Intel launches second generation Classmate PCs for current generation of kids

Here we go, the official launch of Intel's second generation Classmate PC. After watching it trickle out in Malaysia, there's not much left to say about the rugged, Internet-centric platform of portables Intel is now calling "netbooks." However, if you're in the 95% of the world's children said to be without PCs or Internet, you're surely stoked at the prospect of your government handing you a 7- to 9-inch laptop with 6-cell battery, 512MB of memory, 30GB disk loaded with XP or Linux riding a Celeron M processor -- not Intel's newest Atom (though that's coming in future Classmates according to Intel). Then you can get started tweeting like your "more civilized" netizens.

Gallery: Intel launches second generation Classmate PCs for current generation of kids

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[Jimmy @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:13AM]

is it just me or does anyone else feel like poverty-people need munchies (food) and clean water and meds more than laptops??? i mean, really, whats the point of a laptop if the kid is just gonna die of some easily curable/avoidable disease? priorities here people... NOT STARVING TO DEATH >>>>> teh intarwebz

[mushrooshi @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:15AM]

poverty -> nofoodorwater -> barelysurviving -> littletonoeducaitonunlesscharity -> repeat

add technology, and you get outta the cycle.

[Jimmy @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:25AM]

Thats a very simplistic way of looking at things. the issue is much more complex than what either of us stated. LAPTOPS WILL NOT END POVERTY. poverty central to the human condition. it cannot be removed, we can only change what we define as poor. your idea that tech will end poverty is an utterly romantic ideal and has no universal applicability. basically, YOU LIED.

[Superevil @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:29AM]

giving laptops to kids in 3rd world countries is utterly stupid. true it is a noble idea but these kids need other things first besides laptops. if i was a poor 3rd world kid and I received one of these I'd sell it to feed myself and my family

[whisky @ Apr 3rd 2008 3:59AM]

Not sure what your impression of the "3rd world" is, but not all 3rd world countries are at the point of starvation. While they may be poor in the "1st world" sense i.e. lack of material wealth and assets, a huge majority are not starving outright. What they lack, however, is the opportunity to break away from the recurring cycle of poverty, where the lack of education keeps them in the lower income bracket. Something like a netbook can be useful in that it will encourage kids to learn and expand their horizons, besides providing them with access to additional learning/study materials, either online or through computer-based software.

Tech is not the end-all to poverty, but with the economy and employability increasingly dependent on IT technology and literacy, something needs to be done to close the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots.

[dale_nx26 @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:14AM]

@whisky

thank you for being knowledgeable! I hate when people generalize 3rd world countries as being lack of food, water, clothing, etc. I'm from a 3rd world country (not living there) and I can say that people there live in houses, ride motorcycles, have PLENTY of water and food. 3rd world is a relative term, used to categorize countries based on GDP and other monetary figures. However, usually it's true that 3rd world suffer educational-wise and from lack of technology.

[Jimmy @ Apr 3rd 2008 8:36AM]

millions of people are without reliable access to a safe water supply. that is a fact. i do realize that all 3rd world countries are not like that, but when 27% (I.A. Shiklomanov, Appraisal and Assessment of World Water Resources, Water International 25(1): 11-32) of people in 3rd world countries are without clean water, you cannot deny that there are people who truly need help surviving. im just using clean water as an example, but there are countless other problems at play here. i realize that education is one of them, but at its core, this project is not as noble as it seems. either way it is dubious if enough of these laptops will reach the students who really need them.

[Michael @ Apr 3rd 2008 10:00AM]

Jimmy,

I'm a bit tired of the way our society uses and misused labels for name calling. You stated "YOU LIED". Let's turn to the dictionary.
A Lie is
1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.
2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression.

All of us make mistakes in typing, spelling and word uses, and I don't get hung up on grammar or spelling. However, this use of lie is misleading and really detracts from the argument. You can't say someone "lies" unless you really believe they are trying to 'deceive' you or others.

The bottom line: do you believe they are engaged in debate and expressing a difference of opinion? Or is there some reason you are really suggesting they are deliberately twisting the facts for their own ends?

[Amber B. @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:14AM]

Beggars can't be choosers.

[mushrooshi @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:14AM]

So, will I get to touch my Classmates in weird places?!?

[diy75 @ Apr 3rd 2008 2:09AM]

I thought they SELL these laptops to poor countries. That's not charity.

[Dave @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:51AM]

Being a greybeard (and maybe because I'd from the UK), I sometimes struggle with the language here. Could someone translate "...you're surely stoked at the prospect..." for me please? Is being 'stoked' a good or bad thing? Ie, is Ricker saying they would be pleased or displeased? Thanks.

[cmc @ Apr 3rd 2008 6:52AM]

When something stokes the fire of your desire*, you are "stoked". Its a good thing.
Stoopid Americans ruining a perfectly good language ;]
(*Thats probably not where it came from, I think its a skater/surfer thing)

[Dave @ Apr 3rd 2008 6:59AM]

Thanks.

