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Intel laptop vs. OLPC machine: Which is better for e-books?
September 30, 2006 | 5:33 am
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By David Rothman
Intel’s laptop for the Third World might sell in time for as little as $200 after probably starting at $250. It’ll compete with the OLPC machine, The $100 (Eventually) Laptop.
So which should be more promising for e-books? Resolution on the Intel machine’s seven-inch screen is 800 by 480. On the OLPC screen, a half inch larger, res will be as high as 1,200 horizontal by 900 vertical in monochrome and 800×600 in the color mode. Plus, the machine will work in a tablet mode.
My rather tentative vote is for OLPC’s baby, then, even if the Intel packs more computing power. Remember, the more comfortable it is for kids to read e-books, the more likely they’ll do so on their own without prodding.
Related: OLPC News’s take on the two machines. This rather unofficial site actually seems to prefers the Intel machine. I don’t. But I totally agree with the questions that OLPC News is raising on such issues as teacher-friendliness and integration with real-life schools.
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Comments:
Oh let’s be clear (and I may need to change the tone of my post if its not) that I do not prefer more bloated WinTel to the sleek form factor of the 2B1.
What I do prefer is that Intel has an actual implmentation plan which includes teacher teacher training and teacher classroom management.
My dream: take the OLPC hardware into Intel’s teacher-friendly implmentation plan.
Hi, Wayan. Things were a bit ambiguous (and beyond that I was thinking of the total package, not just the hardware per se), which is exactly why I used “seems.” Hey, it’s good to know you feel the same as I do about the 2B1 form factor. And of course we’re in alignment on the issues of teacher friendliness and the need for decent integration. Keep at it! – David
I’m constantly struck by how much these systems resemble the eMate and Apple’s classroom plans. Apple’s real problem was price, but the features (sans WiFi, which didn’t exist at the time) are essentially the same–long battery life, no moving parts, all-flash design, teacher sync/push. It had the advantage of being a highly usable system; NewtonOS was very very intuitive and lightweight.
What’s interesting is that you can score eMates now for ~US$30. I’d be curious as to what it would cost to manufacture today with a faster chip.
– C