Chip giant Intel has reversed course and backed a nonprofit foundation in its effort to bring a cheap laptop to the world’s poorest children. Although its chairman once dismissed the nonprofit’s laptop as a “gadget,” Intel said Friday that it would take a board seat on the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) foundation, and would work with the group. On Friday, Intel spokesman William Swope said “philanthropy is the reason” for the partnership, but also said: “We’re going to go compete for the XO [chip] business, because we think we build first-class silicon.”



He also said different products could meet different educational needs. The XO, aimed for use in 2008, was supposed to cost $100 US, but the price has been boosted to $175 US. About 7,000 prototypes have been tested, and it is being demonstrated in various forums, from a remote Peruvian school to a computer manufacturing conference in Taiwan. The foundation needs three million orders to make its low-cost production plans work. “We’re definitely going to be doing stuff in South America, Africa and Asia right from the very beginning,” said Walter Bender, who oversees software and content for OLPC. Academic and industry designers developed the XO so that it was small, light, robust, attractive, safe and interesting, the OLPC wesbsite says.

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Sweet, nice project!

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nice but for only poor children :icon_boss: i m not poor as well as.

I wonder who's going to pay the internet and how are they powered... didn't the prototypes have a crank to power them