There's nothing like a bit of competition to get the capitalists off their backsides

[eek.]

The entire industry did zippidedoodaa for over 10 years
until this OLPC guy popped up

------------------------------------------


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Intel steps up cheap laptop race

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Intel is working on another cheap laptop

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF -->Intel has teamed up with the world's largest maker of computer motherboards to produce laptops for the developing world.
The laptop has been dubbed the Eee PC - and will sit alongside Intel's Classmate which is also aimed at the developing world.
The partnership with Asustek is the latest twist in a developing battle between the chipmaker and rival group, the One Laptop per Child foundation.
Both plan to offer sub-$200 laptops. <!-- E SF -->
War of words
The Eee laptop will use one of Intel's mobile processors - although exactly which one has not been specified. It will have a seven inch (18cm) display, weigh in at 2lb (0.89kg), with a flash memory hard drive and wireless capacity.
The laptop will sell for around $200 (£100).
Both this and Intel's forthcoming mass produced Classmate will be in direct competition with One Laptop Per Child 's (OLPC) robust green and white machine, which although known as the $100 laptop will initially sell for $176 (£88).
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>

Intel's Classmate will also ship to the developing world

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->
The race to provide cheap laptops to the developing world has turned into a bitter war of words in recent days. Web pioneer Nicholas Negroponte, who heads up the OLPC foundation, has accused Intel of trying to undermine his initiative.
Professor Negroponte, who also founded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's famous Media Labs, believes that the decision of his not-for-profit organisation to use processors designed by Intel's main competitor AMD lies at the heart of the conflict. Intel denies that its efforts undermine the work of the OLPC team. "We are going to need hundreds of millions of machines and that's going to take a whole industry to provide. There is plenty of room for numerous vendors, " said George Alfs, a spokesman for Intel.<!-- E BO -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6723741.stm

 

[Willie99]

EEK, I thought you were talking about this stuff last year!

Is it happening again?

 

[RobFunk]

The Intel one looks sharp

 

[Willie99]

I was thinking about trying a Mac for the house. They coming out with a
$ 200 machine.

 

[SayHeyKid]

A $200 machine? Sounds fishy, especially since the dollar is collapsing.

 

[DarrylParsons]

The entire industry did zippidedoodaa for over 10 years
until this OLPC guy popped up

Are you sure they did zippidie? I bought my laptop last year brand new for $550. Two years before that it would have been over $2,000. Two years before that it would not have been yet on the market at any price. Two years before that it couldn't have existed.

 

[eek.]

I'm afraid that your 2+ gigahertz steam powered SUV laptop doesn't
really count Darryl

Proper portables with 20 days use on a couple of AA batteries are what I'm on about.

Previously achieved in 1994 by HP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_200Lx


But the market had too many cappytalist restrictions and too few
players to generate proper competition.

Selling steam powered SUV laptops to rich corporates -like yourself-
became the focus for these companies.

The pocket calculator market never had these restrictions...and
proper calculator portability happened at breakneck speed.

 

[DarrylParsons]

But the market had too many cappytalist restrictions and too few
players to generate proper competition.

Selling steam powered SUV laptops to rich corporates -like yourself-
became the focus for these companies.

The pocket calculator market never had these restrictions...and
proper calculator portability happened at breakneck speed.

You're being more than wacko on this one, Eekster. If there is any industry that has made progress in the last x years, where x is anything up to about 30, or even 60 if you really want to stretch it, it's the IT industry.

Calling me a rich corporate...lol. If anything, the fact that I only paid $550 for my laptop shows I'm probably below average wealth among posters my age on this board.

Even you can afford $550 for a puter, ya know. What's that in quid, about 275? Don't tell me a couple of weeks of drinking and smoking won't gobble that up. Just think how rich you'd be if you got back all the cash you spent at pubs and parties. I guess that's rich people's fault too, right? After all, they forced you to go there by failing to provide you your desired lifestyle just out of benevolence, right? Those nasty bastards!

 

[DarrylParsons]

I see I may have misread your post...you're saying that calculators didn't progress and that this new laptop thingy is essentially a calculator.

Everything progressed, even if you didn't realize it. Calculators became smaller, more functional, and MUCH cheaper over the years. And laptops have been affordable for many years now, although you couldn't have your cake and eat it too, ie. super high power laptop just like the corporates, at prices every bumbling bloke can afford.

Newsflash to Eek: no matter where technology stands, you get more if you pay more. And corporate types can always afford more than average Joes. This is your main gripe and has nothing to do with technology.

