We’re in the throes of one of those major discontinuities that occur in technology evolution periodically. Actually there are two occurring concurrent and affecting one another. Entrenched suppliers hate such events because they are forced to develop new business models for producing revenue. One discontinuity happened with the announcement of the iPhone, which heralded the age of the mobile Internet. The second, precipitated by a genuine desire to bridge the digital divide between the first and third worlds, markedly drove down the cost of computing and heralded two new classes of computing device: the netbook and the smartbook.

The two computing devices are entirely different creatures. The netbook is the product of the traditional PC business, caught unawares when a social experiment got terribly out of hand: an experiment to create a low-cost product for the third world and somehow prevent it from being purchased by the first world. The smartbook is the result of the social networking explosion on the web spurred on by the iPhone creating a web application epidemic.

The netbook came out of the “One Laptop Per Child” initiative that Nicholas Negroponte, started while head of the MIT Media Lab. The program was a noble, well-meaning effort to provide a computer to every child in the third world: roughly a half a billion for an unachievable price of $100 each. That meant open source software and the lowest cost silicon—Linux instead of Microsoft, AMD instead of Intel. The nonprofit organization Negroponte formed, One Laptop per Child, to distribute the PC, shipped its first product the XO-1 at twice the target price: $199. Quanta Computer Inc. based in Tao Yuan Shien, Taiwan manufactured the unit with production stumbling along in fits and starts beginning in November 2007.

Quanta also announced plan to build a version of the laptop for the commercial market, something Asus International also had in mind with its Eee PC, which Asus showcased in two versions at Computex in June 2007. (Negroponte’s hardware and software reference design was well known and easily duplicated using an Intel CPU instead of the AMD unit.) The Asus offering initially contained a Celeron M mobile processor. Asus has since shifted to the Atom CPU, which is the main engine in nearly every netbook currently on the market as is Windows Vista—Microsoft couldn’t be shut out of a major class of portable computing platform. (Search “netbook” on net retailer’s tigerdirect.com and every unit displayed will feature Intel Atom and Windows Vista.)

The price tag on the Eee PC when it shipped in September 2007 ran $349—nearly twice the price of an XO-1 but still pretty inexpensive for a web browsing PC. Needless to say, Asus had plenty of orders to fill when production began. A rush of competitors hurriedly jumped on the bandwagon and the rest is history. The low-cost PC intended for the third world had jumped into the first.

Meanwhile, Intel shut out of the OLPC project in a disagreement with the organization set about building a comparable unit called the Classmate PC. In August this year, CTL Corp. of Portland, OR introduced its 2Go version of the Intel design priced at $399. The design is sold under other brands worldwide. Intel wanted the hearts and minds of the next generation of computer users. Building brand awareness and familiarity in school ensures loyal customers later in life.

As to which has come out the winner, the OLPC organization estimates around 750,000 XO laptops installed worldwide through March this year. Intel says it has shipped 700,000 Classmate PC’s in 2008 alone and predicts it will sell over two million Classmate PCs in 2009. Capitalism triumphs over socialism but at a cost. Negroponte’s social experiment had the consequence of lowering computing cost for both the first and third. The average selling price for netbooks today is around $350, according to Taipei-based tech publication, Digitimes. The ASP for a notebook at the start of this year had been pushed down to around $795 according to Port Washington, NY-based market research firm NPD. And the lower priced netbooks are eating into notebook sales.

Figures from market research firm DisplaySearch shows netbooks represent 22 percent of the portable computer shipments the second quarter this year, up from 6 percent in the second quarter of last year. One reason for the popularity of netbooks could be the economy; consumers are opting for the lower priced computer while corporate buyers prefer to hold off replacing laptops until a better economic climate arrives. By then Intel and Microsoft and PC hardware OEMs can return to business as usual. Right? Not if Cambridge UK-based, ARM Ltd and Sunnyvale, CA-based Google and their allies have their way.

