I’ve been a big fan of the “$100 laptop project” ever since Nicholas Negroponte made it public. The idea that tens of thousands of kids and adults located in remote and poor areas of the world will get a chance of being exposed to computers and the Internet for such a cheap price struck me as one of the best charity ideas I heard in a long time.
Negroponte has had to face numerous challenges along the way, and even until very recently, there were still a lot of people claiming that the project would never succeed.
They were wrong.
The laptop finally happened, and even though the price ended up being more expensive than initially announced (in the $160 range), the computer is real (I played with one) and is now beginning to ship to countries interested in buying them in batches. And of course, its price will decrease in the coming years.
Intel recently announced their own laptop initiative which, of course, will run on an Intel processor, as opposed to Negroponte’s computer, which uses an AMD. Initially a very strong opponent of Negroponte’s project, Craig Barrett, Intel’s CEO, made an about face and decided to put his company behind a similar effort.
It all sounded great to me. The more computers for the kids, the better, right?
Negroponte doesn’t seem to agree and he’s now accusing Intel of trying to drive him out of business:
Intel should be ashamed of itself.
What’s even more shocking about Negroponte’s stance is that “One Laptop Per Child”, the foundation he created for this project, is purely non-humanitarian and non-profit. How can he then justify his hostility toward a project that would make computers available to even more children than he had ever dreamed of? Is this a case where personal pride is taking over charity goals? Does he prefer to go down in history as a disgruntled first mover instead of the inventor of the $100 laptop?
I can understand that he might be angry at Intel for trying to derail the project in its early phases, but isn’t there a picture that’s greater than these two men?
What’s the worst that can happen? More computers at a more affordable price?
Come on, now. Just think of the children.
#1 by lumpynose on May 21, 2007 - 12:47 pm
I think it’s interesting how someone with a computer background thinks that one of the world’s pressing problems is for kids to have a laptop.
If you were to ask the World H ealth Organization I’m sure they could provide you with a much more compelling list of problems that we should be addressing.
Next up, One Ipod for every child, brought to you by Steve Jobs.
#2 by Jesse Kuhnert on May 21, 2007 - 1:41 pm
Something I learned while working in the hospital world – non profit doesn’t mean people don’t make money. …It just means they can’t carry profit over each year.
So, at the end of the year – it’s bonus time!
#3 by Stephan Schmidt on May 21, 2007 - 2:20 pm
As always, I have no clue.
But noone knows if Intel is pressing it’s classmate laptops in key 3rd world markets with cross financing them, just to stop a potentially threatening project (OLPC).
“What’s the worst that can happen? More computers at a more affordable price?”
The worst thing that can happen is, some countries go with the Intel solution, the OLPC project goes belly up and Intel stops delivering more classmate PCs. Or OLPC goes belly up and countries have to buy a – then much more expensive- Intel laptop.
But as always, I have no clue.
#4 by Ricky Clarkson on May 21, 2007 - 2:25 pm
lumpynose, one of the world’s most pressing problems is for kids to have education. Computers can help with that. When people have education, they can start to help themselves instead of relying on handouts or criminal activity.
That’s how the poor stay poor in Argentina, for example, they can’t read or write. I imagine it’s easier to write programs to help kids to learn to read and write, than it is to overcome the safety problems (Europeans and Americans get kidnapped; even Argentinians do in the worst parts) for foreigners to work there.
#5 by anjan bacchu on May 21, 2007 - 2:45 pm
hi cedric,
i second Stephan Schmidt. I don’t know intel’s plans but I guess Negroponte is suspecting them of derailing this project.
Time will tell (2 more years) if Intel is really interested in this.
BR,
~A
#6 by Aristotle Pagaltzis on May 21, 2007 - 3:45 pm
lumpynose: are you yourself poor and in a
#7 by Scott Van Den Plas on May 21, 2007 - 3:46 pm
Hi Cedric,
I think you are kind of missing the point of Negroponte’s argument. You’re looking at it from a very short sighted point of view. The OLPC project is reliant upon large numbers of machines (the $175 price tag is expected to drop to the $100 range within the next few years depending on demand). OLPC is building a program, not just laptops, to support a different approach to education. Intel is trying to sell more chips.
Intel’s approach is not to build a cost effective, self supporting program. It is to drive the competition out of the market, and in order to do this, they are selling their machines _at a loss_. Intel cannot sustain this approach, and hopes to drive out OLPC (a sustainable approach) to increase it’s market share. Ultimately, Intel will have to raise it’s prices (even higher still, to compensate for early manufacturing losses), whereas OLPC will decrease it’s prices.
This is why Negroponte is mad. Their approach harms the longevity of ANY laptop education program.
Thanks,
Scott
#8 by Dion Almaer on May 21, 2007 - 9:53 pm
Did you watch the 60 minutes piece?
