Steve Jobs Helped $100 OLPC Computer — As MS Tried To Thwart It

Leander Kahney ()

steven_paul_jobs_by_dylanroscover

Steve Jobs portrait by Dylan Roscover.

Steve Jobs quietly advised the One Laptop per Child project, founder Nicholas Negroponte said at the University of Pennsylvania yesterday.

Said Negroponte:

“I got an email from Steve Jobs (the night the laptop was revealed) he said you can’t build it for a hundred dollars, and my answer was oh yes I can. He was actually a very good critic, and each time we got to a point, I did talk to him.”

Of course, Jobs was right (Gizmodo reviewed the OLPC and concluded it was “a piece of shit”) but at least he tried to help, unlike Microsoft. Negraponte said Microsoft tried to “thwart” the project at several turns.

Jobs has a reputation as a bastard. And there’s no public record of philanthropic efforts (if any) but this shows he at least has a little bit of heart.

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Via TheDigitalLifestyle.tv and Gizmodo.

7 comments »

About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Apple, News, Steve Jobs |

  • http://olpcnews.com Wayan @ OLPC News

    Actually…

    Steve Jobs offered OSX to OLPC back when they were looking for an XO laptop OS, but OLPC went Open Source with Sugar instead. The real (possible) news: Apple Tablet will use OLPC screen:

    http://www.olpcnews.com/hardware/screen/apple_tablet_to_use_olpc_scree.html

  • Joseph

    I’ll bet Jobs donates more than his share to good causes. But he’s intensely private and doesn’t think it’s anybody’s business. I’m sure we’ll learn the truth after his gone. And let’s hope that’s not for a long long long time.

  • Quill

    On some level it’s a question of business strategy. If low-end computers spread and catalyze economic growth, some of those newly (relatively) rich entrepreneurs will spend money on high-end computers and electronics — especially Apple stuff.

    However, the spread of open source operating systems can only hurt Windows.

  • David A Smith

    I think Jobs simply says what he thinks. He gets quite detailed about what is wrong with Windows. This is taken as self serving, when in reality, if MS listened, they too would have a better product.

  • AVR

    The Gates foundation is spending billions to help a lot of worthy causes.

  • iGenius

    Personally, I don’t care if the officers of corporations are good people or bad people (within limits). Ballmer is a jackass, but even if he were a saint, I wouldn’t buy a WinMo phone. Same with Jobs – I care little whether he personally is a good person or bad. His personal attributes do not affect my purchase decisions.

    And BTW, in case nobody’s noticed, this ain’t your father’s Apple anymore.

    They are NOT the company that allows you individuality, or the ability to Think Different. They are a company like Sony, who wants to lock you in and lock you down, beholden to their proprietary methods of dollar extraction. They do not care what YOU think – they care only for methods of maximizing total profits. If their methods coincide with what you want, that is great, but if not, and if they calculate that they will pick up two customers for every one they lose, they will fuck you over in a heartbeat.

  • CaryMG

    Wayan’s right — Stevie gets wind of XO & offers OS X to it FOR FREE.
    MIT refuses.

    XO2′s supposed to be out by now for $100.
    It isn’t — out *or* $100.
    Golly gee, I wonder why ….?