The advent of the low-cost netbook almost coincided with the arrival of the iPhone in June 2007 and the birth of the web browsing smart phone. The proliferation of web applications that followed the iPhone introduction cried out for a platform with a larger multi-touch, touch-screen display and keyboard. Enter the smartbook, which is an ARM-based smart phone in a PC enclosure. It runs Linux, Android, or eventually Chrome not a Microsoft OS—all but Win CE having not been ported to the ARM processor. However, the version now being showed doesn’t pose much of a threat. The platform that will challenge the Intel-Microsoft dominion is the +1 GHz-ARM-9 Cortex running the Google Chrome operating system expected out mid-2010.

Smart phone users wanting the web-friendly experience they have come to expect will now find it on a smartbook: instant on, day-long battery life, multi-touch touch-screen display, immediate access to social networking sites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Linkedin, SMS, and a full up Qwerty keyboard all with a price tag much lower than a netbook. To be fair, network service providers will subsidize that lower price. And the subsidy will apply to netbooks and smartbooks, but the user experience will favor the latter over the former. The remaining questions are will the netbook close the user experience gap by the time the killer ARM-Google platform rolls out and will the ARM-Google solution deliver a compelling enough reason to switch.

Regardless of the outcome of the struggle between the Intel-Microsoft and ARM-Google camps, the bottom line is that hardware prices will be reduced. Scottsdale, AZ-based market research firm, In-Stat has suggested that pressure from some of the ARM chip vendors may push Intel to further lower prices on some of their computing devices in the future. That reduction will come from fiercely competitive market share battles in the growth regions of China, India, and South America—where price is a major concern. It will also come from competition for buyers in the U.S. and Asia Pacific. The high-tech world is changing quarter to quarter and the netbook-smartbook evolution is accelerating the process.

The Intel Classmate Tablet PC and regular laptop style Classmate PC

So taking a regular laptop or netbook to school is great (I love using my HP Mini netbook everyday — so much easier to take around school), but sometimes you want something a little more durable, or maybe something that gives you the ability to use a touchscreen and “write notes” (or doodle). Intel, not usually known for designing whole computers themselves, actually has designed a small tablet like PC that lets you do just that– full keyboard to take notes, or twist the screen and just write on the touchscreen, and even a bigger more traditional netbook style Classmate if you want all the ruggedness without the touchscreen.

Here at IDF we got to spend a couple of minutes with the Classmate, and overall, were very impressed and found the Classmate to be a very cool idea. Pix and full details after the break.

The more “normal” netbook looking Classmate PC

Ok, so actually right now there are 2 Classmate PC’s — one tablet (8.9 inch screen), and one “normal” style laptop (10 inch screen). Both are designed for students (mainly those in the K-8th grade area– but hey, I wouldn’t mind a cheap, solid touchscreen PC), and since they’re designed for younger ages, they are rugged (meaning don’t worry about this dropping from your desk or hand to the floor and cracking in half), have waterproof keyboards (remember how many times you or a friend spilled something in 2nd grade), and even has a handle for carrying it around — something you don’t see everyday.

Spec’s wise this is pretty much like your normal netbook — 1 GB RAM (upgradeable to 2GB), Windows XP, 1.6 GHZ Intel Atom processor, and either a 30 GB hard drive (for the traditional laptop design) or a 60 GB hard drive (tablet design). You also get some specially designed software– such as theft deterrent software (more on this coming soon from IDF, but basically it allows you to disable your PC so the thief can’t get to your data) and depending on where you buy, a lot of dedicated education apps like a textbook reader (seen below– no more carrying around 50lb books!), a webcam, and, on the tablet — you even get an accelerometer (like in the iPhone, iPod Nano and iPod touch which means that when you flip the iPod on its side, the screen rotates) and a resistive touchscreen (meaning you need to use the included pen like stylus to really make good use of the touchscreen. You can still use your fingers to draw or write — it just doesn’t work as well as the stylus as it isn’t designed like the more finger friendly capacitive touchscreens found on the iPhone and iPod touch).

