Intel Chairman Takes A Shot At $100 Wind-Up Laptop
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 12.19.05
India and Pakistan, with their millions of cellphones, are good examples of how a little technology can make a big difference. It also shows the possibility to successfully leapfrog over certain development phases that the west went through (in this case, wired telephony). Last September, Collin wrote about the $100 Hand-Crank Laptop, a low price computer that would be produced for $100 per unit and distributed in the developing world, with a target of 100 to 150 million units by 2007. But now, Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, is insisting that there will not be a market for the devices, calling them a "$100 gadget". Is he missing the point?
Mr. Barett told journalists in Sri Lanka: "I think a more realistic title should be 'the $100 gadget'. The problem is that gadgets have not been successful."
The Irish Times (registration required) has a good rebuttal:
Plenty of "gadgets" that offer limited access to the internet and e-mail have been extremely successful - even addictive - from Blackberries to handheld computers to smartphones to basic mobiles."Successful" in the context in which Barrett uses the word is not relevant to the raison d'etre of the wind-up laptop. These are not intended to lure the road warrior, the wired teen or the general home PC buyer. They are intended for the developing world, where access to electricity is sporadic at best, and where a whole world would open to people through the ability to use the internet.
For an example of how this has been done with "gadgets", one has only to look to India, Pakistan or Africa, where mobile phones are being used creatively as community tools. Not everyone might own a mobile but small entrepreneurs make them available to individuals for personal calls. Entire communities check weather reports, prices for farm goods, and more using this basic device.
One can only guess that Barrett's grumpiness demonstrates that such a device may not just serve the developing world but ultimately find a niche with a more mainstream, developed world market too, where the lime green laptops will be marketed at $200 (166). At those low prices, no chip company will be making much of a profit by supplying microprocessors. Therefore, Intel undoubtedly would prefer you to go for the full-featured, larger-ticket model from your PC provider of choice.
Assuming the lean green machines work as promised, the first batch of laptops is destined for children in Brazil, Thailand, Egypt, and Nigeria next year. Personally, I'd love to get my hands on such a device - just the thing for roving journalists who don't want to carry a bulky laptop but need to file stories and access e-mails. I am betting the developed world will embrace them too.
The United Nations has heralded the cheap laptops as an effective way to spread computers across the world, and we think they are probably right. Intel pretends that it is no price that matters, but features. That might be what matters to them, but to the developing world, features are useless if they can't be afforded.
Another probable reason for Barrett's reaction is that the $100 laptops will be powered by AMD processors because they are less expensive than Intel ones.
::Irish Times (registration required), ::Intel Chairman Blasts $100 Laptop Idea, ::Intel Chairman Derides $100 Laptop, ::$100 Hand-Crank Laptop Almost a Reality
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Certainly, marketing to developing nations is where money will be made in the future. Yeah, the products are lower margin, but the market is huge. The companies that figure out how to tap into it are the ones that will be successful. In addition, computers are certainly at the point where they're fast enough for most people's uses, so there's no reason that the cheaper versions couldn't be marketed in the west.
I'm fine if intel wants to ignore the market, and cede it to a smarter, more nimble player. It'd be nice to take them down a notch.
I am suspicious of Nicholas Negroponte for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is his brother, John Negroponte; however, such a cheap and accessible laptop is inevitable.
I have emailed Negroponte that one addition to his hand-cranked laptop that might be invaluable would be the capacity to charge standard size batteries with the same hand-crank and dynamo that will power the laptop. Negroponte was on Charlie Rose's show recently and waxed ecstatic about how the working prototype becomes the brightest thing in the house in the wilds. If you can charge more than the laptop with the hand-crank, you can have other lights, a radio, a cell phone and other devices available.
Sooner than we think, we may all - even us privileged USA Americans - have to rely on hand-crank and pedal power.
Intels mad 'cause they use AMD proccessors (which are better). i like this projects idea. Are they preloading the laptop with educational eBooks? That would ensure that they do some good.
Reminiscent of the Model T ford with hand cranked starter on the front or the hand cranked wall telephone of the 1950's. The crank subjectively alienates some as a symbol of stepping backward in design. Gotta use words that frame to advantage. The FreeCycle radio is a good example. "Hand Crank" anything is just a bad framing. MIT smarts isn't enough. Words that match cultural expectations and frame to the future are critical for it's success.
I think there is something that is being completely overlooked and I'm surprised given this is a "green" audience for this website. Having a budget computer, produced by the millions might be helping people, but I don't see it ecofriendly progress whatsoever. To me this is the makings of an environmental disaster creating tonage of e-waste. Disposable, cheap computers strewn about the countryside in countries that often have little in terms of infrastructure to handle waste. Are the computers led free? Is the p[lastic used made from vegetable cellulose not polyplastics? Can the crank withstand the abuse of children toying with them? Are they sealed in such a way that no particulate can get inside? I say first, it needs to be an eco-friendly product and then test them in rugged environments and better yet lets not manufacture them at all.
