Now Hear This!

Reports are out that Intel has quit the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) board of directors, after apparently refusing to abandon its own Classmate PC project.

This departure means that efforts to build a version of the project's XO laptop based on an Intel processor is over, the report said.

OLPC’s low-cost XO laptop is based on an AMD microprocessor and is meant for students in developing countries. Given the history between Intel and AMD, it seems obvious this would not sit well with the chip giant.

Nevertheless, Intel and OLPC agreed in July to work together on the development of technology for low-cost laptops and to stop disparaging each other's laptop offerings and as part of that agreement, Intel got a seat on OLPC’s board of directors and the two sides began to discuss building a version of the XO based on an Intel processor. At the same time, OLPC was said to have explored using an ARM processor from Marvell in another version of the XO, the report pointed out.

Since that time, the relationship clearly broke down between Intel and OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte, who is said to have insisted that Intel abandon the Classmate PC effort in favor of supporting OLPC's XO device, which Intel was not willing to do since the Classmate PC is undergoing tests in several countries and Intel was not willing to walk away from those efforts, the report went on.

I’m still awaiting a call from an Intel spokesman to discuss this further.

My initial thought is that even if Intel looked at the OLPC project as another business opportunity as some have suggested, why is that a surprise? As I have said previously, Intel is a shrewd business opponent and its success has come from making business decisions in the Intel way.

What is actually the silver lining to this situation is that there are now two strong efforts to improve education in the world, and that’s what the focus should really be.

--Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor