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Intel, Microsoft Despised the XO Laptop
gregsim writes "The Wall Street Journal today reports that the new XO laptop, centerpiece of the One Laptop Per Child project, is stimulating an active response from both Intel and Microsoft. The companies evidently feel threatened by the little upstart, intended to help third-world children. (The XO runs Linux and uses AMD chips.) Microsoft has cut their software to $3 each and Intel has designed their own laptop called the Classmate to sell between $230 and $300, nearly double the XO's price. Rather than defend the relative merits of his creation, professor Negroponte is crying foul and (if the article is to be believed) not even arguing the technical merits. The initial demand for the XO has fallen well below Mr. Negroponte's projections as Intel and Microsoft have successfully argued that their entries are superior. 45,000 have been ordered through the Give One, Get One campaign. I am happy that I ordered mine — it will be a landmark model in any case."
Microsoft hates Linux? Who know? ;)
If Negreponte's goal is to get cheap laptops in the hands of poor children, why would he be angry? Those poor kids deserve choice, and competition from the Classmate provides that. So fewer kids get the XO, so what? Seems like Negreponte is letting his ego cloud his vision.
-- "I never gave these stories much credence." - HAL 9000
It seems to me that the children to whom these laptops are going don't need whizbang computing power, they just need basic computing ability. The OLPC project has no need to "argue the technical merits" of their device against potentially more powerful (but more expensive) competition when the price for this technology is the lowest around.
The thing is, Negroponte's $100 laptop suffers from the same flaw as Ford's Model T ultimately did. A used computer will probably give you more capability than a cheap new one. I think for $150, you could buy a notebook that's better than this "everyman's computer", and while you were at it, you could probably buy a used generator.
This is my sig.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
The XO is selling for $199. $230 is hardly 'double' the price.
The third world needs a lot more than a cheap laptop. They have to figure out agriculture first!!!
"I am happy that I ordered mine -- it will be a landmark model in any case."
You know, people are happy when MS gets competition but they often forget that competition comes also FROM MS, so Negroponte just need to shutup and taste his own medicine.
It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
The OLPC is an amazing project and will spearhead a whole slew of cheap laptops. I am just disappointed that OLPC themselves didnt see the potential in selling a consumer version of their device. I bought an Asus Eee PC largely because there is no consumer OLPC. I love the form factor and everything else about the OLPC but why restrict it to 3rd world countries when the appeal is universal? They really should sell a consumer version - bump the storage capacity, flash it with Fedora and maybe ship it in a black / white version but please sell the damned thing. The Asus Eee PC demonstrates the enormous demand for these devices. The OLPC project is denying themselves a pile of sales and profit by not releasing a consumer version.
Potential buyers in the developing world have expressed concern about the availability of training for schoolteachers, and after-sales support. Mr. Negroponte's plan is for the machines to be simple enough that students can train themselves -- and solve any glitches that arise.
....
Mr. Negroponte said some initial tech support would be provided by Brightstar Corp., a Miami-based wireless equipment distributor. Just who would provide support a few years from now, he said, was "a frightening question." The students, he said, will need "to do as much maintenance as possible."
No real vendor support. Who is going to buy these things when they have to fix every single problem themselves?
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
The real annoying thing is that they are not jumping in the market to help kids but undermine a non profit so they can get the market. Other companies like AMD have been helping the effort, but Microsoft and Intel see it as competition. This is a non profit effort. Next the pharmaceuticals will be going after the red cross because they want to sell cheap blood alternatives to disaster victims. Yeah competition! I am proud to have gotten one.
Since when is $230(1.15x)-$300(1.5x), nearly double $200? I'm not defending Microsoft or Intel, since they wanted to make a greedy business plan out of the cause, which is despicable, but lets not let the fanboys exaggerate such numbers here.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=OLPC&category0=
You'll find the OLPC is basically just a financial subsidy to the poor in the developing world...
What's the average annual wage in Bangladesh?
Deleted
Intel has designed their own laptop called the Classmate to sell between $230 and $300, nearly double the XO's price
What? The XO was targeted to cost $100. It ballooned out to $130, then $175, then $188, then $200.
Now, if you want to donate 10,000 of them, you get that $200 price. If you want to donate 100 or less, you pay $300 per laptop.
Why they have a sliding price scale is beyond me...they're supposed to be a non-profit, building the things for the poorest people in the world, and yet...the fewer you buy, the more you pay...
Please help metamoderate.
Some people say some weird things about Eee and GPL, see here and here... I don't know whether what they say is true, but I guess it would be of interest to consumers who care about the GPL.
If so, I'm sorry to say he lacks the cynicism to deal with politicians, specially those from third world nations. These individuals will endorse any project that makes them look good. An OLPC endorsement is marketing gold from a politician's point of view, because it ties education, children and technology -- areas which third world nations are very reluctant to invest in -- all at zero cost.
Talk is cheap.
I am against this whole cheap laptop thing.
Making a shitty plastic machine that is basically throwaway and entirely too American in design (everyone should have his or her own laptop) is not a noble cause.
Creating more trash is really not a good thing. Especially when it is being dumped in not so developed areas.
I just do not like it. Really. I mean it is ethically problematic. Sure the intent is good, but that does not mean that it is a good thing to do. There are plenty of areas where the ~$180US would probably be better spent on water purification, food, medicine, condoms, and many other things. But this self-righteous asshole is telling people that computers are what people really need. Shitty do little computers to boot.
Like others have said recycling older parts is the way to go. Yeah, that does create power issues, but it would probably be easier to add something in to stuff that is already trash than making more trash.
It's irrelevan whether MS/Intel or Linux/AMD's product is "better". All that matters is that kids in bad situations get access to technology and information to advance their futures. If either of them is serving the cause, then it should be supported regardless on what camp one stands.
They may be a non-profit organisation but I bet the manufacturing company making them isn't.
Jonathanjk.com
Run the numbers any way you like; it all comes down to the fact that a rapidly growing population is not sustainable. At current growth rates the mass of humans will exceed the mass of the known universe in 7000 years. We can deal with that now, or later. Later is more painful, with war and famine.
I'm not sure about Intel's role in this, but Microsoft undoubtedly sees a threat beyond what's being discussed here. The threat isn't directly Negroponte and the One Laptop Per Child project, it's Linux. If you put a cheap laptop in the hands of a few hundred million kids, they won't grow up to be afraid of it. That's the real threat. Microsoft's threat horizon exceeds a generation.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
Did he (or anyone, for that matter) expect Microsoft or Intel to just roll over and die? Of course they downed his product, and of course they offered competing products. That's what companies do! And if Negroponte can't handle that, he's in the wrong line of work.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
It's cheaper per unit to fulfill a larger order than a smaller one.
