One Lap Per Child (OLPC) is a charity project aimed at bringing affordable computers to the threshold of children from Africa and developing countries. Until recently, the programme was on course, that is, before Intels decision to pull out. Intels involvement as a participant in this project had come after earlier criticisms saying that it was acting to frustrate the efforts of OLPC. Intel, the worlds largest chipmaker, has been undertaking a rival project, The Classmate PC, one in which its chairman Craig Barret has been directly involved and which has enjoyed a substantial amount of investment so far. Last week, OLPC asked Intel to end this project, a request that saw Intel, a board member, pulling out of the deal. A week earlier, Mary Lou Jepsen, chief designer of the laptop, resigned from the project to persue commercial interests.
