Intel received a lot of negative PR (rightfully so) when 60 minutes aired an interview with Nicholas Negroponte from MIT. He has worked to produce an affordable laptop for children living in third world countries. This project is called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) and is a great example of people making the world a better place.
Following a lot of positive press on how he was helping change access to technology Intel announced they would begin selling an almost identical laptop to the same audience.
Bad move Intel.
As a very successful company Intel missed an initial opportunity to not only give away their chips to this project but “selling” a computer in this situation…very bad. And to a large extent the 60 minutes interview allowed Intel to reconsider.
As you may have learned, yesterday Intel buried the hatchet with Nicholas and has joined the OLPC program. At this point — its never too late — they are now helping OLPC make this world a better place. Nice ending.
Tags: OLPC, One Laptop Per Child, Nicholas Negroponte, Intel, Globalization, technology
One reply on “Hey Intel, play nice”
What the heck was Intel thinking? First of all, how many laptops could you possibly sell to children in third world countries? Seriously. On that same point, I wonder if this is a really good idea? Maybe my stereotype of children in third world countries is incorrect, but I would think they would want things like food and clothing and shelter and security before they would want a laptop?