But in this case, companies are entering a [new] market in order to kill competition. No wonder, even in the so called developed capitalist markets of the industrialized world like Canada, no foreigner can own a majority stake in the telecommunications sector for example.
I'm waiting for my XOPC which I ordered at 6:05 AM on day 1 of the Give-One-Get-One program.
The reason for this machine and its unique interface, power saving, and wireless connection is for empowering people who do not have computing expertise, reliable power, or even telephone connections.
An important use for the machine that is overlooked is to provide textbooks to children in areas which simply don't have textbooks.
The laptop has an important reflective screen for e-book reading.
Imagine having all your courseware on one machine that you transmit to them wirelessly?
Furthermore, Worldspace at www.worldspace.com has committed to using part of its satellite radio bandwidth to transmit courseware to areas like Africa, India, and Asia.
The free sharing of textbooks and courseware are far and away the most important aspects of this laptop.
Have you ever taken a class for which the textbooks were on back-order? These children deal with that every school day. The copier is always broken, there is never any paper or toner, and this laptop helps to solve all these problems.
Kriston
Hmm..... I suppose I'd pay $3 for Vista.
You are clearly an intelligent and compassionate man. Kudos to you for your extremely nuanced and well-researched opinions on the cultures the OLPC is targeted at. I hope you will consider running for political office in the future, and once you inevitably make it to president, that you suspend the constitution and act as a benevolent autocrat, guiding the world with the light of your brilliant mind.
Because "choice" is not always good, and merely getting "cheap laptops in the hands of poor children" is not the goal. One must be mindful of what the choices are and their long-term implications. A choice of being dominated by a proprietor is inappropriate for all users. This computer aims to educate and a system users can totally modify and learn from to suit their needs. Basing the XO on free software is entirely appropriate as is using the computer in freedom. Building the XO on proprietary software is wholly inappropriate. It's a good thing that these kids can investigate what's really going on and help one another, making their computers do what they want and only freedom can assure that.
The "choice" argument is one used by software proprietors and their sympathizers to make non-free alternative seem equal to free software. Dependency and separation, an imposed inability to help oneself is far worse than independence, helping one's community, and social solidarity.
Digital Citizen
Microsoft has cut their software to $3 each and Intel has designed their own laptop called the Classmate to sell between $230 and $300, nearly double the XO's price.
The initial demand for the XO has fallen well below Mr. Negroponte's projections as Intel and Microsoft have successfully argued that their entries are superior. 45,000 have been ordered through the Give One, Get One campaign.
Congratulations! Now that Mr. Negroponte's been publicly screwed by Microsoft and Intel, he can officially call himself a computer manufacturer.
Way to go!
Studies in India have shown that the best way to reduce population growth in a democracy is to educate women. Percolation of computers and cell phones into the rural areas have allowed significant (class room/world exposure type of) education to happen even outside the schools. This has been a more recent phenomenon and while these have had definite economic advantages (e.g. google - kerala fishermen cell phones). It is not clear as yet whether this type of education will also help in the same way but it definitely seems plausible. In the absence of coercion there appears to be no other reliable way to reduce the growth rate. Needless to say, the benefits of education and access to computers has obvious advantages in things like agriculture, etc.
Is that not common business practice and how the supplier works?
Anybody knows that if you buy in bulk it is a lot cheaper basically because of shipping and other cost.
You are right.
What Microsoft and Intel are doing has nothing to do with competition. It is anti-competition. As soon as they kill the OLPC, they will raise their prices. They want to destroy the competition, in my opinion, not compete.
Unfortunately, we don't have a government in the U.S. that respects the rule of law, so the laws against anti-competition won't be applied.
you can only buy via PayPal???
no f'ing way i'll *ever* buy *anything* via PayPal!
does anyone have a better CC merchant route? please?!???
Oh my, Business 101?
If they can sell a machine for 2x what he does, I guess there is some pricing flexibility he can leverage OR he can focus on even poorer nations. He should stop moaning and focus on sales and charity.
On another note- I have to imagine that allot of people out there would love to buy his machines in bulk and give them out. I wonder if no one wants to piss off the Gates Foundation? Ether friends or potential recipients... Wouldn't that be a twist - LOL.
BTW: If Gates decides that his new Wintel boxes are the key to both Windows' future and kids' education there will be MILLIONS of these things built in the next few years.
Because handling smaller orders incurs more overhead per unit. Not that hard to figure out.
I finally got this email back today, November 24th after 9 days.
"Unfortunately, at the moment we are unable to make any adjustments on your donation. We are in receipt of your inquiry and will respond to you as soon as possible. Please note due to overwhelming response, we may not be able to immediately respond to your inquiry, however, you will be contacted. The first mailing phase is scheduled to ship out just before the holidays, and I assure you that this will be rectified before your laptop is shipped out. Thank you for your interest in One Laptop Per Child."
Unless they quickly gear up to answer the phone or emails, they will lose very quickly to the commercial offerings.
... without a classROOM?
...
The XO is designed to work without one. No mains, no shade, no dust-free environment, no roof to keep the rain out
What makes the XO special is what it is what it _does not need_.
Time for Prof Negroponte to call his brother, John. Johnnie boy probably still has the number of the Central American Death Squads. Watch out Billy G and Co!
Behold "peace" with Intel and M$:
but
Par for the Wintel course, self restraint is foolish because M$ and Intel will always pull every trick they can. When convicted monopolists urge you to hold back, listening to them is the worst thing you can do. Intel traded a few million dollars for what's going to millions of units in sales. That's too bad, because Windoze is the wrong OS for the job.
It's easy to see that the usual one size fits all Windoze is not useful to school children, especially those in the developing world. It's designed for US fortune 500 businesses and to satisfy the wants of the MAFIAA. It's dependent on a $400 "office" suite for the most basic of paper writing in English and it has little else. Native editing and authoring tools are pathetic, networking is designed for an office LAN and media tools are designed to extract money from rich US college students rather than to encourage creativity. Foreign language support in Windoze is pathetic, as you would expect from software that can't take corrections in the field. All of this can be said about M$'s latest and greatest OS. I'm scared of what they have to offer for $3. Any developing nation that wants to see what will happen to the Intel machine has only to look at what happens to the millions of used laptops the developed world disposes of daily in their backyard. Laptops being tossed out by the developed world are more powerful and have better software but could be used right now by developing nations for next to nothing. They are not used because they are not well suited to the task and Wintel laptops that make it to the developing world today are sent there as toxic waste. OLPC addressed all of these concerns in their design.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
Wintel even if it's still not the best option.
