Intel cosies up to One Laptop Per Child
p2pnet news | Freedom:- Intel has gone the full circle with the non-profit One Laptop Per Child project.
Intel boss Craig Barrett kicked things off by disdainfully describing the OLPC as no more than a ‘gadget’.
But that didn’t stop him from trying to weasel in and the company followed up with Classmate PC, a corporate version designed to cynically cash in on the need first delineated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Nick Negroponte, OLPC founder and chairman.
Instead of trying to put the skids under it, “Wouldn’t it be great if Intel decided to get behind MIT’s One Laptop Per Child project, created to bring children in Africa into the 21st digital century?” – p2pnet posted.
Soon after, “The thing we have been highlighting is that both parties are working towards the same goal,” said a Chipzilla spokesperson unblushingly, and, “Intel and One Laptop per Child (OLPC) today announced they have agreed to work together to bring the benefits of technology to the developing world through synergy of their respective programs,” declared a mealy-mouthed Intel statement, going on:
“Under the agreement, Intel and OLPC will explore collaborations involving technology and educational content. Intel will also join the board of OLPC.”
Now, “Discussions are under way to put an Intel Corp. microprocessor inside a version of the One Laptop Per Child,” says the IDG News Service.
Squandered an opportunity
“Intel, like a lot of other people, is more than welcome to try to design great silicon for this project and this mission,” it has OLPC president Walter Bender saying.
Will Intel join AMD, the first and so far only motherboard supplier?
Unknown at this point, but having squandered an opportunity to be a good guy, Intel is now desperately scrambling to repair the damage done to its corporate image.
It’s confirmed its engineers are developing a motherboard based on one of its chips for an OLPC laptop, says PC World, pointing out the process meant Chipzilla engineers had to start from scratch.
“The design, which Intel plans to submit for OLPC’s consideration, will be based on either existing mobile chips, such as modified versions of the Celeron M called A100 and A110, or Silverthorne, an upcoming processor designed for small, mobile computers,” says the story.
And, “the talks could see some of the technology developed by OLPC find its way into Intel’s hands,” it states continuing:
“For example, the chip maker is interested in the low-power screen technology developed by OLPC.”
‘… there are lots of kids and lots of need’
But Intel’s sudden and unseemly, in the circumstances, eagerness to help poverty stricken children in Africa doesn’t mean AMD will suddenly find itself out in the cold.
Offering an OLPC laptop with an Intel processor doesn’t mean the group will stop using AMD’s chips, PC World quotes Bender as saying.
“The Geode’s been very easy to work with and hasn’t been a limiting factor whatsoever,” he said.
Meanwhile, “As part of OLPC’s desire to offer systems based on different processors, the group is looking to work with other vendors, in addition to Intel.”
Ironically, one such company is Marvell Technology Group, “which could see its Xscale processors, which the company acquired from Intel in 2006, also end up in future OLPC laptops, Bender said,” says the story, winding up with a final quote from Bender.
“We want to have lots of choices, lots of people doing this, because there are lots of kids and lots of need,” he said.
Also See:
no more than a ‘gadget’ – Intel boss scorns MIT laptop, December 9, 2005
trying to weasel in – Intel: horning in on OLPC project?, May 21, 2007
mealy-mouthed Intel statement – Intel Joins One Laptop Per Child, July 13, 2007
p2pnet – Intel, Asustek vs OLPC, June 7, 2007
mealy-mouthed Intel – Intel Joins One Laptop Per Child, July 13, 2007
IDG News Service – Talks Under Way to Put Intel Inside OLPC’s $100 Notebook, September 7, 2007
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September 9th, 2007 at 12:54 am
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