economic benefits which will be driven by local needs (contrast this with the all-too-common misapplication of external aid); and 2) there isn't actually that much money behind this project, in the grand scheme of things--I think the staff is less than 20--so suggesting that the money is being misspent is something of a straw-man, even if unintentional.