New to capitalism and mass production, are you?
The reason the XO laptop deserves to be in the hands of kids in developing countries is that it is designed from the ground up for them. From their standpoint it is simple, rugged and friendly with very real educational opportunities for a wide age range. It lets them create, connect, and collaborate using an interface and software that are designed for kids - not adult business users. The secret sauce here is the inherently networkable open source software and not the price per unit. When kids transition from enjoying the bundled software to modifying and making their own we'll see a new generation of young people with skills to transform their countries. That's far more likely when the software is open source and why the Intel and MS XP offerings are oranges to this apple.
The article is 48 paragraphs long. MS/Gates are mentioned in 3 paragraphs. Intel is mentioned in more than 15 paragraphs, and their bad effect on OLPC is singled out by Negroponte multiple times. Yet most of the /. replies single out MS as the bad guy here - for cutting price on their software. Hardly a mention of Intel, who have done far more to damage OLPCs chances in the market.
Hmm. Slashdot reading comprehension in top form, eh?
I seem to recall they enforced some plan to put internet kiosks in mud hut villages.
:) They're really afraid that the next generation of good hackers will not speak english well, if at all, and will likely not be speaking Hebrew or Yiddish anymore either.
Guess being able to hack the database and change ownership of the brick house will be harder to do with a tried and tracked intel chip
Yep, we've already lost the programming market, with the exceptions of missile guidance systems and voting machines and people tracking software (need something to run those future gulags for the unemployed, eh?)
As far as I recall, my friends overseas are beginning to shop in America, and many are no longer coming here looking for jobs. Gifted geeks too, but they're staying there, wonder why.
" What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler
The story indicates to me that Negroponte is more concerned that Intel and Microsoft might bring more cheap laptops to third-world countries than him. He should be happy that his endeavor is motivating these for-profit companies to innovate, which in turn benefits those people. If he is worried about them driving OLPC out of business and then driving up prices again, he should make that argument. I didn't see that mentioned anywhere in the article.
Certain businessmen are fairly honest about what motivates them: "greed is good".
Some are duplicitous: Google's "Do not evil", The Body Shop's "Not tested on animals" before selling out.
A few, however, are downright disgusting - these are the profit-makers that claim to exist for charitable purposes. The various entities that are behind Wikipedia and Firefox are two of the most high profile Internet examples, though of these only Wikipedia has the balls to claim, like the OLPC project, that's it's "for the children"... no, worse, "for the African children".
As if being threatened by malnutrition/disease/war isn't enough, to have some fat man in America get richer by telling the world that a laptop will help solve my problems would just add insult to injury. Thirty years ago it was zero LPC (0LPC, if you like) across the planet; computers in first world schools have not improved education - public education in the UK is a laughable mess, exam boards have been sold to publishing companies, and "no child is left behind" with a mandated curriculum which puts so little emphasis in thought that one might expect the computers to actually replace the pupils as exam candidates within a decade.
Leave us educators be, dishonest OLPC businessmen. Schools need to teach English, Mathematics, Science, History, Languages, et al., and that can be done quite easily with pen and paper. If you have money, feel free to help invest in these simple tools, in books (ones that don't involve a power source, a delicate hand, and a mound of restrictions thanks), in teacher training, in supporting those who cannot easily afford to attend school. Every cent of investment in your project is a cent from someone with good intentions throwing his money down the drain, and you know it.
No real vendor support. Who is going to buy these things when they have to fix every single problem themselves?
No, the real problem is that the people who know the best answers to bullshit like that have foolishly promissed to keep their mouths shut while M$ and Intel continue their usual FUD barage. While most of the answers are apparent, the OLPC design and implementation team has been there and done the work like no one else has. Advocates of self restraint can point out that bashing a competitor is a waste of resources that can be better spent elsewhere, but this case shows that not spending those resources leaves you open to easy attack. OLPC by agreeing to not call the Classmate a turd has surrendered perception of the one real advantage they have, overwhelming technical superiority. OLPC needs to directly compare themselves to Classmate and make their case. It's good enough for developed world use ... and that points to what may be an even more serious non compete agreement. People who shake hands with the devil always get burnt.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
Or you can buy one, donate one for $400 and donate the second one as well. Two donated, $200 a piece, $400 tax deduction and you still get a year of T-Mobile internet access.
So the OLPC laptops aren't screaming off the shelves - even though they have undeniable technical merits (read: superior!) and it just may be possible that this is the result of improper trade practices. But since the project =is= competitive, the thing that will pull it ahead is a demonstrated success story. Even if the laptops need to be given away at first, a successful distribution in a country will show other countries what they get for their money. Time for slashdotters to get off their complacent, omni-whining assess and stop complaining about "the big guys" and =DO= something. If you can afford it, GO GET ONE.
Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.
Some of the price change is currency fluctuation. US dollars
are becoming worthless, but the third-world purchasing nations
wont see that much.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=1y
The problem is that Intel and Microsoft may be using predatory pricing and other anti-competitive practices to limit choice in the long term. That is, Intel and Microsoft may try to kill XO in the short term, and then go right back to selling underperforming $1000 laptops with Microsoft's bloated and DRM'ed Vista.
Sounds like some crackpot left-wing anti-free-market theory? Well, it isn't. Republicans have frequently been leveling this charge against European and Asian manufacturers of everything from aircraft to steel and imposed fines and sanctions on other nations over it.
if M$ starts install their OS on the laptops there will be a lot of BSOD viruses, crashes and preformence drops, like in vista.
So, the give-one get-one program 'only' sold 45000 laptops so far... In the US of A. Whereas the 2nd laptop is meant to be given to the third world, the first laptop is only sold in a minority of the first world. When are companies, backed by the United Nations for crying out loud, learn that there are whole continents of potential customers, and that a FedEx to outside the US of A is just a credit card away?
Why oh why is this offer 'only in America'???
Nicholas?
I'm sure there will be lots of people in developing countries eager to get their hands on one of these and exchange it for food.
All of these stories centering on Microsoft or Intel seem not to realize that. Microsoft software comes for free in developing countries: people don't have money to buy legal copies so they either grab pirated or don't use computers at all. So that'd be a non-issue for Microsoft except that what they don't really want is an uncontrolled spread of Linux among youngsters. of course, long time partner Intel agrees...
I don't feel like it...
Seriously WTF? We all know about "what about the shareholdes!" but what the hell goes though someones mind. Fuck these XO people we want the hungry children's money! Also from the article >Carine Umutesi, who works for Rwanda's Information Technology Authority, questioned who would fix them if they break. Do you actually think your corporate buddies will support their hundreds of thousands of cheap laptop for long? LOL.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Competition is basically when a consumer has a choice among products.