He showed leaked memos from Intel discussing why they need to destroy OLPC.
I am all for many OLPC programs, but Intel doesn’t seem innocent here.
Cheers,
Dion
#9 by pcal on May 22, 2007 - 12:46 am
Sorry, but lumpynose is right. This is one of the most misguided ideas ever.
I’d really love to read a detailed explanation of how sprinkling a few laptops around is going to produce ‘educated’ and ‘productive’ people in the third world.
Ah yes, technology cures everything, right? I know we’re mostly 21st century tech nerds here, but come on – are we really *this* out of touch with reality?
#10 by Hamlet D'Arcy on May 22, 2007 - 6:14 am
Last week’s Economist ran an article about local fisherman in India, and how mobile phones have greatly helped their profitability. On days when fishing hauls were high, fisherman flooded their nearest market with fish (having to throw out extra supply) while markets 5 miles downshore had a shortage. Mobile phones are now used to direct the fisherman to the market where the price is highest. The result is greater profit for the fisherman b/c they aren’t throwing fish out and less expensive food for the locals b/c they don’t have interruptions to the supply chain.
So yes, more technology can increase world wealth (at the expense of no one) in unimagined and unique ways. No, I can’t imagine how laptops are going to help the poor. I don’t think Ward Cunningham imagined what wiki software would do to the Internet. But once the technology was created the people used it in unique and imaginative ways.
http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9149142
#11 by Dude on May 22, 2007 - 7:07 am
I used an OLPC laptop. It was terrible. The keys are microscopic and so is the screen. The open source geniuses decided to make the whole thing based on python so it is dog slow.
But I guess it doesn’t matter, because it has WI-FI! Yes, kids out in the African desert can access WI-FI all they want. Supposedly Bill Gates had plans for a similar device a number of years ago that would have used the cell phone infrastructure instead of WI-FI, which when you think about it makes so much more sense because many third world countries actually have quite good cell phone coverage.
#12 by Sean Ness on May 22, 2007 - 7:48 am
The competition should drive costs down. Inexpensive PCs means wider adoption. Wider adoption means success. Yeah…everybody wins!
If OLPC has a superior product at a lower price, then they will sell more. Yeah…OLPC wins!
If Intel drives out OLPC by being successful, then why would they just drop it? They were successful, right? Yeah…Intel wins!
If no one buys it because access to clean water and nutritious food are more important/desirable…then we at least are reminded that technology is not the solution for all the world’s problems. Yeah…we are reminded!
#13 by leemic on May 22, 2007 - 8:05 am
Econ 101 – Microsoft started to give out internet explorer for free and drove Netscape out of the business – this is an illegal. You kill the competition by offering your product at very low price or free and destroy your competition. After that, you create monopoly. It is plainly illegal.
If Intel is giving out these laptop below the cost [ selling old slow CPU ] they can write-off the loss and get tax-break.
It is unfair for OLPC.
#14 by Guillaume Laurent on May 22, 2007 - 8:37 am
C
#15 by Gaurav on May 31, 2007 - 2:57 am
Of course there are more important problems facing the third world. But Negroponte is probably not an expert on resolving the helth-care crisis or education problem or job issues or labor laws in these countries. If he is trying to build $100 laptops, great. Perhaps his target audience will be lower middle class people, who are not struggling to survive on a dollar a day. Perhaps his target audience will be students who go to awful public schools. It will certainly help reduce the digital divide if not the economic one in the short term.
I also agree with many points made by different users above. People will find ways to use the technology to their advantage if it is accessible to them. Would you have thought of selling a cell phone to a beggar in Bangladesh. Well, it is helping them get out of abject poverty now. Nokia made the largest sale of phones on a single day anywhere in the world in the history of the company on Diwali, the most sacred hindu festival, last year. It is the biggest cell phone market in the world with the most competitive rates in the world.
I am not sure what is the motive behind Intel’s move, but if they are able to create cheeper laptops, more power to them. If OLPC doesn’t survive as a viable non-profit org, who cares as far as the target audience receives the goods. Perhaps if Intel increases the price in the future, the business opportunity will create itself again or OLPC can re-invent itself and create a $50 palmtop with similar functionality.
#16 by Aaron on June 4, 2007 - 11:18 am
I love this quote from the article:
Negroponte says. “At all. They have no schools, they don
#17 by cedric on August 23, 2007 - 1:46 am
Cedric reminds me of James Taggart of Atlas Shrugged.
#18 by lula on August 27, 2007 - 2:51 pm
where can you buy one?
#19 by Press Digital on November 9, 2008 - 11:39 pm
I think it’s interesting how someone with a computer background thinks that one of the world’s pressing problems is for kids to have a laptop.
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