Negroponte talks about Classmate 2, other low-cost laptops

As should be clear by now, OLPC's Nicholas Negroponte is never one to shy away from discussing the competition (among other things), and he's now made some of his opinions on Intel's new Classmate 2 laptop (a.k.a. Netbook) and other low-cost laptops known in a brief interview with Laptop Magazine. On the updated Classmate, Nick Neg was able to bring himself to say that Intel "made many steps forward" and says that he's glad they adopted mesh networking, but he adds that the display is "still really very weak" and that "480 lines does not work" (no complaints from us there). He also doesn't mince words about Intel entering the domestic laptop market with the Netbook, saying that he's "astonished" that it's doing so and he "cannot imagine that Dell, HP, Lenovo and others will keep any allegiance to a supplier that competes with them." Nick Neg further adds that it's "fine" that others are entering the low-cost, educational laptop space, and that "kids will benefit," although not necessarily those in the poorer countries OLPC is targeting, where he's still promising to deliver a $50 laptop sooner or later.

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 2:44PM]

so does nick neg's cheeks have bad eyesight or something?

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 2:46PM]

*do

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 2:48PM]

He lowered his glasses to let you know with that stare, just how serious he is about One Laptop Per Child.

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 2:50PM]

all he's telling me with that stare is that he hopes i buy one of his laptops so some of the latent spyware he put on there will allow him to see me naked dancing to enrique iglesias, but the trick's on him. i'm a never-nude.

*stays mum on the dancing to enrique part*

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 3:02PM]

enrique is so passionate. ricky martin makes enrique iglesias look like richard simmons.

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 3:05PM]

if enrique was running this campaign, not only every child but every fetus would have a laptop, such is his passion. and each of these fetuses would have a mole that speaks to the nations of love and hurt and of lovehurt.

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 3:14PM]

Random Fun Fact #48: I played soccer with Enrique Iglesias when he was 12. His father Julio Iglesias took my family and cousins on his yacht out in Ft. Lauderdale sometime during the early 90's.



Ok, its lunch time..

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 3:19PM]

so was it awkward when julio asked you to rub suntan lotion on his chest and you found out that, hey, that's not suntan lotion.

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 3:23PM]

deep thoughts by jack anonymoose

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 8th 2008 5:06PM]

@Anonymoose:

I didn't figure out it wasn't suntan lotion until just now when you enlightened me.

What would I do without you Anonycaptainkangaroo.

[StreetStealth @ Apr 8th 2008 5:44PM]

Serious Nick is SERIOUS.

[Blue Sunshine @ Apr 8th 2008 2:48PM]

I can't help but chuckle at the face of an old, serious, white guy that may have a possible racial slur in his last name.

http://www.miscgarbage.com

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 2:51PM]

i believe his name translates to negropwnt from its original french

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 2:54PM]

in other news, Negroponte said Classmate 2 rox0rs and the U.N. is teh sUx0r.

oh wait, wrong Negropointy

[phanbouy @ Apr 8th 2008 3:09PM]

oh and speaking of politics and stuff, i just saw an email by "The Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco" about "Should the City and County of San Francisco rename the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility the George W. Bush Sewage Plant?" no joke.
http://www.presidentialmemorial.org/
http://sfist.com/2008/04/03/sfist_interview_15.php

[sracer @ Apr 8th 2008 3:08PM]

Before promising a $50 laptop how about getting the $100 laptop (that costs $200) to work completely first? How about THAT?

[Matt Dearman @ Apr 8th 2008 3:13PM]

Has anyone else noticed the resemblance between Nick Neg and Dick Cristie (Ted Lawson) from the Small Wonder 1989 sitcom with the robot girl (Vicki)?

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 3:20PM]

so what are you saying? huh? that all old white guys look alike? racist. I WILL NOT STAND FOR YOUR RACISM!

[Matt Dearman @ Apr 8th 2008 3:34PM]

@Anonymoose

I lawl'd

Seriously though.. Check out the side by side.. It's crazy..!

[ReggieXuk @ Apr 8th 2008 3:23PM]

I personally think the computer screens should be black and white.
And a colour one for the Teacher. So work just looks like work for the kids.

[andy @ Apr 8th 2008 3:38PM]

Nick Neg should go back to academia where you're not required to produce results. He doesn't seem very suited to the whole "producing results" part.

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 3:44PM]

oh jah, yah, i kind of like had no idea where you were going with that first sentence, but then you like totally fleshed it out with that second sentence so then i wasn't like lost anymore. man, that second sentence was just so needed like whoa.

[YoMomma @ Apr 8th 2008 3:47PM]

but does it play doom?

[Anonymoose @ Apr 8th 2008 3:58PM]

i think negropwnt is too serious to play doom.

[Magallanes @ Apr 8th 2008 4:48PM]

In the end Negroponte did the same that other guys on third world countries :"talk too much, do so little and in the process he did spend (a lot of) money from the poor".

[tekdroid @ Apr 8th 2008 5:33PM]

The way I see it, Intel has conveniently side-stepped (or at least half side-stepped) the whole "competing with our customers" thing by getting another company to manufacture for them.

It's very similar to Intel mainboards being manufactured by Foxconn or whoever. What's the difference here? Intel competes with other players like Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, DFI, etc., in just the same way. Is there a huge backlash? No, there isn't.

I don't think there'll be a wholesale move away from sourcing Intel processors or chipsets because of this. If anything, Intel is showing what can be done with their products while getting others to follow on and improve from here. Considering the current product is (IMO) overpriced, I doubt the degraded margin talk has any relevance, too. Again, a similar situation to Intel's mainboards.

At least that's the way I see it.

[Camperton @ Apr 8th 2008 6:32PM]

He looks like Robert Wagner.