In this case, both Microsoft and (especially, in this particular case) Intel use their market clout to *shut out* the OLPC. They are basically buying off governments or distributors to the point that OLPC isn't facing competition-- it's not getting a chance to compete.
That's the problem with unbridled corporatism (which is what we are seeing, rather than capitalism). Corporations get to the point that *they* are afraid to face real competition, so they do what they can to ensure competition never gets a chance to take root. This includes non-market avenues like controlling distribution or buying off governments.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
That the Intel Clasmate PC run Linux, not windows?
In many of the responses to this article, people talk about the "Wintel". No guys.
Microsoft actually is working very hard, and with the blessing of Mr. Negroponte, no less, toport windows to the OLPC:
http://www.news.com/Negroponte-Windows-key-to-OLPC-philosophy/2100-1016_3-6215837.html
And Intel is now on board the OLPC project:
http://www.news.com/2100-1005_3-6196629.html
I guess that Mr. Negroponte's anger comes from the fact that things are not turning out as he envisioned, and he rather put the blame on someone else, whithout admiting ANY PERCENTAGE WHATSOEVER of errors in the foundation's strategy.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
I agree completely, it's a shame that you posted this as an Anonymous Coward so it got less notice than it deserves. While the OLPC started at a claimed price of $100, it has now soared to $199, a price that I consider a failure. Why? Not because Intel and Microsoft could make a system at about the same price, but because other legitimate for-profit commercial companies already are! I say that because I've seen several different laptops, eariler this year and as recently as this weekend, selling at $299. And these were systems that included the Microsoft tax. If you could take off the Microsoft tax, these systems would come in at about the $199 price, but be for computers with hard drives, optical drives, more memory, and a lot more CPU power (on the downside they eat more electrical power). I'll assume that these were prices designed to get buyers into the stores, but I doubt that anyone was really losing money on them, just accepting less profit. So it's a shame that a supposed non-profit company couldn't come through on the promise that they choose to make of a lower priced system. But with mainstream compatable computers getting cheaper and cheaper while the OLPC computer has doubled in price, I don't see the OLPC project as a viable sucessful offering. Lot of people here want to seem to blame Intel and M$ for attacking the OLPC price range, but it sure looks to me that the OLPC pricer range has wondered off course and right into the path of where low end commercial for-profit systems have been headed for a long time.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
As I said on ./ on Fri July 13, OLPC is a project, not a product. Just because the current XO laptop is AMD Geode-based doesn't mean the next gen OLPC product won't be based on the 2008 (less than 1 watt) Intel
Silverthorn processors which would likely be the basis of XO v2 - which will be much faster with even lower power draw.
The Classmate is what it is. If a country wants it more than the XO and used some legitimate criteria for deciding, they have the right to do so. Intel certainly looked at what buyers found attractive about the XO in designing the Classmate - OLPC should look at what customers find attractive in the Classmate for XO v2.
Compare the XOPC to the AlphaSmart Dana. Even at $200, the XO is cheaper, more durable, and more flexible. The AlphaSmart is advertised to kids in the U.S. and Europe as a way to take notes in school. The XO will blow it away. And how about all us business people who want a very lightweight PC that won't break when dropped or otherwise mishandled by airport security personnel and can work for more than two hours without being plugged in. I don't care if it's Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. I just need something that can read my email, write up a proposal, and take notes at a meeting. Instead of spending $1000 on a laptop that is powerful enough to use as a desktop system, and yet is light enough to actually be portable, maybe I'll spend $800 for a real desktop system and use the other $200 on an XOPC.
The point is that Negroponte has a great market for his XOPC right here in America and Europe. Sure, it's not what he originally was after. But, imagine if the XOPC was sold freely in the first world. With enough units being sold, the cost of the XOPC would drop towards its original $100 goal. Meanwhile, developers in America and Europe will write new applications for the XOPC, third party products will be made for the XOPC, and the computer will lose its stigma as being a third world toy computer for people who can't afford a real PC.
So, with in a year or two, Negroponte will now have an XOPC that costs only $100, has better support, more software, and maybe the panache of the iPod. With a cheaper, cooler, better supported computer, countries like India and Libya will be clamoring for the XOPC.
First of all, that summary was kind of long and confused. Is this story about:
1) Microsoft cutting software prices?
2) Intel making similar hardware?
3) The price of Intel's similar hardware? ($230 is hardly double the XO's price, considering it's currently $200. But, you know, we'll go with it.)
4) Mr. Negroponte's disappointment in the demand for it?
5) 45,000 XO laptops have been ordered?
It just kind of rambles from one point to another without being firmly *about* any of them.
Secondly, isn't imitation the greatest form of flattery? How can you be so sure that MS and Intel are saying "let's crush this program!" and not "hey, that's a good idea, let's try it."
Comment of the year
How can transgenic crops kill off the local species if they're sterile? Hint: pollen == plant gametes. Sterile == no gametes or ineffective gametes. How are sterile plants going to crossbreed with native species if they're incapable of breeding altogether?
They breed for one generation but that generation is sterile. It's not a theoretical threat, there's a gorram patent on it.You can't take the sky from me...
AMD should step up with a marketing campaign of their own about OLPC.
Intel is doing it, AMD should do it too. Also SUN may want to help out, isn't Open Office used on OLPCs?
You can't handle the truth.
> The secret sauce here is the inherently networkable open source software and not the price per unit.
Heh, the secret that helps Negroponte win. He suggests the Windows box will eventually carry a Windows price structure, then details the absurdities of the Windows licensing system.
Wait... I have to pay more for the server than the client, then I have to pay for each thing that connects to it?
> ... is what it is what it ...
:-)
Holy, I had to read that multiple times before it would parse! Try saying that three times quickly
It all comes down to business and money and "think of the children" is always second even if that is the goal of the organization. I say get computers to the kids no matter which brand or software version. The kids can learn the basics on anything, on any OS, but they won't if the projects are snarled by pride, legal implications and business. If we do think of the children, then who really cares which company "wins"... The real winners will continue facilitating the process running it efficiently and cost-effectively.
I wasn't sure I wanted to donate one to get one - but if Microsoft really hates it, it must be worth it.
The age old proverb is just so true. So, if Negreponte's OLPC folks really want to help with second and third world education, they should be going hell-for-leather to get their OLPC software to run, as best it can, on the Wintel hardware offerings. This would give a vivid demonstration of the advantages of the OPLC machine's hardware design.
