Intel Leaves Group Backing Education PCs

INTEL LEAVES GROUP BACKING EDUCATION PCs
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
Intel said Thursday that it had chosen to withdraw from the One Laptop Per Child educational computer organization, which it joined in July after years of public squabbling between Intel’s chairman, Craig R. Barrett, and the group’s founder, Nicholas P. Negroponte. The low-cost laptop, originally priced at $100, has captured the public imagination but also created intense controversy because it was viewed as a potential competitor for both Intel and Microsoft in the developing world. The machine, which is based on the freely available Linux operating system and comes with educational software, is now built with a microprocessor made by Intel’s archival, Advanced Micro Devices. The PC, called the XO, is being sold for about $200 apiece to governments and institutions. On Thursday an Intel spokesman said the company shared with O.L.P.C. the vision of putting computers into the hands of children, but the two were not able to work out what he described as “philosophical” differences. For emerging markets, Intel has been backing its own, more expensive Classmate PC, which sells for about $300. Intel was unwilling to walk away from support agreements that the company had made for that machine and other systems.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/technology/04laptop.html?ref=todayspap...
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