Reading a textbook on the Classmate Tablet PC

We really liked using the Classmate in the brief moments that we had them, and even though we found them to be a little bit heavy, the keyboard on the tablet a little small (though it is designed for hands much smaller than mine), and not as stylish as say a MacBook, they definitely seemed to be something we wouldn’t mind using in school everyday.

Here’s the bad part though — Intel doesn’t actually sell them to individual customers. Instead they’re designed more for schools to buy and distribute. You can buy them online though if you can find them (try checking out the link here for the tablet. ), and when you do want to buy, say, only 1 for you instead of, say 20 for a whole class — it is pretty expensive at $499.99 to start. There is said to be a new 10 inch tablet Classmate coming sometime early next year, so maybe things will change a little bit by then.

Oh, and if you really are into this design like I am, and are looking for a new netbook, try looking for the ASUS Eee T91 which we wrote about back in January — it’s also $499, but offers a bigger hard drive than the Classmate PC tablet (the standard netbook hard drive: 160 GB), has the ability to add in Bluetooth and TV (pretty sweet), and is designed for an individual to purchase.

You can learn more about the Intel Classmate PC at Intel’s site here.

“Un PC per ogni bambino” è il progetto partito da Torino per dare a ogni bambino di un PC da usare a scuola e a casa è stato selezionato fra i finalisti della V edizione del Global Junior Challenge di Roma. Il progetto nell’anno scolastico 2008-09 ha visto il coinvolgimento di tre scuole primarie piemontesi (il 1°circolo di Rivoli, la direzione didattica D’Andrade di Pavone Canavese e il 1° Circolo di Novi Ligure) che hanno ricevuto in comodato d’uso un JumPC e dell’ITI Majorana, che ha fornito, anche attraverso i propri studenti, il necessario supporto tecnico.

Per saperne di piu’ leggi la notizia su Spicchidilimone

Σύμφωνα με ανακοίνωση της SMART Technologies, η Intel θα ξεκινήσει τη διανομή του Intel classmate PC με εγκατεστημένο λογισμικό SMART Classroom Suite software 2009.

Το classmate PC είναι ένα πλήρως λειτουργικό laptop το οποίο μπορεί να μετατραπεί σε πίνακα γραφής, παρουσιάζοντας πληθώρα εκπαιδευτικών προγραμμάτων, ειδικά διαμορφωμένων ώστε να εκμεταλλεύονται στο έπακρο τον πρωτοποριακό του σχεδιασμό. Αυτό το πινακίδιο γραφής μπορεί να αναγνωρίσει τη γραφή χειρός και να τη μετατρέψει σε ψηφιακά σύμβολα, δηλαδή γράμματα και αριθμούς.

To SMART Classroom Suite περιλαμβάνει το ήδη βραβευμένο πρόγραμμα SMART Notebook για τη δημιουργία, ανάπτυξη και παράδοση εκπαιδευτικού υλικού από τον εκπαιδευτικό, το SMART Notebook SE για τις εργασίες των μαθητών, τον προγραμματισμό και διαχείριση αρχείων, το SMART Sync 2009 και το SMART Response για την αξιολόγηση των μαθητών.

Σε συνδυασμό με το SMART Classroom Suite, το μετατρεπόμενο classmate PC δημιουργεί ένα εκπαιδευτικό περιβάλλον μέσα στο οποίο οι μαθητές μπορούν να χρησιμοποιούν το δικό τους φορητό υπολογιστή και να κάνουν ερωτήσεις, να μοιράζονται ιδέες, να εκφράζονται και να εξελίσσουν την εργασία τους.

