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Intel Bails Out on Cheap Laptop Project

Huh.

Intel has pulled out of a project to put cheap laptops in the hands of children in the developing world.

Citing “philosophical” differences, Intel has withdrawn its funding and technical help from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project.

OLPC aimed to boost learning in poorer nations via a custom-built laptop intended to cost no more than $100.

Intel’s withdrawal is a blow to OLPC which has found few nations willing to buy large numbers of laptops.

[...]

The chip maker has been promoting its own cheap laptop, the Classmate, in many of the same places as the OLPC.

“OLPC had asked Intel to end our support for non-OLPC platforms, including the Classmate PC, and to focus on the OLPC platform exclusively,” said Mr Mulloy . “At the end of the day, we decided we couldn’t accommodate that request.”

Makes sense to me.  Intel was investing a lot of money for a charity project and wanted to recoup some of that money by selling the technology as another branded product.  The OLPC folks don’t want Intel competing with them in the same markets, so OLPC asked Intel to stop.  Intel said, “no.”

Posted by Owen at 1012 hrs
Foreign Affairs + Technology

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