[Dave @ Apr 4th 2008 11:05AM]

When something stokes the fire of your desire*, you are "stoked". Its a good thing.
Stoopid Americans ruining a perfectly good language ;]
(*Thats probably not where it came from, I think its a skater/surfer thing

Umm, that's kindof a general statement. I live in America, I am an American. I also grew up in a 3rd world country in South America. It is "stoopid" to say that all Americans are stupid(correct spelling, btw). That is actually quite ignorant thinking.

I think this laptop is a noble effort. That is not to say that it is the only thing we need to do help 3rd world countries, it is just another way to help. Obviously it is important to make sure they have water and food. Just because these cheap computers are being offered to them doesn't mean that other efforts to get food and water there will cease to exist. This is an effort in conjunction with other efforts.

[PEZ @ Apr 3rd 2008 7:32AM]

Ill wait for the atom version of the Eee PC with GPS :)

[Chris @ Apr 3rd 2008 8:27AM]

95% of children dont have the internet? o_O Where the hell did they pull that from

[Jared @ Apr 3rd 2008 8:59AM]

From the Internet

[wazzup @ Apr 3rd 2008 9:02AM]

I would love to know where in africa (to use an example) any of these children will get internet connectivity... even GPRS costs money in 1st world contries, so imagine how it is here in africa (I live here)!

And don't expect free wifi access points in every rural village "coffee shop" (cum beer garden! *grin*), since access points obviously don't exist almost anywhere, let alone be free (rural areas, before you jump on me - besides, they cost money to use when they are around!).

I hope these things come with at least _some_ type of information (educational games, e-books, interactive learning stuff, whatever) already installed, else what's the point?

[Howdy Doody @ Apr 3rd 2008 9:03AM]

Those Classmates look really sweet. They totally own the OLPC's!

Intel should really start making laptops for us consumers, so should Microsoft.

[ricardo.j.lopez @ Apr 4th 2008 11:28AM]

Giving poor people free food just makes them dependent. When you give free food, thats cheaper than buying locally produced food, so, there is no incentive for local farming. When we dump subsidized food on poorer countries and those folks can buy cheap american rice, then the local farmers stop farming it, it created a dependancy cycle. I know rice farmers in poor countries who can make a living because of cheap subsidized imports. Anyhow, what people in these target countries are really lacking is information. Information is what makes realize that you dont have to be poor and helps people come up with their own solutions, like how to successfully overthrow a dictator, and how to recognize that the rebels may be just as bad. I think providing these children with a way to connect with the rest of the world will do much more lasting good than a pound of free rice.

[ricardo.j.lopez @ Apr 3rd 2008 9:35AM]

Giving poor people free food just makes them dependent. When you give free food thats cheaper than buying locally produced food there is no incentive for local farming. When we dump subsidized food on poorer countries and those folks can buy cheap American rice, then the local farmers stop farming it. It creates a dependency cycle. The again, creating dependency is how the powerful stay in power, so it may be in our interest to continue that policy.
I know rice farmers in poor countries who can not make a living because of cheap subsidized imports. Anyhow, what people in these target countries are really lacking is information. Information is what makes people realize that they don't have to be poor and helps people come up with their own solutions, like how to successfully overthrow a
dictator, and how to recognize that the rebels may be just as bad.
I think providing these children with a way to connect with the rest of the world will do much more lasting good than a pound of free rice.

[pscs @ Apr 3rd 2008 10:35AM]

hope it'll be cheap and LIGHT. but why... which poor kid needs this stuff when he/she needs basic education like learn to read/write/communicate and food shortages!?!?!?!

some people just don't prioritise.

[chris @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:25PM]

Man who's the cynic here! these laptops are great - as far as those kids are concerned they could be Mac Book Pros! Best possible way to breaking a poverty cycle - take my CTO for example - he threw recycled scraps together as a teenager in Havana to build his first PC . These laptops will change lives - period.

[personk53 @ Apr 7th 2008 1:54PM]

All you blow hards treating technology like its a plague: Offering cheap laptops is not mutually exclusive with helping provide clean food and water to those same people.

Its not laptops OR food, water, economic aid, medicines, etc.

Its companies like Intel offering an actual physical product that might, maybe make more of an impact on someone's life than the same wads of cash given to their government. Its also encouraging these people to actually do what it seems like so many of you have not: get educated on issues before you open your yappers.

Its laptops AND all of those things.

And while rural internet problems seem like they're going to be around for a while yet, keep in mind that in the middle of the United States, arguably one of the most connected countries in the world, the same issues apply. They're working on it, I promise.

Its a good idea. If you really want to whine about it:
http://www.classmatepc.com/contact.html?pg=6