Πρόκειται για την πρώτη φορά που εκπαιδευτικό λογισμικό της SMART θα διατίθεται ήδη εγκατεστημένο σε ειδικά σχεδιασμένο προϊόν άλλης εταιρίας. Το συμβόλαιο αυτό αποτελεί την τελευταία εξέλιξη της συνεργασίας της εταιρίας SMART με την Intel, η οποία μετράει 17 χρόνια.

Η SMART αποτελεί αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι της συλλογής Intel Learning Series, που περιλαμβάνει λογισμικό, τεχνικό εξοπλισμό και πακέτα υπηρεσιών ειδικά για την εκπαίδευση και η οποία συνεχώς επιφέρει βελτιώσεις προϊόντων και υπηρεσιών, βασιζόμενη στην ερευνητική και σχεδιαστική πλατφόρμα της Intel.

[via]

Airdate: 05/17/07 MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte has a dream: one day, every child in the world will have a high-quality, low-cost laptop computer so that even the poorest among them can learn. Negroponte is now touring the world, toting these laptops with him, and children love them. In one Cambodian village without electricity, Negroponte says the children’s glowing laptops illuminate their homes, as well as their minds. Lesley Stahl reports.

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com’s standard return policy will apply.

60 Minutes – One Laptop Per Child (May 20, 2007) is available at Amazon for $15.99. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• One Laptop per Child XO Laptop (Give a Laptop, Get a Laptop)
• 60 Minutes – The Millennials are Coming (November 11, 2007)
• 60 Minutes – Dubai Inc. (October 14, 2007)
• The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School In The Age Of The Computer
• 60 Minutes – The Ship Breakers (November 05, 2006)

Netbooks are miniaturized, no frills, bare-bones versions of their larger laptop counterparts, boasting solid wireless connectivity and basic mobile computing at an extremely low cost. Prices range from $250-$800 (averaging ~$400), depending on the brand and set of specifications, e.g SSD vs. HDD, 3-cell vs. 6-cell battery, and so on. They come in screen sizes between 7″-10″ and weigh between 2-4 lbs, i.e. light as a MacBook Air at a fifth of the cost. Although not as aesthetically pleasing as an Air, netbooks are durable, reliable, and far from ugly. 

Personally, I think netbooks are awesome. I’m a minimalist packer that dislikes heavy loads, so lugging around my PowerBook G4 was out of the question. That gorgeous thing stays put on my desk at the apartment. As a student on-the-go, I needed a decently powerful, internet friendly, and portable computer to have with me on eight hour runs between campus and work. You know, to check email, RSS feeds, current events, and maybe play a little MS Pinball if a lecture gets a bit dry. No, I didn’t want an iPhone and I didn’t want to pay the high price of a UMPC (why, Sony, why ??). So I bought a netbook. . . which should bring me to reveal which one I own, but since I’ve been too lazy to take more pictures of it–the review will have to wait. 

—-
Netbook History 101:
Before 2007, affordable “portable” laptops were clunky 12-15″ abominations weighing at or above 6 lbs. True “ultraportable” laptops (aka UMPCs) were available, but commanded premium prices well above $2000. Cheap, lightweight notebooks simply did not exist. 

The non-profit OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative led the way in building the first lightweight, rugged, low-cost, and kid-friendly laptop. Personal computers with Internet access are powerful educational tools, so OLPC sought to make and distribute $100 laptops to developing countries for classroom use. The XO laptop came out to  be ~$200 with their “Give a laptop, get a laptop” program. Intel quickly followed suit, developing the $200 Classmate PC, which is now in its second generation. They look like toys but pack all the same features of a laptop and, mind you, are built to withstand children (who can prove to be very destructive). These were coined as sub-par laptops, or “subnotebooks.” {Left: OLPC XO Laptop, Right: Intel Classmate PC}

Although subnotebooks were fully intended to be marketed in developing countries, they heralded the way for the netbooks in today’s retail markets. Asus followed in the footsteps of OLPC and Intel and developed the tiny Eee PC, an ultra mobile Internet device targeted at the general public. The primary market was sales in traditional retail channels, with later plans to ship the Eee PC to schoolchildren in third-world countries. {Below: Asus Eee PC 4G}

