Image Gallery: Will Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child be a problem for Microsoft?

Last week, while at an AMD press conference, one of the agenda items had to do with AMD's efforts to help bridge the digital divide (in other words, put computing power that's typicalof the haves in the hands of the have-nots). AMD's most visible project on this front has to do with it's involvement in Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child project which started at MIT's Media Labs but is now its own separate entity. If the OLPC had the equivalent of an "Intel Inside" sticker on it, it would say "AMD Geode Inside." To be specific, that's AMD's Geode GX processor which draws a battery-friendly 1.1 watts.

Previously, we've published a series of images showing a prototype of the OLPC. But at last week's press conference, AMD brought what it called a "nearly production-level" model to show-off to the press. Just prior to the beginning of the press conference, I rattled the shutter in my Nikon D70 DSLR a bunch of times for some different views of the OLPC (we've also got some video footage of the OLPC below!). As can be seen from one of those images (above left) and the video, the near-production machine that AMD was showing-off at its press conference wasn't just an ordinary clamshell-designed notebook, but rather, it's a convertible that can switch between a notebook and tablet modes. We've published the rest of the images in a ZDNet image gallery; they're basically just different views of the unit showing it in its different configurations and with the antennas up and down (USB ports and sound jacks are hidden behind the antennas).

Perhaps more interesting however is what AMD executive VP and chief sales and marketing officer Henri Richard had to say when I asked him about the potential impact that the OLPC, once in the hands of millions of children around the world (should the project be successful and so far things look pretty good), might be on Microsoft. After all, at the same time Microsoft is launching new versions of its flagship operating system and office suite, it is getting challenged on numerous fronts. There's all the big Googlesque money behind Web-based suites. There's the OpenDocument Format (that's threatening to ameliorate the addictive parts of Microsoft Office).

And then there's the OLPC. Microsoft has at times said that the international market is one of the growth areas with the most potential for its business. But what if millions of kids are growing up on Linux. Doesn't that create just the slightest disposition towards a non-Microsoft operating system? Strategically, can that be good for Microsoft. As AMD is a partner to Microsoft, Richard came across as careful in not offering any form of concurrence. But here's what he said (and here's the audio version):

ZDNet: One Laptop Per Child, AMD is contributing the Geode processor to that project, there are other technologies in there like RedHat...what are the implications for Microsoft as millions of children in the world, essentially the farm-team for tomorrow's computing users, adopt a technology that's completely non-Microsoft in nature?

Richard: Well first, we are participating with Microsoft in other programs, it's not like they've been standing still, and we have the flexiglo program that we've been working with them on...so they are going with their own ways about trying to get further penetration in these markets...the beautiful thing about the OLPC is that it's an X86 processor, so it's not actually not forbidden for Microsoft to participate. There has been conversation in the past between Professor Negroponte and Microsoft for a lot of reasons that you'll have to ask him about...he decided to go the other route, but I don't think ultimately as I said earlier...we're going to preclude anyone who wants to do the right thing, to bridge the digital divide and make a difference to come to the party. So, today it is a Linux-based solution, but who knows, maybe in the future, a future generation of OLPC could be running on a Microsoft operating system. It's certainly possible technically. 

ZDNet: What does Microsoft have to do to its existing operating systems to fit them in that small box and make it viable for the market?

Richard: Really not much. I think it would be a fairly trivial exercise to take Vista and have it run on the (OLPC's) hardware. Obviously as we continue to rev the generation of OLPC, you're going to see more computing power being available, while always declining the power consumption...and as that becomes a reality, even an operating system as rich as Vista will be able to run on it.

Trivial exercise? Let's forget for a moment that Nicholas Negroponte once referred to the idea of training children to run Word, Powerpoint and Excel as being "criminal." As can be seen from the specs below, the OLPC doesn't have a hard drive and the Linux kernel is flashed into its BIOS. According to Microsoft's own Web site, the requirements for the Starter Edition of Windows Vista that the company is targeting at customers in developing nations include a 15GB hard drive and 512MB RAM (go ahead, put that in your flash BIOS and boot it).  But aside from the technical requirements, there's also the licensing model behind Windows. Kids do amazing things in the face of adversity and to put it bluntly, the OLPC with its rather spartan resources represents diversity. But that's part of what's great about it.

There will be those kids (perhaps not many, but they're out there) that will overcome that adversity and the result will be innovation. But, with Windows, it's harder to innovate since Windows operates according to different intellectual property rules than does Linux. Does Microsoft's licensing model stifle innovation? Without an open source model some would argue yes. Others might say no since there's still plenty of room for innovation on top of the services that Windows has to offer. Even so, if there are forces in the market that could be forcing Microsoft to rethink how it licenses Windows, the OLPC project could be one of them. Especially since the OS in the OLPC comes at a dramatically different price to OLPC OEMs than would any version of Windows: free.

• Processor: AMD Geode GX 533@1.1W Processor, 32-bit, 32KB of level 1 cache, 16KB for instructions, and 16KB for data.
• Memory: 128 MB RAM
• Graphics: Controller is integrated with the Geode CPU
• Hard Drive: 512 MB Single Level Cell (SLC) Non-Volatile (NAND) Computer Memory flash memory
  
• Display: Liquid-crystal display: 7.5" Dual-mode TFT display, 1200 (H) x 900 (V) resolution (200 dpi)
• Connectivity: Wireless: Marvell Libertas 88W8388+88W8015, 802.11b/g compatible; dual adjustable, rotating coaxial antennas
• Ports: 3 Type-A USB-2.0 connectors; 1 SecureDigital card slot
• Operating System: Linux using LinuxBIOS
• Weight: Less than 3.3 Lbs (target only—subject to change)