And now suppose I was a sooper benevolent, everything-just-to-please-Eek IT company and I wanted to focus on making pocket calculators as powerful as laptops. How the fuck would I do that? Slowly but surely build up the power of a handheld, ignoring the zillions of extra uses I could add just by making it a bit bigger....or just focusing on the uses regardless of size and then progressively make the thing smaller? It's pretty obvious to me that the second way is the most efficient way to go.

So basically your interests are being served efficiently, you are getting the benefit of all that research and effort, yet you complain simply because people with more money can still get fancier stuff than you, despite that having been an obvious fact of life ever since the concept of money existed.

You are a hopeless, lost cause, sorry to say.

 

[eek.]

You're rambling away there Darryl...probably enjoying yourself tho.

We've had the kit for over a decade now, and if it hadn't been for that OLPC chap we'd be even further behind.

The cappytalists did a great job around 2000 with that Windows CE system.
Totally incompatible with...well everything on the entire fucking planet really

from the software right down to the goofy microchips they used.

Negroponte has lit a fire under the cappytalists asses...and about time too.
Those corporate layabouts needed a good sharp prod.

 

[DarrylParsons]

Yeah I enjoyed the rant, but admit it, you enjoyed getting some attention, didn't ya?

Microsoft messed up in 2000, so much so that it got them to get their act together to make XP -- a very high quality OS.

Capitalists make mistakes, and amazingly enough -- as if by magic -- they get punished for it. Then if they're smart, they get their shit together and get rewarded again if they do it right. No socialist intervention necessary.

So your REAL problem is that they only named the thing Eee PC and not Eek-PC, is that it? :think2:

 

[RobFunk]

You're rambling away there Darryl...probably enjoying yourself tho.

We've had the kit for over a decade now, and if it hadn't been for that OLPC chap we'd be even further behind.

The cappytalists did a great job around 2000 with that Windows CE system.
Totally incompatible with...well everything on the entire fucking planet really

from the software right down to the goofy microchips they used.

Negroponte has lit a fire under the cappytalists asses...and about time too.
Those corporate layabouts needed a good sharp prod.

Ya that is true. Those early generation palm pilots were expensive as hell, 'powered by windows CE' and were a damn joke.

 

[Poster XYZ]

Havent talked to you in a while

Hope things have been good with ya!! Its been years since i talked to you, way to long. Have pretty much been with the group that I started with way back then since we last spoke. Anyway, be good, and get at me some time. Best of Luck!!
Thekids

 

[RobFunk]

Hope things have been good with ya!! Its been years since i talked to you, way to long. Have pretty much been with the group that I started with way back then since we last spoke. Anyway, be good, and get at me some time. Best of Luck!!
Thekids

Oh I remember you. I think this is meant for me. I'll send you an email. If I'm wrong thats the way it goes. I have to edit that out though.

 

[Poster XYZ]

Yeah its for you! Wats good buddy. As you can see i never post on this board, but i saw your name and wanted to send you a shout. Shoot me an email.

 

[Phaedrus]

You're wasting your time on this one Darryl. The reason eek started a new thread, as usual, is that his romantic proletariat computer users vs. bourgeois computer makers nonsense was so thoroughly trounced the last time he brought it up. He even kind of gives in towards the end to the reality of the situation, which is that the cellphone is the new "$100 laptop" and that my top candidate for cheap, reliable, open source computing power -- the GP2X -- seems pretty cool too. (In fact, if you find the topic at all interesting, I recommend you put responses in the above-linked thread, since it already has some good info and intersting viewpoints on the matter.)

So, either the suds are cooking his brain cells too quickly, or he simply ran out of material and had to start his anticivilisation thread rotation back over again. Stay tuned for new threads about how Gordon Brown is undoing the damage done by Margaret Thatcher, how the US spends more on healthcare per capita than the UK, etc.


Phaedrus

 

[bblight]

You're wasting your time on this one Darryl. The reason eek started a new thread, as usual, is that his romantic proletariat computer users vs. bourgeois computer makers nonsense was so thoroughly trounced the last time he brought it up. He even kind of gives in towards the end to the reality of the situation, which is that the cellphone is the new "$100 laptop" and that my top candidate for cheap, reliable, open source computing power -- the GP2X -- seems pretty cool too. (In fact, if you find the topic at all interesting, I recommend you put responses in the above-linked thread, since it already has some good info and intersting viewpoints on the matter.)

So, either the suds are cooking his brain cells too quickly, or he simply ran out of material and had to start his anticivilisation thread rotation back over again. Stay tuned for new threads about how Gordon Brown is undoing the damage done by Margaret Thatcher, how the US spends more on healthcare per capita than the UK, etc.


Phaedrus

You're right phaedrus, my daughter has a cell phone that does everything - the problem is that my old eyes can't see the small keys and smaller screen - I wonder when we're going to get into a virtual screen that projects onto our eyeglasses?