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12 Dec 2005
Intel chairman Craig Barrett has criticised a planned $100 laptop aimed at bringing computers to developing economies.
At a press conference in Sri Lanka, the chipmaker's former chief executive insisted that there will not be a market for the devices, calling them a "$100 gadget", according to Reuters.
Barrett argued that a computer's features are more important than its price.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) introduced the One Laptop Per Child project in an attempt to bring low-cost computers to developing nations.
Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of MIT's Media Lab, unveiled the design last November and plans to start shipping the first units early next year. It aims to sell 150 million laptops.
The lime-green devices will be powered by a wind-up mechanism to allow them to be used in areas lacking a regular power supply.
The United Nations has heralded the cheap laptops as an effective way to spread computers across the world.
A spokeswoman at Intel's headquarters could not confirm Barrett's remarks, but acknowledged that the company has said that it aims to address emerging markets by developing computers that meet local demands rather than just copying western designs at a lower price.
In August the chip maker opened four platform design centres in Brazil, China, Egypt and India to design computers for local markets.
Organisations that talk about bringing computers to the Third World often focus on bringing down the price through the use of low cost hardware and open source software.
But Intel has long maintained that, by looking at the price, they are taking the wrong approach.
"Price always matters, but the prime thing that people are looking for is for information technology to solve a problem that they actually have," Willy Agatstein, general manager of the platforms definition and development group at Intel, told vnunet.com in August.
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Do you agree?
feature
if you talk about feature, I don't, this $100 laptop has more computing power than those power horse in beginning of 2000. What does most computer user do with a it? word processing, email reading, web browering. What advanced features are need for those activities? Intel is so full of it because their eyes is on the money, lacking the efficiency in their product design, and cann't compete with AMD for this deal. They are jealous of not being in the game. So it's sour grape. Of course they don't care about the developing countries' education, except their profit. It is ingenious to have a hand crank powered laptop, you can carry it in the wildness and without worry about lost battery power. Hack, why doesn't anyone else thought of this for the regular laptop manufacturing?
Posted by: rule 14 Dec 2005
What the whole world isn't American?
Once again the needs of the US doesn't translate well to the rest of the world. All I heard in the comments from Craig Barrett is, "please don't do this, we are planning out our 2nd quarter for 2008 around the pillaging of third world countries!" I love my 939 chipset with my Athlon dual core and 7800 GT overclocked card, but I don't think they are gonna need that to get on the net and explore the world. Maybe, just maybe they are starting out like we did 10+ years ago where we were just starting to explore the wonders of the internet and how it made the world that much smaller and left us all in awe. Oh well Mr. Barrett I guess it is just a $100 dollar gadget, you would know. Hey! Anybody got an XBOX 360?
Posted by: Larry Kendall 13 Dec 2005
Aren't Google, Amd etc. in making profit?
Of course Intel is interested in making profits, just as Google, AMD and other big time companies that will be involved in the project, as the official web page of the product sais. Maybe the the critisism is based on the grounds that Intel didn't make it on the project. On the other hand, what calls for further inquiry, is the mysterious peer-to-peer network that will ensure inerconnectivity between these laptops. Finally, if the product is addressed mainly to children, who will be responsible for their instruction and how these massively produced computers will be supported after they are sold and by who? I guess the term gadget fits because maybe the product has much hype because of its goal but its potential success and applicability is doubtful.
Posted by: Yiannis Vatopoulos 13 Dec 2005
AMD?
$100 laptop is not good, because it's not running on intel chips?
Posted by: kL 13 Dec 2005
Where's his positive comment?
"The man who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the man who is already doing it." -Chinese proverb
Posted by: Mark Bench 13 Dec 2005
Intel is...
It is unconceivable that Intel does this...but as I see it they are profit oriented and they don't care about getting technology to third world countries - which could eventually boost their sales. This chairman is a short sighted, stupid man. AMD rulz !!! And to third world people price is not secondary. It is primary. Anyway, the purpose of this laptop is not complicated media editing, gaming or programming, but instead is to give these people cheap access to information and technology.
Posted by: Tinus Hobincu 13 Dec 2005
Intel only cares about profit
Of course Barrett would disparage this laptop: his only concern is to sell his product, and this is not his product. The fact that he would call it a gadget and imply that there is no market for it reveals a complete lack of understanding of what the computer's real value is to those in the developing world. It is not to make digital greeting cards from your holiday photos, or to archive your CD collection, or to find a bargain on eBay. For those things, you may well need a "full function" PC. The true power of the computer, and the reason MIT and Negroponte want to see more of them in the hands of children and teachers in the developing world, is its ability to transform the way people think, the way they learn, and the way they see themselves in the world. You don't need a DVD burner and 2GB of RAM to reap these profound benefits. While Negroponte and others try to extend a "digital hand" to the third world, the Barretts of the world will try to bamboozle them into thinking they need what Intel's got. I, for one, hope their efforts fail miserably.
Posted by: D. Wasser 12 Dec 2005