Has anyone else been confused and not terribly impressed with OLPC from the getgo?
I do not understand why the organization should feel threatened by an effort to sell machines nearly twice the cost which are manufactured for profit. By supporting OLPC, Intel subsidized its own competition. In exchange it gained (1) strategic leverage over the project, and (2) contacts for lobbying.
If OLPC can give countries a better machine for lower cost the problems here sound like management issues surrounding lobbying efforts. If the opposite is true, that would suggest OLPC is an effective lobbyist organization but ineffective producer -- there is no shame in using the private sector to achieve one's goals of pervasive computing.
Then again, I think it was silly to focus on laptops to begin with. Desktop computers provide much more bang for the buck.
Apparently, Negroponte objected to an Intel saleswoman giving a side-by-side comparisons of OLPC XO and Intels Classmate PC. What's wrong with that? Is Negroponte hoping to make sales by keeping his customers ignorant?
I do not understand why the organization should feel threatened by an effort to sell machines nearly twice the cost which are manufactured for profit. By supporting OLPC, Intel subsidized its own competition. In exchange it gained (1) strategic leverage over the project, and (2) contacts for lobbying.
If OLPC can give countries a better machine for lower cost the problems here sound like management issues surrounding lobbying efforts. If the opposite is true, that would suggest OLPC is an effective lobbyist organization but ineffective producer -- there is no shame in using the private sector to achieve one's goals of pervasive computing.
Then again, I think it was silly to focus on laptops to begin with. Desktop computers provide much more bang for the buck.