Intel has decided to make an about face and has resigned from the OLPC board according to the Wall Street Journal.
News.com reports that the OLPC effort asked Intel to stop working on the Classmate PC as well as with others on small computers such as the ASUS Eee PC. Of course, Intel said no.
In the competitive world, I don’t blame the OLPC effort for trying to force Intel’s hand, but on the other side, I also don’t blame Intel for saying no and resigning.
Well, I guess that insures that the OLPC will have at least one more competitor. I’m not sure that’s what the OLPC team wanted in the first place, but oh well.
Things are definitely heating up in the low-cost, laptop space.
News.com calls the move “baffling.” I call it incredibly, incredibly stupid. So, if Intel ends up selling many millions of computers to third world countries for LESS than the OLPC kit, is that bad for OLPC’s goals? If you’re gonna be an issues driven non-profit, then you should do your damnedest to ensure your goals are met, no matter WHO meets them. I’m looking forward to hearing what Negroponte has to say…it should be interesting.
LCPCs (Low Cost PCs) are certainly a growing investment for OEMs and ODMs. With Mobile Internet Devices right in the middle (pun intended) of it. I hope it pushes the next round of innovation forward.
CPU relationships aside, I am also looking forward to hearing Negroponte’s talk on Wednesday during CES.