At the end of the day, it will be the availability and quality of child-engaging courseware packages which will make or break _all_ these computers-in-schools projects. I wonder if the content producers and publishers of the world have even heard of OLPC, let alone seen the point of it?
From TA: "From my point of view, if the world were to have 30 million" laptops made by competitors "in the hands of children at the end of next year, that to me would be a great success," he said in a recent interview. "My goal is not selling laptops. OLPC is not in the laptop business. It's in the education business." ... sounds like the summary exaggerates Negroponte's feelings on the issue.
1) MYTH: MSFT and Intel constitute the evil Wintel cartel. Fact: MSFT doesn't like Intel's Classmate PC - read the Wikipedia article on it and you'll notice that there are 3 supported OS (Mandriva Linux, Metasys 2.0, Windows XP). XP is poorly suited to the Classmate and some form of Linux would likely be the OS
2) MYTH: Intel hates OLPC. Intel is PART of the OLPC project (since summer 2007) - Microsoft is NOT. (The original poster doesn't even mention this) Perhaps this would imply that next gen XO unit will be Intel-based ( see this post for more on why )
3) MYTH: AMD Geode is superior technology. FACT: It's very lightweight, low power technology that AMD bought from National Semiconductor. It's not based on current technology. Intel is developing a whole generation of much lower power, but much faster processors - due partially to the magic of 45nm- in the Silverthorn cpus. coming in 2008. What's interesting about them is not so much the technical specs, but that the process technology lets the dies be so small that Intel will be able to put thousands of processors on a single wafer allowing Intel to make them very cheap and still get good margins for them. The whole target market for these cpus is phone/handhelds/MIDs and very basic systems that need x86 instruction set with sub-one-watt power consumption (and good performance). It is exactly what XO v2 should be built on.
Because their governments make poor decisions. Also, from what I heard from a friend of mine who used to work at a manufacturing company, Intel uses (highly illegal, in the US) strong arm tactics. His company responded to threats by Intel (that they better buy their multisourced chips from Intel, otherwise their single sourced chip orders wouldn't be filled), by resesigning their product to use NO Intel chips.
Bribes and threats. That's what Intel probably has going for it in the 3rd world. No doubt those MIT nerds aren't up to that level of the game. So they'll fail.
I really wonder exactly how suitable these *alternatives* are. The OLPC project has been working on this solution for a while now, perfecting it to be perfectly suitable and capable for the needs of the under privileged children of the world. I really doubt even a cheaply released product from M$ is going to be capable and as well tested to be suitable in these countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XO-1_(laptop)#Hardware - OLPC Hardware Specs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classmate_PC#Hardware - Classmate PC Hardware Specs
It appears Intel has supplied a faster processor, but at what cost? It comes with a far more powerful 6 cell Li-ion battery and only lasts 4-hours (which alot of small portables claim and never reach) and no way to charge without an external electricity source. This machine is a last minute "oh crap" they've managed to produce a low cost laptop for developing countries, we'd better do something fast! It doesn't appear to come with the vast amount of targeted education software the OLPC does and no mesh networking.
So let me see, Intel + M$ supply cheap laptops for developing nations and when they receive them... well they can boot it up... write stuff in notepad and let me see... do bugger all else!
Where as if you read the software list that comes with the OLPC it is specifically designed for the developing nations and comes with software to suit.
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of cats. MEOW!!
These are the same reasons DELL sells only Intel and until just recently only Microsoft: pure anti-trust tactics. Wholly illegal in the US, or at least they would be if it wasn't for a Regan/Bush-appointed judiciary. Sad to say, as an American, but the world's center of open and progressive government has shifted to the EU thanks to the sleazy business practices of Intel, Microsoft, Enron, Haliburton, and the right wing of the Republican party.
Negronponte can't argue on the technical merits because his competitors are pulling the same fast one on consumers in 3rd world countries that they have perfected in the US. The OLPC isn't supposed to compete with traditional laptops - it does very different things. You can't compare its mesh network to WiFi. Its not designed just for battery life, but to be easy to recharge etc etc. Yes you can get something from Intel/MS that has a faster processor, or more memory or a shinier screen -- but its just a stripped down notebook.
Unless the OLPC folks can figure out how to combat the mhz myths and the "you need Windows" FUD then they are screwed, and so are the kids that will be using their WinTel notebooks as expensive seat cushions. Perhaps they should have involved Steve Jobs?
+--------------------- You idiot! I told you we were facing the wrong way!
there is no one, absolutely no one, more arrogant than the Geek who think that he is the only knowledge-based worker.
it has been a very long time since you could succeed in agriculture by simply knowing how to hold a stick.
Even non-Americans know M$ are un-American.
I second that, I had tried like 4 or 5 times to buy the damn thing, one over the phone, and for some reason that order got canceled too. It's like they don't want my money (which the last time was CASH on bank account debit card that cost me a hell of trouble to gather). I'm getting tired of this so they better take care of handling orders more efficiently
The major point is that their project was free/libre opensource based. It could have been emulated by any one else. And whole point of Negroponte is that one day, as those kids grow up, they would be able to easily start their own computer technology project, based on knowledge they acquired learning on tools like the OLPC and using technology and ressources available freely for them to base they project on, thanks to F/L-OSS.
It's not a monopoly to Negroponte because their technology isn't locked into their own hands at all.
Your analogies are bad.
It's not Pespi or Coke, it's OpenCola and Vores Øl (recipes freely available on wikipedia for every one to use) against both of those corporation.
It's not BigMac or Super...whateverstuffyoumentionned, it's home grilled buger on your own backyard grill (without any intellectual property lawsuits involved) against the fast-food corps.
The main purpose behind this is bring those kids a tool that they can subsequently own themselves and do whatever they want to do. This is possible with free/libre software, because that's the whole point for which the GPL license and the FreeSoftware Foundation where created.
This wouldn't be possible with microsoft in the play, because whatever happens with the Classmate, the software running on it will continue to be the private property of Microsoft. Everything one could dream to do with it will have to be done only after obtaining license. Even if it may cost only 3$ currently, it remains in the hand of a foreign US company.
XO Laptop is about empowering the current learning kids, and giving them something that they can control.
Classmate and $3 Microsoft softwares is about creating a steady stream of future consumer which have been raised into sheepishly thinking that information technology is only something that come from a foreign US company, and who could one day buy Microsoft's future software at whatever price they decide then.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
"The Wall Street Journal today reports that the new XO laptop, centerpiece of the One Laptop Per Child project, is stimulating an active response from both Intel and Microsoft, in bed." And if you do it to some of the comments, it is completely hilarious, in bed.
