Linked by Amjith Ramanujam on Sun 10th Aug 2008 16:38 UTC, submitted by Rahul
"Microsoft, makers of most of the computer software in the world, tried to kill it with words, and Intel, maker of most computer chips, tried to kill it with dirty tricks. Of course, they don't admit to being attempted murderers. And when I introduce you to Intel's lovely spokesperson, Agnes Kwan, you'll realise how far their denials go. But the truth is the two mightiest high-tech companies in the world looked on Negroponte's philanthropic scheme and decided it had to die."
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Member since:
2006-01-02
I work at Microsoft... none of the people I work with are scumbags or money-grubbers. Also, as a corporation Microsoft is one of the most generous American companies in giving money and time. Most employees do the same, giving on average a few percent of their salaries to charities with company-matched donations. It's hard to defend raver31's accusations, given the philanthropy of the company and the people in it.
Microsoft seemingly did not have something specific to give in the OLPC case and Bill Gates thought it was not a great showing. People formerly within the project also seem to have publically stated that the project was in some cases driven more by ideology than practicality. The author of the article makes it seem like Microsoft and Intel used mind tricks to shoot down an excellent product. Maybe Microsoft and Intel were not fully supportive of the project, but the project itself had delivery and quality problems that reduced its appeal.
I personally think that computing has a limited role in primary education. It's enough that kids learn the basics of how to type somewhat competently and how to do basic tasks like producing and printing text, but elementary education should be far more focussed on more basic development of the student's reasoning abilities. This generally does not require a computer at all.