Smart move. Launched in late 2007, the Eee PC was a hit on the American retail market and quickly gained popularity worldwide. The Asus Eee PC changed everything: a 2 lb. laptop with a 7″ screen, standard ports, built-in WiFi & webcam, all at a starting price below $300. They were tight, compact, easy to use, and inexpensive; customer reviews on Amazon remain overwhelmingly positive. Asus had no idea the Eee PC’s portability would have such broad appeal for kids, first-time computer users, bloggers, students, and mobile workers alike.

The market was there. Consumers wanted cheap, lightweight laptops. Then all hell broke loose, as every electronics manufacturer on the planet jumped the bandwagon, rushing to put out their own “netbooks”. This was a confusing time, because the netbooks churned out were virtually indistinguishable, offering roughly same specifications in different shells for a variety of prices. You had the Acer Aspire One, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10, the Samsung NC10, the MSI Wind, the HP Mini-Note 2133, etc…and many models of the Asus Eee PC [see Lilliputing.com for more]. Dell was the last to join in with the Inspiron Mini 9 & the Mini 12. Models after models were introduced as manufacturers tried to edge out the competition by improving specs. 

At the end of 2008, the dust has cleared and the Asus Eee PC continues to dominate netbook sales. Netbooks are no longer thought of as “subnoteboks” but rather as versatile, understated, mini-laptops. Be sure to read the reviews to make sure you’re not getting a really shitty one.

Netbooks presently share these features: 10″ screen, Intel Atom 1.6Ghz processor, a webcam, and 1-2 Gb RAM. The real differences lie in what storage disk you choose, whether you go for 6-cell (longer battery life), personal aesthetics (color, size/arrangement of the multi-touchpad & keyboard), and cost. Competition keeps quality up and prices down, with the exception of high-end or designer notebooks.

—-
Where does the netbook/PC industry stand now? I’m interested to see how it all plays out during a recession. 

The PC industry ended the year on a decidedly gloomy note, with very few bright spots…It’s telling who didn’t jump on the [netbook] trend: brands that like to associate themselves with upmarket style and quality. Apple CEO Steve Jobs essentially dismissed the idea of an Apple Netbook in September, and Sony denied it has plans to market an inexpensive Netbook. A Sony executive even went so far as to declare Netbooks, a “race to the bottom,” in terms of price and quality, driving down the price of all laptops. [Year In Review via CNet]

He means that if mainstream PC buyers start to find their needs met by a lightweight, simply featured, inexpensive portable, it’s likely to impel all of the major players in the industry to pile on by lowering their prices. And that’s in an industry with already low margins for retailers and manufacturers. [Sony leery of the Eee PC? via CNet]

Nicolas Barendson, a senior executive at Sony U.K., says that laptops with 7-10″ screens don’t meet consumer needs and that the netbook market will “evolve” into a different form factor. ”We think that the proposition in the market today is not the future of netbook … the form factor is not properly designed for the consumer’s needs … So there’s a lot of quantity sold, people are disappointed by them, and it’s not small enough to be pocketable and not big enough to be a PC.” The company, he says, will have a “different proposition” to the range of nearly-identical netbooks. [via BBG]

So, Apple & Sony will not be rolling out netbooks anytime soon. It’d be wonderful if they did, and those netbooks would be oh-so gorgeous. Unfortunately, those premium brands are more likely to churn out a “less expensive” ultraportable ($800-$1500) than a dirt cheap netbook. Can you imagine if Louis Vuitton suddenly start selling plain white tees? It would crush the brand image.

Hmm…what is the future of the netbook? What will be that perfect form factor? 

—-
On an unrelated note, this is Lenovo’s ThinkPad W700ds. This beast of a mobile workstation supports a 17″ and 10.6″ LCD dual display setup intended for for photographers, graphic artists and application developers. The 11 lb laptop is so wide it has room for separate numeric keypad.