Usually those who I know who learned to use Linux, usually have learned to use a computer and can feel at home when switching to something else (as an example, I personally have always used mostly Linux. I'm still able to use a Windows powered machine. And I'm not a CS-student. At all. I'm did study Medicine).
Windows users on the other hands, tends to be people who have learned to click specific buttons in a given small set of MS-application and are typically completely lost every time the latest iteration of MS-software change GUI or switches data-formats.
And that's exactly what Microsoft wants : build new generation of drone that are dependant on their products.
On the otherhand, teaching opensource software to those kids would make them independant. Or rather dependant on a solution that they can own and develop themselves.
If many jobs in the developing world don't need basic knowledge of Windows and Office, but basic knowledge of Linux, suddenly the whole country start to get independent from foreign product for it's computer technology.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
...just because they don't like the competition. There has GOT to be a way to turn this despicable behavior into a PR disaster for Wintel.
If there are people stupid enough to pay $200 for one of these laptops, the 3rd worlders deserve it. How much does it cost to ship a laptop from Etheopia? Another $100? During "black friday" I could have bought a real laptop for $450.
If I lived in a 3rd world country, I would be glad to have the XO laptop. But, as an average income US citizens, I would much rather pay $650 and get a real laptop.
The keyboards on those XO laptops absolutely suck - even worse than the tiny crappy screens.
Are ebays buyers really that stupid?
Competition is good?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
...they'll be 50% off after Christmas.
"I would include dishonest advertising as another factor making a market non-free."
What's this about "News for Nerds"?
I see you're one of Dick Cheney's advisors. How's that job working out now that "stone age" people are handing the US its ass on a platter, just like they did to the British Empire and the Russians in the long run?
Those who moderated Erris/twitter "Insightful" should be ashamed of themselves.
Asus is already coming out with the EEE pc, so intel will have to keep making classmates.
There is a market in the US for $200 laptops, in classrooms if nothing else.
The ability to have a laptop cart with 20 laptops for under 5k instead of the normal $25000
is a disruptive technology.
If XO does nothing else but bring down the cost of laptops for people around the world..then
Mr. Negroponte deserves our gratitude.
I saw an XO up close and personal at Pycon 2007. Ivan Krstic gave some very interesting talks about the device. It is very well engineered and they put a lot of thought into it. I can see why Intel and Microsoft are up in arms over it. The XO is the opposite of bloat. It is intended to operate in a very decentralized environment and with minimal support.
One of my complaints was that we could not buy them here, but now thanks to the Give One Get One program that is no longer a problem. They originally only intended to sell them to governments in large lots. I didn't think that was the best business model. There are other models for NGO's they could follow. Modeling it after the BOGO light was a smart move.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
I love the XO project - the idea, what the product is shaping into, its goals.
But I'm cynical - a lot. If you care to see another point of view, or just have a good laugh, I suggest:
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/09/hundred-dollar-laptop-now-400-and-for.html
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/09/ibm-plans-1-billion-commitment-to-xo.html
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2007/09/finally-customer.html
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/search/label/OLPC
Pathological kinda promises Path + Logical - but instead, you get stuck with pathetic.
Yeah, so I don't like the OLPC project because it implies that human problems are technological. I've heard that the OLPC was inspired by Papert's Logo work, and even comes with a version of Logo. Great. Send instructors trained in the 'Logo method', work with locals to build schools, and provide cheap computers with Logo installed, and you've won me over. Sending the computers alone is obnoxious.
It's also obnoxious because they initially weren't going to sell them here. They're only doing it now as a desperate measure, and they still force you to buy a donation. So what's not good enough for us is good enough for Africa? Boo.
It's obnoxious because it missed its $100 price by a factor of 2 -- they even had to change the name of the product.
But nothing takes the cake like *complaining* when the sales you thought were destiny don't materialize. Oh yeah, it's the competition's fault! Weak. Presumably Negroponte thinks the competition is evil because they're for-profit. That's like Microsoft complaining about Linux being free.
But there is something good about the OLPC: it's gotten much farther than any other Media Lab project to date. How to really help the Third World: take the millions blown at the Media Lab on barely-functioning undergrad art "installations" and put it towards some Logo schools. Or maybe even just -- gasp -- regular schools.
-Carl
Maybe as a hardware spec or a list of bullet points on a biased powerpoint presentation.
The secret of the XO is the systems software - which is aimed at eight year olds and designed to bring education to schoolchildren. These children aren't office workers, they're, well, children.
Dumping a load of wintel laptops on the third world instead of the XO will do irreparable harm. Most of them will need reformatting and reinstalling within a couple of months. Will Microsoft or Intel step up to do that for them? Didn't think so...
No sig today...
Wow, you sure do like to make stuff up. Maybe your incoherant, irrational posting style _and_ content are the reason you have such a pitifully low karma. Said low karma basically means nobody gives a shit about your worthless thoughts as embodied in your ridiculous posts.
I think part of the reason may be fear of losing a big part of their market to super-cheap laptops.
Most people use their laptops/destops to do mundane stuff: email, web-browsing, word-processing/spreadsheet stuff mostly. A $100-$200 laptop that could run firefox/openoffice, small enough to fit on your lap in coach-class of the airplane, and could run all day could really cut into their sales.
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
> According to the article I read, Microsoft has been dumping Windows+Office at $3 into these
> markets to stunt the OPLC market share. That's dumping by any definition.
US$ 3 is well above marginal cost for the software, so it is not dumping by that definition (selling below marginal cost).
I work at an agricultural university, and we have many students from third world countries. But we tend to lose contact with them when they get home. A better IT infrastructure would do wonders for agriculture in many of those countries, and a generation of children who grow up with laptops would do wonders for the IT infrastructure.
There is a lot of happy news with this story. People in the least developed countries get xo machines paid for by those in the US and Canada more able to pay. Classmate PCs provide cheap laptops to (possible) less advantaged students in Mexico and Brazil, paid for by the IMF.
Intel and Microsoft both face a challenge. For many years available computers have been inadequate to the tasks at hand. As the computers become more agile, and their markets more broad, there has been increasing demand for premium computers and software. The two companies have built great brands by offering increasingly effective platforms. Moore's law marches us persistently into the future however, and the premium price earned by these brands no longer equates to a better experience because the underlying technology has improved so much that the premium brands offer little advantage over the commodities.
Of the two, Microsoft has the bigger challenge.
Intel can push for rationalization of IP laws. This will free up a great deal of high-density video data that will drive a renaissance of mashups that let the common geek produce content in HD for GooTube and stroke his ego. Content creation can be the driver for a new generation of demand in processing that will tide Intel over until they find a new reason to sell their high end 32 core 17nm chips. Resolution will continue to increase until we all have photo-realistic 90" displays, and then maybe hologram tech will come out. Intel will do fine.
