Intel leaves OLPC board - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 5th Jan 2008, 05:01

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01...s_olpc_board/1

In a semi-surprising move, Intel has stepped down from the OLPC board after only six months and has decided to focus on Classmate instead.

chrisb2e9 · 5th Jan 2008, 06:20

hmmm, one the one hand they can make money, on the other they dont.
I wonder why they chose to leave...

TomH · 5th Jan 2008, 15:15

From the looks of the Wikipedia article, they didn't really have much of an involvement given the majority of the hardware being supplied by AMD (and Marvell-provided WLAN) so I'm not too worried about them dropping out. The main issue will have been the funding they provided to the project, if it was anything other than just the 'Intel' as an official supporter (I'm sure it carries a fair weight globally.)

I'd imagine the real reason was that they didn't want to give any support to a project fundamentally-based upon AMD hardware. Shame really, considering the project's goals.

yodasarmpit · 5th Jan 2008, 15:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBC

"OLPC had asked Intel to end our support for non-OLPC platforms, including the Classmate PC, and to focus on the OLPC platform exclusively," said Mr Mulloy . "At the end of the day, we decided we couldn't accommodate that request."

He added that the use of AMD chips in the first XO laptops had not influenced its decision.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7171201.stm

cebla · 7th Jan 2008, 02:46

To be honest I am not sure that the OLPC project is really all that worthwhile anyway. I am not quite sure how giving loads of kids laptops is going to miraculously increase their education or help bring their countries out of the "third world". Perhaps we would be best of addressing some of the other issues that they face such as food, clean water and shelter before giving them all laptops.

TomH · 9th Jan 2008, 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebla

To be honest I am not sure that the OLPC project is really all that worthwhile anyway. I am not quite sure how giving loads of kids laptops is going to miraculously increase their education or help bring their countries out of the "third world". Perhaps we would be best of addressing some of the other issues that they face such as food, clean water and shelter before giving them all laptops.

I don't think this is designed as a replacement for all of those things. This is more of a next step to development.

It's no secret that general use of a computer will increase ones aptitude in a century of advancing technology.

5th Jan 2008, 05:01	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Intel leaves OLPC board http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01...s_olpc_board/1 In a semi-surprising move, Intel has stepped down from the OLPC board after only six months and has decided to focus on Classmate instead. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

5th Jan 2008, 06:20	#2
chrisb2e9 Dont do that... Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 3,068	hmmm, one the one hand they can make money, on the other they dont. I wonder why they chose to leave... __________________ attack life, it's going to kill you anyway. Long-term relationships are like urban tomatoes: they only grow under special conditions. - Prestidigitweeze Don't hold on to the reigns once you've fallen off the horse, your just going to get dragged to death - SNiiPE_DoGG

5th Jan 2008, 15:15	#3
TomH Bwahahahahaha Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Salford Posts: 609	From the looks of the Wikipedia article, they didn't really have much of an involvement given the majority of the hardware being supplied by AMD (and Marvell-provided WLAN) so I'm not too worried about them dropping out. The main issue will have been the funding they provided to the project, if it was anything other than just the 'Intel' as an official supporter (I'm sure it carries a fair weight globally.) I'd imagine the real reason was that they didn't want to give any support to a project fundamentally-based upon AMD hardware. Shame really, considering the project's goals.

7th Jan 2008, 02:46	#5
cebla Multimodder Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Canberra, Australia Posts: 107	To be honest I am not sure that the OLPC project is really all that worthwhile anyway. I am not quite sure how giving loads of kids laptops is going to miraculously increase their education or help bring their countries out of the "third world". Perhaps we would be best of addressing some of the other issues that they face such as food, clean water and shelter before giving them all laptops.