One Billion Laptops
,----[ Quote ]
| Inveneo is a nonprofit working to bring computing and the internet to people
| who have never touched a mouse pad, in places such as a refugee camp in
| Uganda. Inveneo’s computers run a Linux-based operating system on a cheap
| chip made by Advanced Micro Devices intended for photocopiers. The Inveneo
| machines, including a router to connect to the internet and e-mail, cost $400
| or less, depending on how many are ordered, and consume so little power they
| can run off a car battery. Why does that worry Bill Gates? Machines made by
| Inveneo and O.L.P.C. might allow the next billion first-time computer buyers
| to get online without ever using Microsoft Windows software, Intel chips, or
| Dell computers.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/portfolio/080104/dcr7e28c1a081fb86d379ae85f1fe6f5e7e.html?.v=2
Intel Dumped On Downgrade
,----[ Quote ]
| Shares of the company fell 8.1%, or $2.00, to $22.67...
`----
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/04/intel-amd-closer-markets-equity-cx_er_ra_0104markets46.html?partner=yahootix
http://tinyurl.com/3awsz8
Not enough can ever be said about the disgraceful systematic abuse by Intel and
Microsoft. A billion children might be left poor and uneducated because it
means more dollars to Bill, Steve and Paul.
Steve Ballmer's 'Google speech' slant: I'm gonna F* kill OLPC. I'll bury that
f* pussy. [lifts and throws chair /]
Related:
Lessons from Africa: How to Kill Your Own FUD
,----[ Quote ]
| So, even as Microsoft claims superior quality over Linux, they act as if they
| don't even buy their own FUD. If they really believed that Windows was
| superior to Linux, they wouldn't have to bribe people with “marketing help”
| to get them to choose Windows.
`----
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-11-09-030-26-OP-MD-MS
Intel: doing the dirty on OLPC
,----[ Quote ]
| Intel’s agreement with the OLPC Foundation included a ‘non disparagement’
| clause, under which Intel and One Laptop promised not to criticize each
| other, according to Nicholas Negroponte in the latest article in the Wall
| Street Journal.
|
| Still Intel tactics have violated that repeatedly to kill OLPC efforts in
| Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan, India, China and Intel is also still trying to pull
| those tactics in Mexico, Brazil.
| This is simply disgracefull of Intel, scandalous.
|
| But Negroponte has signed an agreement saying that he is not allowed to
| criticize Intel, so he is not allowed to talk about these shameless tactics
| even though Intel is the one violating the agreement.
|
| So only independant voices on the Internet can get those messages of truth
| out about Intels tactics.
|
| In Nigeria, Intel came and donated 3000 laptops to counter OLPC efforts, then
| sells 17 thousand Classmates to Nigeria at a loss.
|
| Then Microsoft corrupted Nigerian officials with 400 thousand dollars to
| install Windows XP on those instead of Mandriva Linux.
`----
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/14124
[Mandriva CEO:] An open letter to Steve Ballmer
,----[ Quote ]
| Wow! I’m impressed, Steve! What have you done for these guys to change their
| mind like this? It’s pretty clear to me, and it will be clear to everyone.
| How do you call what you just did Steve, in the place where you live? In my
| place, they give it various names, I’m sure you know them.
|
| Hey Steve, how do you feel looking at yourself in the mirror in the morning?
|
| Of course, I will keep fighting this one and the next one, and the next one.
| You have the money, the power, and maybe we have a different sense of ethics
| you and I, but I believe that hard work, good technology and ethics can win
| too.
`----
http://blog.mandriva.com/2007/10/31/an-open-letter-to-steve-ballmer/
Negroponte: "We're the World Food Program and they're McDonald's"
,----[ Quote ]
| The title quote is Nicholas Negroponte's in a response to Intel quitting
| Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) in an interview with David
| Kirkpatrick of Fortune.
`----
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/01/negroponte_were.html
Microsoft: So Large to Ignore Management Mishaps
,----[ Quote ]
| It's hard to catch decent news in Redmond these days. And with the news of
| the freshly departed Microsoft CIO, one has to wonder who is next in line to
| replace him? Yet the question remains - what was the actual event that got
| him fired? One unconfirmed source indicates that it was inappropriate
| behavior directed at other members of the staff, while another source
| indicates something was in conflict with his handling of company secrets.
|
| [...]
|
| Has Microsoft Become Too Big To Catch These Problems Early On? Like any large
| company, you are going to have some employees that opt to do something really
| foolish. It happens, and more often than not, there's little that can be done
| about it. However, the question is - what happens when the company gets so
| large that even the CIO's mishaps go unnoticed? Has Microsoft finally hit
| this point? Or even worse, did they hit this point a long time ago?
