Intel’s Emerging Market – Poor Children

One of my favorite Web 2.0 initiatives has been the "One Laptop per Child" project. News today that Intel has developed its own version of an inexpensive laptop galvanized my opinion that big business would kill "Flipper" for a tuna sandwich.

Professor Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the OLPC initiative accused Intel of selling its own version in an attempt to drive the XO laptop out of markets. Intel's Chairman Craig Barrett responded to the allegation by claiming that Intel is only trying to bring more capability to young people. Barrett and others were highly critical of the not-for-profit XO program from the beginning.

The OLPC program, founded by Negroponte, is dedicated to providing Internet access to children in developing nations via a unique and inexpensive laptop PC called the XO. The XO is heart of this world wide education initiative, and was originally dubbed the $100 laptop. The current cost of the XO units is around $176 but is expected to drop once production numbers are increased. Intel's version the "Classmate" is currently priced at over $200 and according to this news via the BBC; several thousands of units have already been ordered. One has to wonder if the price difference is profit or Intel's overwhelming concern for providing value to kids who need education in poor nations?

XO's and MF's

In typical fashion Intel and others have scoffed and ridiculed the well intentioned innovation of a visionary, but once the field testing and advanced orders began to filter in decided to capitalize on the potential to squeeze money out of any pocket available. Intel claims that their "for profit" venture targets neither the market or the fact that the XO is powered by their hated competitor AMD.

According to Professor Negroponte, Intel has distributed literature to various governments with titles like: "The shortcomings of the One Laptop per Child approach." This literature supposedly outlines the stronger points of the Classmate in comparison to the XO version, which leads me to think of only one major problem in that Intel cannot make money on the millions of laptops to be distributed to underprivileged children worldwide if they don't make one. There should be no ambiguity in separating the good guys from the bad guys on this one folks. There are "for profit" and "not-for-profit" organizations out there. Intel considers these millions of kids and their stumbling blocks a "market", and their Classmate site professes this in the very first sentence in bold type. The One Laptop site consists of basically ways wed can help, children and progress reports.

Black and White

Barnett reportedly tagged the XO laptop as nothing more than a gadget at some point, but it is abundantly obvious now that Intel intends to get into the "gadget" business. Both of the laptops are rugged, innovative and inexpensive devices designed for children in developing countries, but only one entity is producing them without profit in mind. Negroponte feels that Intel's invasion into this needful niche has damaged OLPC's effort a great deal. Personally, I hope anyone making the decision over a processor in the next few months will evaluate the kind of people they are buying from. I am buying a new PC in a few weeks and I intend to scale up to AMD and send Intel an email saying: "You don't need underprivileged children's money or mine either!"

Intel's classification of the underprivileged as "an emerging market."

One Laptop per Child Illustration of intent and need, with no mention of "a market."