Also, Dell has pitched smaller, greener consumer desktop PC with totally recyclable packaging.

Dice el comunicado de prensa:

“

Los días 23 y 24 de octubre se realizarán en Buenos Aires las Segundas Jornadas de Capacitación y Reflexión pára implementación de los proyectos generados en el marco del Programa “Una Laptop Por Chico”.

Docentes de las Escuelas Juan Bautista Alberdi y Gabriela Mistral, que fueron elegidas para llevar adelante esta experiencia gestionada en su momento por el Intendente Omar Perotti, estarán presentes en este importante encuentro en el que se realizará una evaluación de las experiencias inherentes a este Programa.

Junto a las docentes participarán de las Jornadas de las directoras de los citados establecimientos educativos, la Profesora Ana Theler, funcionara de la Secretaría de Educación del municipio rafaelino, la Profesora Mariana Andereggen, asesora Tic de la Secretaría, y el Jefe de Redes Lic. Marcelo Sánches.

Rafaela: única ciudad que ingresó al programa “Una laptop por chico”

“Una laptop por chico” comenzó a desarrollarse en nuestra ciudad en el año 2007 siendo Rafaela la única ciudad que ingresó al Programa

Desarrollar esta experiencia en la ciudad es posible por la capacitación de sus 1200 docentes y la conectividad con que cuentan los establecimientos educativos.

“

Por ahí cabe explicar que Rafaela no es la única ciudad que ingresó al programa, si bien es la única de la provincia. Además de Santa Fe, estuvieron San Luis, Buenos Aires, Tucumán, Salta, Mendoza y Chubut.

Esto, tengo que decir, es una muy buena experiencia para los chicos, pero también tiene algo que me preocupa (a nivel educacional), la generación de un cliente potencial de Software Privativo, además de que realmente, ¿Están aprendiendo a usar la pc? ¿O solo a entender donde está el botón inicio?

En si, por ahí, es muy buena noticia, claro claro, o sea, ¿Cuándo no?

Una Classmate Pc

Pero bueno, en mi constante manía de ver todo de una manera un tanto más….racional?, me doy cuenta que, a pesar de que tenga todos los chiches esta pc, ponerles Windows XP es una trompada a la cara a las cabecitas de los niños ¿Por Qué?. Porque (en mi humilde opinión) no enseñan bien a las maestras, y eso, sumándole al temor que ya de por si le tienen ante todo esto….

Porque pareciera que todo esto de la informática es MAGIA NEGRA, y, más o menos como lo que pasa con la astrología, todo el mundo la critica (o la defiende) sin entender mucho del tema. Entonces la informática es MAGIA NEGRA, como la magia vodoo, el reduce fast fast, la cientología o el justicialismo. Y cuando es mal enseñado….es cuando ya es peligroso. Porque se hace tooooda una cadena violenta de metidas de pata, malinterpretaciones, malos usos, y luego de toda esta cadena está la enseñanza de Visual Basic como lenguaje de programación. Tétrico

Ojalá que algún día cambie esto. Pero mientras, ojalá que todos los chicos tengan una computadora en casa!, Pero que La Sepan Usar.

Lá vem pelo avelar
O filho do Zé João
Vem do centro escolar
Cansado de palmilhar
A caminho da povoação

Não há médico na aldeia
E a antiga escola fechou
Não tem carne para a ceia
Nem petróleo para a candeia
Porque o dinheiro acabou

O seu pai foi para França
Trabalhar na construção
E a mãe desta criança
Trabalha na vizinhança
Lavando pratos e chão

Mas o puto vem contente
Com o Migalhães na mão
E passa por toda a gente
Em alegria aparente
De quem já sabe a lição

Um senhor muito invulgar
Que chegou com mais senhores
Veio para visitar
O novo centro escolar
E dar os computadores

