Asustek and Intel $199 notebook to give OLPC more competition

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 06 June 2007 19:37

Your IT - Home IT

An announcement by Intel at Taiwan's massive computer fair Computex may well send supporters of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program into a rage. Intel is working together with Taiwanese PCs manufacturer Asustek Computer to produce a US$199 notebook aimed squarely at the OLPC market of third world countries.

While the OLPC laptop at US$175 is cheaper than the upcoming Asustek machine, it is not as powerful and more of a children's starter computer than a real entry level notebook.

Like Intel's slightly more expensive Classmate notebook, the new Asustek computer will be able to run both Windows XP and Linux and it will have flash disk storage, Wi-Fi and a smaller screen than even most ultra portable notebooks.

While OLPC advocates have criticised Intel's efforts to compete with the not-for-profit organization's XO notebook by selling the Intel Classmate, there is an argument that the two machines serve different markets. Both computers are aimed at the education sector of third world and emerging countries. However, the XO is particularly suited to children in the 6-12 age group, while the Classmate and the new Asustek notebook is more suited to the over 12 group.

Despite the obvious differences, however, many OLPC supporters are upset that Intel, with far more resources and marketing clout than the not-for-profit group, may thwart its philanthropic efforts in emerging countries.

However, OLPC itself has come under fire from another aid organization, Scandinavian group FAIR, which specializes in recycling pre-owned computers for use in school computer labs in emerging countries. FAIR believes that even US$175 is way too expensive for thirld world governments and is sceptical that the OLPC program will be successful.