[LINK] Intel Caves on $100 Laptop for Poor Children

[Adam Todd]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/laptops--desktops/intel-caves-in-on-100-laptop/2007/07/16/1184438188296.html


Intel caves in on '$100 laptop'


July 16, 2007 - 10:13AM
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Intel said on Friday it would support a non-profit foundation's 
project to put computers in the hands of poor children around the 
world, reversing its long-standing opposition to the proposal.

The world's biggest chipmaker will join the board of the One Laptop 
Per Child Foundation, which developed the XO laptop - a personal 
computer that it plans to put into production in September and sell for $176.

Intel markets the Classmate PC, a computer that competes with the 
foundation's XO laptop.

The two parties said they would be able to incorporate each other's 
technologies, and would also consider collaborating on developing a laptop.

"We are going to have complementary product lines," said Intel Vice 
President Will Swope.

Both Intel and the foundation said they had yet to address whether 
the chipmaker would be able to commercialise the XO's display and 
power management capabilities, which use what industry analysts 
widely regard as breakthrough technologies.

The One Laptop Per Child project is the brainchild of Nicholas 
Negroponte, the former chief of the Massachussetts Institute of 
Technology Media Lab.

The foundation plans to sell the multimedia laptops to government 
agencies around the world, requiring each country to buy hundreds of 
thousands of the devices, then give them to impoverished elementary 
school children at no cost.

Until now, Intel has criticised the approach, promoting its own 
Classmate PC, which it distributes in smaller numbers to poor 
children in developing countries, giving educators instruction in how 
to use the devices in their classroom.

Negroponte had accused Intel of trying to undermine the project in a 
string of recent media interviews, including a recent appearance on 
the CBS news magazine "Sixty Minutes."

Walter Bender, a senior official with the foundation, told Reuters 
his group was currently in talks with three other companies that 
might join its board. He declined to name them.

Bender also said News Corp.'s MySpace division may develop a special 
Web community for the school children who get the laptops. It would 
be separate from the company's current offering, which bans children 
of elementary school age.

News Corp. already has a seat on the foundation's board. Other 
backers include Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc, which is 
providing e-mail accounts and free back-up services.

Software maker Red Hat, which developed computer programs for the 
device using the Linux operating system, is also on the board.

Microsoft, which is not on the board, is trying to develop a version 
of Windows that will work on the XO laptop.

Will Poole, a corporate vice president with the No. 1 software maker, 
said the company had yet to succeed in getting the operating system 
to run on the XO.

Analysts who have seen early versions of the XO laptop say the group 
has made breakthroughs in developing a low-cost, high-resolution 
color screen that can switch into a black-and-white so that it can be 
viewed in the sunlight.

They have also praised its durable construction and low-energy 
consumption technology, which allows it to be run on 
hand-crank-generated power.