Microsoft, OTOH, hasn't put out decent code in over a decade. They've been exploiting their monopoly to force their product down peoples throats for so long they think that's their mission. They have forgotten that people choose them because their software helps people use their computers to do stuff. Now that the basic problems of document management and data mangling are solved, they have nothing left but branding. Their brands are increasingly associated with bloat, DRM and nagware. Every software package they sell is a hook to drag you deeper into a relationship where they provide all the software and have all the control. They are terrified of choice, and they should be.
As the emerging markets come online they'll choose piracy or open source -- they will not consider paying full rate for commercial apps. Like Ballmer said, "Developers!" (Repeat until you pass out).
The standard percentage of these folks will have the wiring and desire for programming. I think they'll like gcc and Eclipse. Those of us in the developed world find it easy to forget that intelligence is a Bell curve and those coming online lack the distraction of learning a hundred misbegotten failed technologies like .net 1.0. These systems are the battleground for ownership of the global IT market of 2020, and from where I sit it looks like change. Change can be good, no?
Help stamp out iliturcy.
infel did the same thing to UWB recently. Motorola/Freescale even jumped in to try to save the better tech, but infel smothered it.
That's one reason I'm not buying any more Macs until Jobs is out from under whatever spell or backhanded deal Otellini has him under.
I am not a fan of WalMart, but this is sure one case where they could atone for some of their evils.
is going to built on on top of openBSD.
And it's still not going to be secure.
And Theo will introduce a license provision that large corporations must not admit to using his software.
Microsoft is making noise about porting MSWindows to the XO.
We'll only see that if the XO beats their current hand of dirty tricks. But that one is not one you can lay at the feet of OLPC. It's Steve Ballmer's move, and if he doesn't move, well, he's the one denying XO purchasers the choice.
That MSWxp/MSie would bog down on the hardware is not due to anyone's suppression of choice, it's due to hardware design goals that favor lightweight software, goals that are driven by the target environment. The Classmate is going to bite deep mud in the markets they are being sold into (which will ultimately be yet another excuse to divert them away from the children).
Linux on XO?
Hello? I see a light on upstairs, anyone home?
What's left? Ahh. NetBSD.
Give us a little time. You know where some of those one-for-two are going.
IHBT
It's where the next big thing always come from,
although by the time it hits the market the lunatics have moved on and never get to cash in.
of the next floor down.
You know, looking at the world upside down.
It's infel's Classmate that is trying to be the cheap "everyman's computer".
Or, I could correct your little composition:
All those who are worried about support can go to the olpc wiki and look at the pilot projects in progress. The only reason there would be logistics problems is if infel and Micro$oft deliberately interfered.
... Windows would have been long dead.
explain this to me - we are going to allow ill-willed, self serving remarks from corporations because their protifts are threatened, BUT we are going to expect that people that have public service more on their minds should speak as wisemen, do not cry foul or make emotional comments and so on.
i dont get this shit. why self-serving are allowed to bitch, whereas the good-willed are expected to be little jesuses. being good does not mean mandate being a fool.
Read radical news here
I think most of you are missing the point. Im a teacher and work with kids 6-12 years old. Kids dont need a full PC setup with bells and whistles to use a computer in a way that assists their learning. 90% of our computer use is surfing for info, mainly on wikipedia and google, and simple text editing. The kids dont use email much, they prefer IM and all of them have MSN accounts that doesnt work in our network anyway. The most popular computing device we have is a couple of Alphasmarts. Why ? Because its easy, small, light and no hassle at all to use. Its a lot faster than the laptops we have both to turn on and off and occupies less space and its quiet. The fact that you can bounce it off the desk without breaking it or losing the contents helps as well. Ruggedness and ease of use goes a long way even in a first-world country.
Now the world has gone to bed, Darkness won't engulf my head, I can see by infra-red, How I hate the night.
Sure, like a government is ever going to distribute them with Linux, the funding they get will be conditional on them freely choosing the Microsoft option.
I think that XO's biggest winner is not the machine itself, but what's in it and what concepts it supports.
That is not to say that Negroponte and his team haven't seriously shaken up all vendors with what they did in hardware (when was the last time we saw innovation in doing more with LESS?), IMHO an award winning effort in itself, but look what else hides behind OLPC - the stuff that is ignored when people talk about "they don't need computers but x/y/x".
At the very root of OLPC (as well as the problems in those poor nations) lies EDUCATION, and that's quite a complex concept to define. For me, education is a combination of bringing knowledge and insight. Knowledge is what you get when you read a book about something, and is the easier part of education. It's eminently sensible to use electronics for this as the infrastructure is actually cheaper than inking a pile of trees for books.
However, insight (with experience) comes from doing, and this is where the OLPC project goals differs from all the other me-too offerings. It allows kids to experiment, to think, to reason, to tinker - to take a problem, analyse it, take it apart and solve it. About the most valuable skill of all: learning how to THINK. You know, the thing most Western governments are trying to get rid of because you'd become too critical?
Explain to me what innovation Intel will bring with its own laptop? I won't even mention Microsoft in that context. Will Intel and MS allow the kids (the generation that will inherit the problems) to take things apart? Ah, sorry, did I hear the words "Intellectual" Property (about the biggest misnomer known to man in this context)? And "proprietary"? Oh, hang on, someone in the back, that "L" word can you repeat that again? Yes, yes, that's right, "Licensing". Ah, another "L" here in the front: "Lock in". Well done.
If anyone is really serious about letting those nations develop, the OLPC project has the best scope to make that happen. However, I guess it's just too much to ask from commercial ventures to hang back a few years before milking them dry, especially not now the OLPC project has shown them for what they are.
Insert
Even though there is no real economic market in these areas, Intel and MS are salting the fields. Preventing other competitors from gaining a foothold is the endgame.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
From TFA...
In 2005, Nicholas Negroponte unveiled an idea for bridging the technology divide between rich nations and the developing world. It was captivating in its utter simplicity: design a $100 laptop and, within four years, get it into the hands of up to 150 million of the world's poorest schoolchildren.
OK, so if the intent of the idea was to get cheap laptops into the hands of poor school kids everywhere, then why is it bad if a private corporation manages to do it better than this guy? I mean, you and I complain about DRM because one out of every, what, I don't know, 100,000 people who buy a game or movie can't play it for some bizarre technological corner-case?
