ASUS and Intel slaughters OLPC with Eee-ase

ASUS and Intel have actually created an alternative for Nicholas Negroponte's OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) called the "Eee PC". The difference here is that the ASUS Eee PC is actually something that looks usable and perhaps even desirable for everyday use as a super cheap UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC). The ASUS Eee computer will cost a mere $199 for the 7" LCD model whereas the so-called $100 OLPC costs $175. Given the fact that Eee can run Linux or Windows XP and it can boot off NAND flash memory in a mere 15 seconds, the Eee slaughters the OLPC with ease.

The OLPC was originally slated to be the $100 PC but the actual production cost is somewhere around $175. I had a chance to get a test drive of the OLPC at the CTIA wireless conference and it was probably the worst computing experience I've had in a long time. The rubberized keyboard was virtually stuck to the surface with almost zero tactile feedback and the Operating System of the OLPC spends a painful 2-3 minutes to boot. Even launching a new application seems to take an eternity.

The user interface of the OLPC doesn't even feel worth of a cheap fisher price toy. If I were to rank it, it would be somewhere above DOS and far below Apple's Lisa (predecessor to the Mac Operating System). I can't wait to test drive the Eee PC.