`----
http://www.osweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2725&Itemid=449
Fearful Symmetry
,----[ Quote ]
| I've noted before that Microsoft is in difficulty over the ultra-mobile
| machines like the Asus EEE PC; now it seems that the other half of the Wintel
| duopoly is also in trouble because of the new triple-P (price, performance
| and power) demands these systems make....
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/01/fearful-symmetry.html
Speaking Truth to Power Sometimes Involves Yelling
,----[ Quote ]
| It is, admittedly, very easy to put the blame on companies out to do harm to
| Linux, free, and open source software. Because sometimes that blame is
| justified. When Mandriva's CEO called Microsoft out for attempting to co-op
| Mandriva's deal for pre-loaded Classmate PCs in Nigeria last November, the
| evidence was pretty overwhelming.
|
| Now, there's suddenly a lawsuit against the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
| project in that same country, claiming patent infringement on the part of
| OLPC, and demanding $20 million. "Conspiracy theorists" might say this is
| just one more attempt to protect Microsoft's desktop share in Nigeria. Heck,
| I could get really crazy and point the finger at Intel, now that they're on
| the outs with OLPC. Or even... (hushed whisper) Mandriva. We know how evil
| they are!
|
| In all honesty, I have no idea what's behind this lawsuit. It's probably just
| for money, in the classic ambulance-chaser style, and I will let it go at
| that until I hear differently.
|
| Byfield would have the people who accuse Microsoft or any other company of
| deception labeled as conspiracy theorists. That label has a negative
| connotation, but I understand its application in this instance. Where I
| disagree with Byfield is how bad such accusations and speculations really
| are.
`----
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2008-01-04-016-26-OP-CY
One Laptop Per Child President Fires Back At Intel
,----[ Quote ]
| "We got constant complaints from people in the field that they were being
| bullied by Intel," said Bender. "That was the message we got from anybody and
| everybody working on these educational problems in the developing world."
`----
http://www.crn.com/hardware/205208838
Laptop Project Blames Intel for Breakup
,----[ Quote ]
| Negroponte said Intel even tried to undo a deal One Laptop had already sealed
| in Peru by citing flaws in the One Laptop "XO" machine and telling government
| ministers "we ought to know, because we are on the board." Such hostile
| comments were prohibited, Negroponte claimed, under the July peace treaty
| that brought Intel into the One Laptop Per Child camp.
|
| "I want to say we tried, but it was never a partnership," Negroponte
| said. "There's not one single thing in their contract or agreement that they
| lived up to."
`----
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXa0O9XLMsWfaqt-sI9FqFy2IewgD8TVAD7OA
Laptop-Project Founder Faults Intel
,----[ Quote ]
| Oscar Becerra Tresierra, general director for educational technology at
| Peru's Ministry of Education, says that after the country recently agreed to
| buy 272,500 OLPC laptops for primary-school students, an Intel sales
| representative tried "to scare us" by claiming the machines and their power
| adapters didn't work. "I don't feel very happy about it," he said. "We
| wouldn't like the project to fail because somebody is spreading gossip about
| the machines that doesn't turn out to be true."
`----
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119948070480568405.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Local OEMs boycott Microsoft, Intel
,----[ Quote ]
| The local Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the country may have
| commenced boycotting of placing orders on the Operating System (OS)
| dominantly supplied by the software giant, Microsoft Corporation and computer
| processor manufacturer, Intel Corporation offices in the country.
`----
http://itrealms.blogspot.com/2007/11/local-oems-boycott-microsoft-intel.html
OLPC: Won't Miss Intel's 'Half-Hearted' Laptop Effort
,----[ Quote ]
| Intel's resignation from the board of directors will have "no impact" on the
| group's operations, OLPC President Walter Bender said in an interview.
|
| [...]
|
| "We never really got much going with Intel to have an impact," Bender said.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140998-c,intel/article.html
Intel's OLPC moves blighted by the old paranoia
,----[ Quote ]
| The OLPC project is not about raking in money or cut-throat competition, it
| is about getting those without connectivity an entry into the digital world.
| It is about empowering those without power. It is a non-profit for a reason.
| Didn't you get this?
|
| By pushing the Classmate, you are doing everything that you should not do.
| You are dividing a market that needs no division and you look like childish,
| tantrum-throwing bullies.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/04/intel-quits-olpc-huff
Worries about PC sales snowball; Intel downgraded
,----[ Quote ]
| In a research note on Friday, J.P. Morgan analyst Christopher Danely
| downgraded Intel from “overweight” to “neutral.” Intel, along with AMD and
| other chip makers, was downgraded on Wednesday over the same concern. The big
| fear: An economic slowdown is crimping PC sales. Danely slightly lowered his
| earnings and revenue targets for Intel.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=7480
Intel-powered XO is too expensive and consumes too much power
,----[ Quote ]
| 2 days before Intel CEO Paul Otellini would unveil the Classmate 2 or the
| Intel-powered XO at the CES, Intel announced that they are quitting the OLPC
| board.
|
| Intel claims that they are quitting because of Nicholas Negroponte wanting
| them to stop the promotion of the Classmate/Eee to education in third world
| countries, but I think that the real reason is that Intel does not have a
| good enough processor for the OLPC project to use as an alternative to the
| AMD Geode LX-700. Intel has not been able to develop a processor to match the
| price, power consumption and performance requirements of the OLPC project.
| Paul Otellini could have looked like a fool at the CES if he had to unveil an
| Intel powered XO that was performing worse in terms of price and power
| consumption compared to the AMD powered one.