Raymond,
Poor countries have some of the worst environmental (and social) conditions in the world. Helping the environment (and humans) is better achieved by doing something that has a few downsides than by doing nothing. I suspect that price is a big factor in making these laptops greener; if the full price laptops of the western world are not yet green, it's a bit much to ask for these to be. Before we criticize these kind of computers for the third world, I think that we have lots of things to change on our side of the world...
A favorable point of such projects is the potential for leapfrogging over "bad" stages of development. If we can help these nations go from no electricity to renewably produced electricity (skipping coal, f.ex.), then that's a good thing. If they can get from no high-speed communication to having wireless, that's helpful too and is much better for nature than wiring a whole country (not to mention less expensive, surprisingly). There's also that the democratization of communication makes it harder for totalitarian governments to stay in power (and, f.ex, then allow mega-corporations to pillage the Earth without environmental regulations) - one of the reasons why China is trying to control the Internet.
As for the durability of these computers, I think it's a safe bet that they were designed with these things in mind.
Another factor that people have not comented on (IE hackaday and Make) is the Operating system that the laptops and other important programs are free to anyone. the decsion maker opeded out of thousands of free MAC OS's and took Linux instead. These laptops are mostly open-source programs and in two years are going to be a sizable market share of users who started and use open-source programs. Open source has started to become a real threat to any software compainy not to mention such an old compainy like intel and Mircosoft.
These people need fresh drinking water, food, shelter, better medical treatment.
Not laptops.
"These people need fresh drinking water, food, shelter, better medical treatment.
Not laptops."
Many of them, yes. Many others, they have different needs.
Lets not put everybody in the same basket. Maybe if rich countries were already doing their maximum to help, this kind of effort would divert resources from where they are needed, but we are so far from that point that we certainly can do more than one thing at a time.
I am sure there are lots of folks in New Orleans who wish they had these.
My main concerns however are
Security.
I Must-Needs have hardware based firewall; linux is nice, but nothing beats good hardware. An absolute assurance that rootkits and other evils do not come prepackaged. As good an encryption scheme as is doable for it. Physically Lockable. Perhaps even a biometric security scheme. Remember these things will likely see a life outsoide fo schools. Can a teacher monitor and /or control activity? Can a pesky government interfere/monitor/control activity? Would we want them to? These are for students who should be learning to critique Tolstoy, not downloading pr0n.
Distribution.
This is a big U.N. project for doleing out PCs to corrupt, mismanaged 3rd world nations. I really don't trust the U.N. to do this right. I want market competition and distibution too. After students get used to them, they will want their own for life after school. And they will want mo-betta eBling. I bet these will start to appear on eBay before they reach their intended audience.
Specs.
I haven't been able to find specifications on just how this is put together and with what. USB ports and EtherNet connectivity are important; but so is insulating from the environment. There are ways of doing this right, but they dont say.
I understand your previous points and comments made to me mgr, that the downsides sometimes need to be accepted to allow for the positive impact a technology may make. However, I stand by my words. With the money, brain power and available green resources, there is no reason I can see that the corporate sponsors of this program could not build an ecofriendly product. Vegetable fiber is used in all sorts of manufacturing now, GM is making parts with it, there are led free chips/ The price could remain at $100 and still have a biodegradable, earth friendly product.
If we don't even m,ention the possibilities the paradigm is not going to shift. We don't get to vote on technology, most of the time, but we can inform the manufacturers of new material breakthroughs. I don't think price is an issue in making it gree,. There is money for this program, ewhat is lacking is education and environmental sensitivity.
ReasonOnline has interesting comments and insights as well.
http://www.reason.com/links/links122005.shtml
We still seem to be missing the true use of the laptops- they are ment to jump start and modernize the countrys and the poeple useing them. If we consentrate on how to get them fresh water in 10 years they will have to manage 12 differnt small water pumps- if they have the ability to manage there own resorces they can have the perfict water system made for them or by them. the internet should not be controled if student wish to downlode prOn they are intitled to whatever they wish to take from the iternet however if they find information that i need to imporve there own standers of living or bring in a soruce of money ect, ect. then the whole project is worthwhile.
I see nothing about the language support of these laptops - how well will they support all the asian character sets and the developing worlds hundreds of languages ? English/European languages are not enough - or even required - if these are to be really useful in developing communities.
The laptops will be running Linux which has an excellent support for all kinds of non-european languages (better than microsoft windows and OS X, as far as I know).
I just wonder how much more pollution will there be if millions of units are to be produced?
KC,
Yes it will create some pollution, but there are millions of things that are higher on the list of "things that we shouldn't make because they pollute" than some technology to help the developing world. Please keep the big picture in mind.
I NEED A LAPTOP