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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 $300, nearly double the XO's price. Rather than defend the relative merits of his creation, professor Negroponte is crying foul and (if the article is to be believed) not even arguing the technical merits. The initial demand for the XO has fallen well below Mr. Negroponte's projections as Intel and Microsoft have successfully argued that their entries are superior. 45,000 have been ordered through the Give One, Get One campaign. I am happy that I ordered mine — it will be a landmark model in any case."
Ummmm, the kids don't really have a choice about which one they get. They are ordered by the kids' respective governments. The other problem with the Wintel offering is that it's not environmentally hardened like the XO. For a kid in a mud hut having a computer that can take intense amounts of punishment is very important. Another thing I don't like about Wintel interfering is that it really isn't geared towards learning, they're worried about a bunch of kids learning something other than M$ software and intel Hardware. The XO is pretty much agnostic when it comes to software and hardware, they're going for cheap durable and good for learning which they have with the current setup. Now if Wintel were worried about the kids not getting something important to education and took steps to mitigate that lack then I don't see anything wrong with them getting involved, but really all they're worried about are future profit margins.
"Some books contain the machinery required to create and sustain universes."-Tycho
The cheapest I can find a hand powered generator capable of powering a laptop, even used, is about $60. The cheapest I can find used laptops online is about $200. How much value there in the tailored OS, preloaded with software and reference material and preconfigured to be ideal in the conditions of the third world?
I think you're very mistaken. Getting a good laptop that will work well for children in these situations, with questionable access to electricity is a lot harder than you seem to imply. And even if you do, it probably will still fail to meet the second half of the criteria, which is to say it is all free and easily editable/customizable without any lock-in to a particular vendor. The first world has undercut the agricultural sector in much of the third world and catching them up with agricultural equipment and fertilizer production would cost a huge amount. Providing them with the foundation to enter into the intellectual property industry, including custom software. This is a chance for them to develop a sustainable industry and income and offer their services to the world.
There are other big issues. The OLPC boots in seconds, and is extremely efficient in terms of power, and massively avoids all the gewgaws Microsoft mandates as "features" for its software. This is deadly to new markets for them, so Microsoft and Intel are engaging in a normally illegal practice called "dumping". This is using the money from your more profitable markets to sell your goods, below cost, to drive a competitor without such deep pockets out of the business.
The practice is most easily done by a monopoly to prevent competitors from entering the market. We see it extensively in the diamond market, we see it by Microsoft in China to block Linux releases, and we've seen it in new markets by Intel. So there's no surprise here.
I checked this thread just to see who made the "dumping" argument.
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.
The worst was reading some guy from Libya saying they opted for Intel/MS vs OPLC because they didn't want to be a dumping ground for OPLC. Wait 10 years, let MS get their hooks in, then as soon as the competition is gone, no more $3 windows. This is how the developed world always rooks the undeveloped world. The 419ers are just a tiny bit of poetic justice by comparison - it turns out the nuclear weapon Microsoft holds is the same psychology that fuels Ponzi schemes. Just afraid to be left out of the "success" everyone else APPEARS to be having.
Sad, really, that this one official will sell his whole country out to loan sharks because he's scared of not looking like a cool kid ("no one ever got fired for buying IBM!"). Well, that and probably some well-placed bribes.
Expanding a vast wasteland since 1996.