Intel vs. the OLPC (It's like Bambi vs Godzilla)

http://www.forbes.com/home/technology/2008/04/02/intel-classmate-negroponte-tech
-intel-cx_ag_0403intel.html


<quote>

For months, computer chip maker Intel and Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop 
Per Child program have fought bitterly over which could sell more cheap, 
rugged laptops to schools in Asia, Africa and South America.

But for all that high-minded ambition, the XO falls flat in a key area: the 
Web. In Forbes.com's tests, the XO's wi-fi connection was weak and finicky. 
When it did connect, Flash or Java-based sites like YouTube or Yahoo! Games 
suffered from crippling sputters and stalls, thanks to the XO's small memory 
capacity.

Intel's Classmate, on the other hand, connected to the same wi-fi network 
and was playing 9-inch videos of Korean break dancing within seconds. Other 
dynamic Web sites, like games and photo sites, also loaded without a hitch.

That means that as the computing world shifts to the Web from the 
increasingly irrelevant desktop, Intel's Classmate could flourish while the 
XO is left behind. For all of OLPC's brilliant bells and whistles, the 
nonprofit has created a closed platform that isn't capable of using Windows 
programs--not to mention a constantly evolving ecosystem of Web 
applications.

In fact, the XO's isolation from the Web might have been a reason why 
consumers didn't snap them up during the buy-one-donate-one promotion that 
allowed U.S. consumers to purchase XOs between November and January--the 
promotion ended Jan. 1. Only 62,000 or so machines were sold to Americans.

But the most important factor by far in the Classmate's favor? Once that 
rural Indian nine-year-old gets a peak at YouTube, the XO doesn't stand a 
chance.

</quote>




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