Negroponte Takes the High Road

After seeing his One Laptop Per Child initiative "stomped" by Intel and Microsoft, Nicholas Negroponte is fighting back with simple human kindness.

Negroponte has announced that O.L.P.C.'s "Give One Get One " program, which allows U.S. and Canadian citizens to donate O.L.P.C.'s XO laptop to a needy child, has been extended through December 31st, due to "an outpouring of support from the public."

For $400, people buy two XO laptops, one of which is sent to a child in a developing nation, while the other is sent "to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution." The program launched on November 12.

Donations are pouring in at a rate of $2 million per day, which equates to about 5000 laptops, half of which are headed for subaltern states. At this rate, Negroponte will move nearly 500,000 laptops by the end of the year.

"Because so many people have asked for more time to participate, either individually or in order to organize local and national groups to which they belong, we have decided to extend Give One Get One through the end of this year," said Negroponte.

Negroponte, who co-founded Wired magazine and MIT's Media Lab, launched the O.L.P.C. program three years ago in an effort to get low-cost laptops into the hands of needy kids in developing nations.

The announcement comes on the heels of a fascinating story in this weekend's Wall Street Journal, which described how Intel basically sandbagged the O.L.P.C. program with its low-cost Classmate laptop.

Negroponte had hoped to sell the XO laptop's for $100 per unit, but apparently has had trouble hitting that price point. The XO currently sells for about $188. Meanwhile, Intel's Classmate runs for between $230 and $300.

Last month, Negroponte "demanded" that Intel C.E.O. Paul Otellini stop selling the Classmate, only to be rebuffed, according to the Journal.

The animosity between O.L.P.C. and Intel runs deep. In December 2005, Intel chairman Craig Barrett ridiculed an early prototype of the XO as a "$100 gadget" that was doomed to fail.

But thanks to a growing public perception that Intel is trying to snuff out what is basically a philanthropic project in pursuit of the almighty dollar, Intel increasingly appears to be playing nice.

Intel, which has recently joined O.L.P.C.'s board and Negroponte's group, have apparently agreed to work together to design a new "Intel-based" laptop in the next couple of months.

The agreement includes a so-called "non-disparagement" clause which is supposed to limit the amount of trash talking between the two parties.


by Sam Gustin