E lá vem o Joãozinho
No seu contínuo vaivém
Calcorreando o caminho
Desesperando sozinho
À espera da sua mãe

Neste país de papões
A troco de dois vinténs
Agravam-se as disfunções
O rico ganha milhões
E o pobre Migalhães

poema de Luís Costa

via ProfAvaliacao

Me entero por reddit.com, viendo este link, que Venezuela acaba de ordenar un millón de Classmate Pc’s (si, hay 4 links en esa oración. Re web 2.0) a Portugal, por algo así como 3.000 millones de dólares (en el artículo origigal dice “U$S 3 billon”, pero para los yanquis “billon” es Mil Millones, mientras que para los hispanohablantes es Un millón de millones. O Algo así, malditos standares. Volviendo al tema, parece que no es el único plan que tienen Venezuela y Portugal.

De acuerdo al General (Chávez), dijo algo así como “Estamos construyendo una relación sólida [con Portugal]“, y también dijo “Hemos negociado [estos acuerdos] con un interés mutuo en mente.”

Sin más, veamos:

…que más dice Fidel aquí…

heh…fíjate lo que dice Fidel

Comentario personal: Sólo espero que no haga una segunda, o una tercera o una cuarta Vietnam. Tranquilo ahí, Chico Pistola.

Por ahi, miraba este video (que salió en los related de los videos anteriores)

Y….puede ser que sea medio tonto, no? es muy probable. Pero esto de las bases aereas RUSAS en Venezuela….me hace pensar…en algo que pasó, casi similar, que si no fuera por Kevin Costner (Kenny O Donnell y JFK, si no tenés humor negro), ya estábamos a full con la 3º Guerra Mundial. Que circo en el que vivimos.

En fin, espero que esas Classmate no tengan Windows. Porque si lo tienen….. buche total.

San Francisco, CA.- El nuevo modelo de su computadora Classmate PC, además de los recientes procesadores móviles y tarjetas madre para computadoras de escritorio y para dispositivos móviles, junto con proyectos de investigación, dio a conocer Intel en el marco de su evento Intel Developer Forum (IDF) que tiene lugar en esta ciudad.

En la conferencia de apertura, Craig Barrett, presidente de Intel, más que hablar de su tecnología invitó a los asistentes a aprovechar su conocimiento y experiencia para impulsar el desarrollo económico y social del mundo, refiriéndose principalmente a los países en vías de desarrollo.

Pat Gelsinger, vicepresidente y gerente general del Grupo de Empresa Digital; Dadi Perlmutter, vicepresidente y gerente general del Grupo de Plataformas Móviles; Tom Rampone, vicepresidente de Ventas y Mercadotecnia y gerente general de Plataformas de Canal, aparte de Anand Chandrasekher, vicepresidente y gerente general del Grupo de Ultra-movilidad de Intel, se encargaron de presentar las recientes innovaciones tecnológicas de esta empresa a sus desarrolladores y asociados de negocio.

Por su parte, Rampone presentó el nuevo diseño de la Classmate PC, la cual incluye una pantalla sensible al tacto y tecnología que permitirá mayor interactividad entre estudiantes y profesores en el salón de clases; asimismo, destacó las tarjetas madre para computadoras de escritorio DG45ID Media Series, DG45FC Media Series, DG43NB Classic Series y DP43TF Classic Series.

Según este ejecutivo, las computadoras de escritorio todavía tienen futuro, puesto que los consumidores de video en línea, así como de música y entretenimiento digital, requieren de estos equipos para obtener mayor experiencia visual.

