Why Microsoft and Intel tried to kill the XO $100 laptop

Times Online ^ | 10 Aug 08 | Bryan Appleyard

[AreaMan]

Why Microsoft and Intel tried to kill the XO $100 laptop

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2005, Nicholas Negroponte, supreme prophet of digital connectivity, revealed a strange tent-like object. It was designed to change the world and to cost $100. It was a solar-powered laptop. Millions would be distributed to children in the developing world, bringing them connection, education, enlightenment and freedom of information. The great, the good, the rich and the technocrats nodded in solemn approval.

And then some of them tried to kill it.

Microsoft, makers of most of the computer software in the world, tried to kill it with words, and Intel, maker of most computer chips, tried to kill it with dirty tricks. Of course, they don’t admit to being attempted murderers. And when I introduce you to Intel’s lovely spokesperson, Agnes Kwan, you’ll realise how far their denials go. But the truth is the two mightiest high-tech companies in the world looked on Negroponte’s philanthropic scheme and decided it had to die.

[Red Badger]

Did the word Linux have anything to do with it?...............

[Da Coyote]

I can understand Microsoft trying to destroy the product: Microsoft lives by holding folks to prehistoric technology. Intel - well, I don’t understand there. They actually have some superiority over AMD in some areas...and don’t have to worry about revamping their architecture....as does Microsoft.

[Incorrigible]

Pulease!

Negroponte would be heading back to MIT dejected if it wasn’t for Microsoft and the Gates Foundation stepping up and helping him with this silly project (yeah, that’s right, it’s silly and I’ve got transisters in my DNA)

I know, I know, Microsoft can do nothing right.

Whatever.

[MediaMole]

They didn’t try to kill it, they (primarily Intel) saw a business opportunity and created competing products.

Negroponte has a typical college professor’s attitude to the free market. He wanted to create a program to fix the world rather than sell the idea of cheap laptops for education and let the market fill the need.

When Intel realized that there was a market and started producing the Classmate, Negroponte got really pissed.

[Zathras]

Negroponte wanted exclusive rights to something he didn't invent. MS and Intel did all the development work and he got to rake in the $.
Intel backed out when they saw that its best customers were legally prevented from competing.

[Mr. K]

I am getrting the sense that his attitude is like a lot of Linux zealots- that is that software should be ‘free for the masses’

(a lot of them are freepers too, for some odd reason)

When you ask them who will work to create products for free they say moeny will come from ‘support’

I don’t know about you, but I have been a heavy duty software engineer for 20 years, and my family has the range from neophite users on up- and none of us pays anything for ‘support’

[Ouderkirk]

As one of those Linux zealots you speak of...it’s not the freebie aspect, but the open source. I can write my own software, and use what’s already out there to build upon rather than having to re-invent the wheel each time.

OTOH I prefer UNIX to Linux and O/S X and absolutely to MS Windows.

[Mr. K]

Then you obviously are one of the enlightened few but there are many that are complete nut jobs.

I am all for open source too! if you want to write software and give it away including the source code for free then God Bless you for your philanthropy!

But the zealots I speak of want to FORCE everyone ELSE to give away their source code for free.

You don't sound like one of those.

[weegee]

Don’t children in the developing (third) world need agricultural skills more than they need a computer?

Does Microsoft really need that much more cheap computer labor?

[BlazingArizona]

The phrase “Intel, the monopoly chip maker” is as far as you need to read, and shows the author’s ignorance of basic economics. Microsoft and Intel are not in the medical field, so they have no actual power to monopolize anything. Intel may be the largest chip seller at the moment, but it could lose its position at the top the moment someone else comes out with a better processor.

[ShadowAce]

[w1andsodidwe]

This was the stupidest idea that the UN ever came up with. It was based upon the idea that some kids have computers so all kids should have them.

The third world needs shoes, clothing, food, pencils and paper a whole lot more than computers. These things had basically no hard drive, but wireless was supposed to be the ticket, but how the heck do you connect to WiFi when no one has electricity?

[IamConservative]

Did the word Linux have anything to do with it?...............

Was my first thought. My Vista machine ate itself a week or so ago. I was already fed up with it, so I went back to my UNIX roots and installed Ubuntu on my AMD machine. Take away the Vista bloat and I have a much better performing computer.

[antiRepublicrat]

The phrase “Intel, the monopoly chip maker” is as far as you need to read, and shows the author’s ignorance of basic economics. Microsoft and Intel are not in the medical field, so they have no actual power to monopolize anything.

A monopoly can be in any field. Microsoft is a twice-convicted monopolist.

[Still Thinking]

I am getrting the sense that his attitude is like a lot of Linux zealots- that is that software should be ?free for the masses? (a lot of them are freepers too, for some odd reason)

I don't see any conflict. I am a Freeper because I like liberty. I like Linux because I don't like people telling me what to do if there's another alternative. Just like I prefer HSA's to traditional insurance or HMO's. They take my money then want to tell me how I'm allowed to spend it. Nothing illegal about that business model, if they can dupe people into thinking that's the best available, but then neither is there anything illegal or immoral about me holding out for a better deal (for me).

[Still Thinking]

Microsoft and Intel are not in the medical field, so they have no actual power to monopolize anything.

Huh?? What the heck are you talking about?

[beef]

I have an XO that I got in the G1G1 program. I was lucky and got mine right off the bat. I use it every day at work. The hardware platform is excellent, especially the display. Redhat Linux is also great (for me at least). Unfortunately, the Sugar GUI is, in a word, awful. It is sluggish and uses too much memory. For some reason, they have decided that little brown kids can't wrap their minds around the concept of the file, so they left out features like a file manager. If you need to do something serious, you have to use the shell, which they sensibly left in there. The only innovation I can see is that they have taken the task bar and made it into a task donut. That combined with the disastrous G1G1 program, where many of OLPCs most ardent supporters were left on hold for months waiting for their machines, and their odd policies about who will be allowed to buy the XO have done more than MS and Intel ever could to kill this project. In fact, if OLPC succeeds, it will be because Microsoft ported XP to the XO, thereby making it, in many people's eyes, useful. BTW, this is NOT an "open source" project. I have been trying to get schematics for months. They are apparently a state secret, as is the source for the embedded controller firmware.

[MichiganMan]

Then you obviously are one of the enlightened few but there are many that are complete nut jobs.

Just about every single group has its nut jobs.  Finding them is no feat.  Certainly Stallman is an easy find...

I also would be one of the Linux zealots, perhaps one you would deem "enlightened, since we appear to agree that authors should be allowed to do with their code what they wish. The only "forcing" I see of any prevalence is coders who use GPL code by their own choice being "forced" to comply with the license put on the code by its original author.  You know, the one that gets to choose if the code should be given away...

Outside of that, I don't see too many Linux advocates, certainly not here on FR, advocating for authors to publish their code if they don't want to.You might be confused seeing some say that MS Windows is worthless, but I don't think that means they think it should be free. ;)

[Mr. K]

"Outside of that, I don't see too many Linux advocates, certainly not here on FR, advocating for authors to publish their code if they don't want to"

Then you are not watching very closely...