100$ laptop criticized by giants
Moldova.ORG -- Last week there was rumours that the 100$ laptop could be sold through eBay. Well, today this speculations has been dismissed.
The One Laptop Per Child initiative, a project from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has the purpose to bring hi-tech, low-cost computing to developing economies such as Brazil, Egypt and Thailand. The project says it will begin shipping the "XO" machines - which currently cost around $150 will ship - later this year.
In an interview with BBC News, Michalis Bletsas, the group's chief connectivity officer, said that OLPC could partner with eBay to sell the computers to western customers at a higher price.
"If we started selling the laptop now, we would do very good business," he said. "But our focus right now is on the launch in the developing world."
But last weekend Nicholas Negroponte, the founder and chairman of OLPC, rejected that claim and said the group had no intention of selling its products to a wider audience.
"Contrary to recent reports, OLPC is not planning a consumer version of its current XO laptop, designed for the poorest and most remote children in the world," Mr Negroponte said in a statement.
The OLPC project, which is cutting production costs of computers through the use of innovative power techniques and cutting out expensive software, has come in for criticism from some technology leaders. Intel boss Craig Barrett dismissed it as a "$100 gadget", while Microsoft chairman Bill Gates sideswiped the plans by claiming a low-cost machine would not be able to function properly.
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