Originally, people called it the $100 laptop project. Until, of course, the laptops couldn’t seem to get any cheaper than $175. A more fitting name, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), has now become more commonplace, and is also bringing unlikely allies together for the initiative. Intel has just signed on to the project, although specific details of the relationship haven’t been determined. They join competitor AMD, which as been a partner for a while, and has been supplying their Geode processor for these laptops designed for students in developing countries. Intel already has a similar initiative, called Classmate, that it hopes to sell in conjunction with OLPC, and in future years, allow the two lines to be “more complimentary.” With around $100 million being spent by Intel annually on educating the children of 3rd world countries, executives still felt they could be doing more. “How could we make that more impactful and reach more children?” Will Swope, vice president and director of corporate affairs at Intel, asked. The answer, he said, was to join OLPC.