These are the same kids that might starve to death if their dad gets sick for like a week, and YOU are complaining that Intel and Microsoft *might* be putting (OMG, NO00OEZZ!1! DO NOT WANT!1!1!!) Windows onto a laptop that a private company can provide that is BETTER than the all-donations "free" laptop that Negroponte is trying to hawk?
Look - here's the truth in this: Negroponte has a great idea - make and sell cheap laptops to third-world countries. His intent was to bridge the technological gap. Maybe MS and Intel's intent is to make lots of money. Either way, Negroponte's intent (getting cheap laptops into the hands of the next potential Donald Knuth, or maybe just giving a cheap technological primer to kids who wouldn't otherwise be exposed to it) is met.
You, and many other posters, missed the boat on this one. Negroponte's dream has been realized - he got the people and companies who *actually* do this for a living to sit up and take notice, and start making really, really cheap laptops to sell to third-world countries. Of *course* MS and Intel's laptops are going to be better. Of *course* MS and Intel's laptops are going to be eventually cheaper.
Why, instead of cheering that millions of kids are going to get good technology into their hands, regardless of who it comes from, are you bitching about the fact that they might not be able to r1ppZ0rzz the latest Britney Spears album even though they already own it? (Which they don't.) I'm sorry, but you totally missed the point on this one.
Because of the accounting koan: when are fixed costs variable and variable costs fixed?
Answer: when they are unit costs.
What's the difference between a $200 laptop and a $400 laptop? Potentially nothing, other than you've sold enough so the amortized cost of development an tooling has dropped by $200/unit.
The result of this move by Intel isn't that the poor get their choice of $200 laptops. The result is that OLPC can't amortize its fixed costs over enough units to meet its goals. Then OLPC goes out of business, Intel raises its prices, and the poor are back where they started.
Intel is not doing this out of the goodness of its heart. Nor is it doing it out of classical economic motivations in commodity pricing. We aren't talking about direct economic competition here, but an indirect, strategic contest in which neither party is pricing its units to maximize profits from direct sales. OLPC is pricing its unit to maximize social impact. Intel is pricing the Classmate to kill off the OLPC before it starts eating away at profitable market segments.
If addressing the IT needs of the poor were profitable, then Intel would have been working on this already. It's all about throttling potential sources of innovation.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
thats a lot of laptops being spread around, so i hope they have a good plan to recycle them once they've lived out their usefulness. computers, while warm and fuzzy, aren't as friendly when they are buried whole in the ground
By the way, the give-one-get-one deal on the XO has been extended until the end of the year. Fight Wintel and get one. I believe the second laptop (that you give away) is tax-deductible, by the way.
It's time for your medication.
IX CCXLIX XVII II CLVII CXVI CCXXVII XCI CCXVI LXV LXXXVI CXCVII XCIX LXXXVI CXXXVI CXCII
If someone doesn't know why a contaminated water supply is a problem, that does not mean they have low intelligence, it means they do not have the knowledge surrounding bacteria, etc.
Here is a definition of intelligence, as you can see it applies more to potential than an already accumulated set of data:
Intelligence is defined as general cognitive problem-solving skills. A mental ability involved in reasoning, perceiving relationships and analogies, calculating, learning quickly... etc.
Whether the laptop program ends up being beneficial in the big picture is unclear, but it's a digital age and I think it makes sense to get the kids interested/comfortable with technology because it will encroach on their lives eventually. Additionally, there could be someone with a mind like Srinivasa Ramanujan sitting in a village that could get real value out of this, you never know.
Those who post anonymously are obviously ashamed of themselves....
Hey, you think your house is cool?
In the entire history of Microsoft, has this company ever done one ethical thing? Why can't they be fair? Why can't they be ethical? why can't they be honest? What is it with this company?
Now, intel is apparently going to follow the high standards set by Microsoft.
Because of this kind of immoral behavior, I run AMD, ATI and Linux. I can't support an unethical company because doing so would make me unethical too.
Banjo - The more I know about Windoze, the more I love *nix
hi twitter.
Exactly. From the very beginning the OLPC has also been an education project, not a laptop project. A lot of Negroponte's frustration stems from the fact that M$/Intel are pushing technical specs to get laptops sold, rather than focusing on their educational uses, and practical merits.
My gut feeling:
For MS/Intel: A platform investment.
For OLPC: An humanitarian effort.
I too believe competition is good...but really that age old saying means it is good for the consumer. It is unfortunate that the children receiving these laptops cannot decide for themselves, or even know how either would benefit them and help shape their future...I end up with the argument that it's not just the techincal merits, it's the philosophy and the motives behind them...the altruistic reaching out to help children learn vs. the dumping of technologies and software laden with DRM and IP. That is why I feel for OLPC, and have donated one for the cause as well. Education should be as free, and unbiased, as it can be made to be.
You must remember that the dollar has lost about 33% of its value over the lifetime of the OLPC project and it is based on parts priced in dollars but sourced outside the US. The big advantage of the XO was the lack of software licensing fees, which Microsoft seeks to undermine by dumping their code at $3 a pop. However, the XO has features that are simply not found on other systems at that price range. It is rugged (try finding another rugged notebook PC for under $1k). It boasts a screen readable in direct sunlight, very important when classes are often taught outside under a bit of shade.
See my journal, I write things there
I was just at the site and it was asking for $200 per donation. I input that I would like to donate 2 laptops and it came up with a total of $400. So, I don't know where you got your information from but it is not accurate at the time of this posting.
Are agnostics skeptical of unicorns too?
All 19 hijackers were known terrorists 09-10-2001. Lack of FBI intelligence does not justify warrantless wiretaps..
I did. Your turn!
When Intel joined OLPC in July of this year we did so because both Intel and OLPC both realized that we have a common goal. We want make the benefits of technology available to the developing world, especially for children. Our relationship is relatively new but it is growing as we gain understanding of different approaches and firmly believe technology can (and will) make a difference for children. For more than 15 years Intel has been involved in education programs worldwide. We have always believed the technology can benefit children and have focused a good deal of our efforts on teachers, training more than 4 and a half million and invested a billion dollars in education programs around the world. Our employees have donated more than 2 million hours to local schools all over the world. That experience has taught us a lot about the developing markets, their needs and ways we can help. Our classmate PC was an outgrowth of that experience. More than two years ago I told the Wall Street Journal that there isn't a single solution or one size fits all approach to address this problem. That is as true today as it was then. What's different today is Intel and OLPC working together to find solutions, training, support and software for the children. No one believes the classmate PC, the XO and many other products attempting to address these issues are perfect. But by working together we think we can and will improve them and we are hopeful we can reach our common goal.
All 19 hijackers were known terrorists 09-10-2001. Lack of FBI intelligence does not justify warrantless wiretaps..