Minor handheld skirmish in Nigeria?
Two competing initiatives aimed at providing cheap computers to children in emerging economies appear to be slugging it out over the same turf. Abuja in Nigeria is where the action is ... apparently!
The interesting thing is that two competing projects, The 'One Laptop per Child' ($100 laptop) (OLC) project and Intel's Classmate both simultaneously issued press releases for their projects which appear to be located in the same area. The other interesting thing is one is open source and the other is based on Microsoft's operating system. The Intel project is supported by WIMAX wi-fi to reach large areas. There are a number of neat gadgets and some cool thinking to solve problems, including a yo-yo charger, and a USB fan to reduce the heat. Just for reference at current exchange rates $100 is NGN 11,850 (Nigerian Naira).
CLICK HERE for the story about the $100 laptop (HERE for a video history of the project)
CLICK HERE for the story about the Intel Classmate
Now, if we can get Kent classified as an emerging economy ...