Rampone dio a conocer también una tarjeta que integra en una sola unidad tanto un microprocesador como el chipset y tarjeta madre; se trata del modelo D945GCLF2 Essential Series, desarrollado particularmente para sus equipos de escritorio llamados “Nettops”; aunado a lo anterior, presentó la tarjeta Intel Mobile Board MGM45WU para usuarios de negocios, además de la MGM45Rm para consumidores móviles.

fuente INFOCHANNEL

Classmate PC

The announcement

Recently, Portugal had singed up for 500,000 Intel Classmate laptops, which the Portuguese Government, not so genuinely named it Magalhães – The First Portuguese Laptop!. This little toy was announced, by our Prime-Minister José Sócrates and Intel’s Chairman Craig Barrett, as if it was the first and unique world low-cost computer for school children. What a coincidence, is was not! Besides its older competitors, this baby as already 4 months old! But I’m sure the Portuguese already knew that. Wrong! They didn’t, as a matter of fact, they have no idea, so the Government can cheat its people and say whatever he wants, because no one will say the opposite. And to help the party grow, the media can give a little hand, or two!

Propaganda: The not so Portuguese Laptop!

As I was reading the first news, before watching any video of the event, I got preplexed by the propaganda again used in favour of the world biggest corporations. The truth is that several toys like Magalhaes based on the Classmate PC reference design are already being sold in several countries, with other different names, which turns Magalhaes an obselete mediatic announcement! Even though, the Portugues Gorvenment went through and decide to announce it as a brand new thing, cheap, made in Portugal, and with a Portuguese name, so it could be very nationalist, and appeal to the patriotic history of Portugal! What a great idea to a government that is lately under fire: better than make genuine portuguese computers, is to import the technology, the idea, the machine itself and assembled it in a portuguese factory, and then publicy it big, so that everybody believe that this is a real portuguese computer! F**k, they are good!

It smells like capitalist spirit here!

500,000 is such a big number that kills any possibility of the OLPC computer, the XO-1, to enter in Portugal. This will certainly make our educational system worse. I have no doubts of the betterness of the XO-1 comparing to this other competitors like Magalhaes aka Classmate PC. For those who have doubts, please watch this precious video by Alan Kay.

XO-1

Intel and Microsoft can’t stand by watching another company selling stuff that isn’t their stuff. Their machines with their operating systems. Because, even if it runs any Linux OS, it is most probably that XP will be used. Microsoft cannot accept children to be grown familiared with any other OS than Windows, or in the future, as adults, they won’t buy it! So, in their view, children are Microsoft’s future, so they must use Windows (and other Microfost’s Software). They just won’t accept! This marketing machine is just to strong! Combining this capitalist strenght with the weakness of our politicians… Bingo!

This is how big corporations like Intel and Microsoft, with a little help of the developing countries’ governments, brutally assassinate big projects that could improve the life of millions! At the end, this is all, others may say, a perspective. Ok, I accept it. It surely is a perspective but, am I wrong? Isn’t that the truth? I know it will be difficult not to buy one for your children, and I totally understand your point but, besides that, just think about it and beware of further government annoucements.

Intel’s Classmate for Portuguese Children
Intel will join hands with the Government of Portugal for an education program that aims to provide 500,000 educational PCs to Portuguese children. Under a memorandum of understanding, the program was kicked off by Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates and Intel chairman Craig Barrett. Termed as the Magellan Initiative (“Iniciativa Magalhães”), it’ll provide Intel’s classmate PCs to elementary school children…Full Article

Intel classmate PC and Vernier\

Just back from NECC 08 and the floor was buzzing over all these tiny computers ranging from $300 to $500. I travelled with a classmate PC and loved it. Light, cute, and I didn’t have to take it out of my bag when I went through security.

But, I’m a grownup. Will kids like these tiny computers? 

There are half a dozen flavors out there — ASUS, Intel’s classmate PC, HP Note, OLPC — and all boast different features. We played with the classmate PC running Vernier’s Logger Lite software. This graphing and analysis software allows kids to play with probes and sensors and collect scientific data in real time. Really cool. Love Vernier’s probeware. Even though their hand dynamometer told me I have the grip strength of an eight-year old girl.

So, what do you think readers? Will all these compact computers broaden science education and make computers available to all kids?