Intel hates MIT, battery RTFM (and time waster)

In today's IT Blogwatch, we look at how Intel hates MIT's $100 laptop with a passion, and peer into the murky world of the latest battery tech. Not to mention today's annoyingly addictive time waster [I have horrible visions of offices around the world echoing to the sound of this]...

We reported on these laptops previously: Nov 18 as well as Sept 30 and here we are again, but now Intel is off te fence. Frank Hayes asks, "What was [Intel chairman] Craig Barrett thinking when he started talking smack about those hand-cranked $100 computers? In fairness, I don't know if the Intel chairman's quoted comments were prepared remarks or responding to an unexpected question from a reporter. But they're pretty bizarre in any case ... Gadgets haven't been successful? Well, that's news to the part of the business moving tens of millions of sub-PC devices every year. But gadgets certainly haven't been successful for Intel, which has poured heavy investment dollars into an effort to break into the handheld market ... And would the world's poor prefer not to be dependent on hand cranks for power and satellites for connections to the rest of the world? Sure -- but wiring every village in the third world with electricity and phone lines ain't gonna happen anytime soon ... Maybe Barrett truly believes those $100 gadgets are useless. Fair enough -- that's the business he's in.  But he might want to rethink whether that's the message he wants to grab headlines with." [Yep, Frank's bang-on; Barrett would say that, wouldn't he?]

» But Martin Brown regretfully disagrees, "Sadly I think he's right - the article goes on to explain that people want to be able to run PC applications - and again I think this is right. People want compatibility with the other millions of computers out there, not cut-down computers that have limited compatibility with other machines ... you only have to compare the rise of notebooks and their smaller brothers - the palmtops. Everybody thought years ago that palmtops would rule the world in terms of portable computing. We had ever more powerful devices , but while everybody likes the idea of having a portable and powerful computer that fits into their pocket, the reality is what they really want is to be able to use their regular applications and environments ... the moment you introduce a product that isn't compatible at a software level with the millions of other computers available you are basically trying to ice skate uphill."

» Ars's Ryan Paul: "Barret claims that MIT's $100 laptop is an ineffectual gadget that will suffer from low demand and limited success despite the tremendous amount of international interest in the project. Citing hardware limitations, Barret says that the device will not adequately meet the needs of its target consumers, and he argues that Intel's contributions to IT in developing countries are far more tangible and relevant. The $100 laptop could potentially change the way that we think about education, and there is already considerable demand for exactly this kind of technology. I think that we can safely conclude that Intel's prophecies of laptop doom are premature if not totally unwarranted. I would say that Barret's derision is a cheap PR maneuver (a PR "gadget", perhaps?) rather than logical, constructive criticism."

» Techdirt's Carlo: "It's not because the people at which the machines are aimed want more expensive and powerful computers, but rather that it's likely they've got more pressing needs to fulfill with $100, assuming they have even that. Is Barrett just trying to say the world's poor want Intel inside?"

» David Rothman: "I myself think there’s room for both the MIT-style devices and more powerful machines -- just so the Third World gizmos are more muscular than, say, the Simputer ... No partisanship here, though. I myself would love Intel to jump into the fray with a hardware project of its own." [Wow, a blast from the past -- whatever happened to the Simputer?]

Is this the RTFM of batteries? Rapid recharge, Thin, Flexible, and ... Mmm? Engadget fills us in: "We’re having a hard time deciding what is the coolest part about these; their 0.3mm thickness that allows them to be flexible, or the fact that they can be recharged in about 30 seconds ... The organic radical materials inside the battery are in an 'electrolyte-permeated gel state,' which is supposedly about halfway between a solid and a liquid ... 1 square centimeter will give you about 1 miliwatt hour. That’s not enough to power your laptop, but according to NEC, one recharge of this battery allows an active RFID tag to transmit tens of thousands of signals ... can one day be used in IC cards, RFID tags, electronic paper, wearable computers, and other such technologies stepping up to the plate in the coming decade."

» Dan Conderman laments: "Damn, I thought this was ready for primetime. I am big into hobby grade R/C cars. Right now the best technology out is Li-Ion. The power to weight ration is very good, the downfall is that they are very unstable and expensive. I pay $50 for a 2 cell pack, and so far I have had 4 Liquefy on me thus blowing $200, very pricey. I am waiting for the next big thing in battery tech to come out."

» Valid point from Aznboi04k: "do any of these new battery technology ever become retail products? seems like it's all hyped prototype. i won't believe it until i can purchase it."

» The last word goes to Triplewide: "Dream for electric swimtrunks..one. step. closer."

Buffer overflow:  

• Rough Type: Sun and the data center meltdown
• IT Toolbox: Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and CRM: Lessons learned?
• Ars Technica: New Xbox 360 CPU details, and fresh Cell info
• Ars Technica: Yahoo! buys del.icio.us
• Old New Thing: On the inability to support hardware that nobody makes any more
• Love at First Boot: A Brief History of the UNIXes
• Gripelog: Yahoo Won't Correct Billion-Dollar Errors
• Shark Tank: Now THAT'S the spirit of the holidays!
• Douglas Schweitzer: Jay’s browser was hijacked by Malware!

And finally...  Today's annoyingly addictive time waster

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk. Also contributing to today's post: Judi Dey, our very own Antipodean.