`----
http://charbax.com/2008/01/04/intel-diamondville-and-menlow-processors-not-low-costpower-enough/
LANCOR's Adé Oyegbola Answers Groklaw's Questions About OLPC
,----[ Quote ]
| PJ: Thank you for responding. I think you misunderstand then one thing about
| OLPC. OLPC is a recognized charity under the law. Selling a laptop for cost
| does not make them commercial, Ade.
|
| Many of my readers have been asking me, and I hope you do not feel insulted
| if I ask on their behalf, but is there any connection or have you had any
| contact with Microsoft or Intel?
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071203061340580
OLPC's Nigerian patent suit being waged by a man convicted of bank fraud
,----[ Quote ]
| The Boston Globe is reporting that LANCOR, the Nigerian-owned company that
| has filed suit against the One Laptop Per Child project for patent
| infringement, is actually helmed by a man convicted of bank fraud. He spent a
| year in prison.
`----
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9827611-16.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheOpenRoad
,----[ Quote ]
| [PJ: I thought you might like to see the keyboard that LANCOR's thinks is
| being infringed by the OLPC. Here's the page for the entire world. Ah!
| Innovation. It certainly is an amazing technical advance to have 4 shift keys
| so you can do accent marks. What genius could ever think of a keyboard that
| can do an accent aigu? Genius, I say. Innovative genius. Nothing obvious
| here. So you can certainly understand why LANCOR claims it must safeguard
| with their lives the keyboard driver source code. For contrast, here is the
| OLPC's Nigerian keyboard. So different I start to wonder if this was about
| advertising a keyboard.]
|
| [...]
|
| ...Dr Aja-Nwachuku said he was now assessing OLPC alongside other schemes
| from Microsoft and Intel.
|
| [If you don't want a laptop from OLPC, because you feel you need schools,
| uniforms and chairs first -- not that any of that makes sense since the kids
| can sit outside under a tree and study with OLPC or at home -- why would he
| be considering the Classmate from Intel or a "scheme" from Microsoft? You
| tell me.] -
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/newsitems.php
Intel: doing the dirty on OLPC
,----[ Quote ]
| Intel’s agreement with the OLPC Foundation included a ‘non disparagement’
| clause, under which Intel and One Laptop promised not to criticize each
| other, according to Nicholas Negroponte in the latest article in the Wall
| Street Journal.
|
| Still Intel tactics have violated that repeatedly to kill OLPC efforts in
| Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan, India, China and Intel is also still trying to pull
| those tactics in Mexico, Brazil.
| This is simply disgracefull of Intel, scandalous.
|
| But Negroponte has signed an agreement saying that he is not allowed to
| criticize Intel, so he is not allowed to talk about these shameless tactics
| even though Intel is the one violating the agreement.
|
| So only independant voices on the Internet can get those messages of truth
| out about Intels tactics.
|
| In Nigeria, Intel came and donated 3000 laptops to counter OLPC efforts, then
| sells 17 thousand Classmates to Nigeria at a loss.
|
| Then Microsoft corrupted Nigerian officials with 400 thousand dollars to
| install Windows XP on those instead of Mandriva Linux.
`----
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/14124
Poor Kids' Laptop Cranks Up
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates earlier this year told the Microsoft
| Government Leaders Forum, "Geez, get a decent computer where you can
| actually read the text and you?re not sitting there cranking the thing
| while you're trying to type" (see Bill Gates Mocks $100 Laptop).
`----
http://www.redherring.com/article.aspx?a=17302
One Laptop Per Child - Production Delays Caused By Microsoft, Intel?
,----[ Quote ]
| I sincerely hope that no matter what the people who are running the
| OLPC project decide, that their project will continue and not get
| bogged down in a play of corporate greed and ambitions.
`----
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/2007/04/28/one-laptop-per-child-production-delays-caused-by-microsoft-intel/
Negroponte says Intel should be "ashamed of itself"
,----[ Quote ]
| He is furious that Intel's CEO Craig Barrett called the One Laptop a
| gadget. The Negroponte initiative is caught in the middle of a vicious
| fight between AMD and Intel, he said.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39733
|
|