Thoughts 04 Jan 2008 10:29 am
$100 Laptop
Intel just pulled out of the OLPC project.
It seems that the folks over at OLPC insisted that Intel quit making any other cheap laptops, including their Classmate, which is designed for similar purposes.
This is strange.
From what I’ve read, the Classmate is not really designed for the poorest of people. It appears to be aimed and people who can scrape together the cash and at school districts, and therefore would not be in direct competition.
If you recall the OLPC project was supposed to build $100 laptops for third world kids. This price it turns out, was based on governments ordering in lots of one million. –Unless you’re in a position to bribe the right people in a major way, this is not going to happen.
With no multi-million dollar order miraculously appearing, the end result is that the absolute best price on the machine is $188 US dollars.
As I have said before. This project is designed to keep dreamers happy and to keep Negroponte feeling good about himself.
What third world government is going to spend a hundred million dollars($100 x 1 million units) on poor people?
–Most such governments are too busy diverting aide aimed at social reform to the military and pocketing almost everything else.
Why would Intel step back from potential profit, after spending all that money on R&D?
–They strike me as a for profit corporation, not a charity.
Where’s mine?
I bought one through the buy one give one program. The shipping date seems to be a bit nebulous.
It’s strange that Asus, Intel and whoever else is building a small inexpensive laptop are willing to sell to almost anyone, but the OLPC is unwilling to sell them one or two at a time so they might be used in this country. —-Say by, under funded schools.
I guess poor Americans don’t have the same PR value that poor people in other places have.
Oh yeah, that’s right. You have to buy them in lots of one million to get a price break and they whine about smaller sales.
What kind of business model is this anyway?