Nicholas Negroponte answered some questions during a Q and A session on the One Laptop per Child project. Of special interest was the discussions with Microsoft in opening up the platform to MS software, and the battles with Intel.
Q. You’ve had some disagreements with Microsoft and Intel during the course of this project. Can you describe the nature of the disagreement and your position?
A. They are very different. Microsoft has a real problem with open source — a problem with which I sympathize. Nonetheless, we are working with them. They have laptops and are determined to put Windows on it. We are helping them do so. It would be nuts for One Laptop Per Child to advocate being “open” and then being closed to Microsoft.
Intel, by contrast, is just being silly. I went to them first (note: Intel founder Bob Noyce funded me to start the MIT Media Lab in 1979). They dismissed the idea. Advanced Micro Devices by contrast leapt at it. AMD CEO Hector Ruiz has been an excellent partner, deeply committed and genuinely devoted to issues of the developing world. After Intel Chairman Craig Barrett called One Laptop Per Child a “gadget,” Intel developed their own gadget and talks of “competing with One Laptop Per Child.” Huh? We welcome them and do not compete with anybody.
One Laptop Per Child is a non-profit humanitarian project partnered with the United Nations and development banks.
For Intel to be criticizing One Laptop Per Child is a bit like Johnson & Johnson picking on the Red Cross because they use Ace bandages.
Source: MercuryNews.com
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment