In January 2005, Nicholal Negroponte revealed a new project. A cheap ($100) laptop that could be distributed in it’s millions to the developing parts of the world, bringing them connectivity, freedom and information. It was designed to change the world.

The great, powerful and rich nodded in approval.

But then some of them decided it had to die. Namely, Microsoft and Intel. Both had their own reasons and methods, but neither would admit it.

Three years later, the philanthropic scheme is still alive, but not operating at the scale that it may have been originally invisaged. It’s founder had had totally underestimated the competition put up by big companies, against a not-for-profit scheme aimed at improving the world.

“I had wildly underestimated,” says Negroponte, “the degree to which commercial entities will go to disrupt a humanitarian project.”

I think there are two big reasons what Intel and Microsoft didn’t like the XO laptop. The first is that it uses an AMD processor. This was unacceptable to Intel, who hold 75% (roughly) of the market, with AMD in second. The idea of hundreds of thousands of AMD powered latops out there was intolerable to Intel – they might even lose their market leadership. So they decided it had to go.

The second was that it uses it’s own operating software, called Sugar. Not Windows, which is considered the industry standard. While Apples’ is (in my opinion) better, Microsoft has made windows seem like a necessity, and the idea of hundreds of thousands of computers running something different would have seriously worried Gates.

So, each did their own thing to kill the XO, with Intel trying to do it with a competing laptop, and Bill Gates using his considerable influence. I’m writing this because of something I read a few months back when I signed up to do this post, and disgusted me then, and still does now. It’s unfortunate that the XO hasn’t really done as well as predicted, because it would have done a lot to help with poverty, giving 3rd world people access to at least some of what we have now. I understand that OLPC are planning to release a new version sometime soon, according to their website.

Hope you enjoyed this, even though it was shorter than I planned for it to be.

This is my Blog Action Day 2008 post, which I signed up to do a few months ago.