Skip to main content

Steve Jobs advised on the OLPC project, MS tried to Thwart

The OLPC project hasn’t been the success that Nicolas Negroponte, its creator, had hoped.  That’s not because of the lack of good advice that Apple’s CEO gave along the way.

Interestingly, Jobs did advise founder Nicholas Negroponte at several points along the design process even though his advice wasn’t well received..

“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,” Negroponte said as part of a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Thursday night.

It turns out he couldn’t and he had to double the price…even though some Netbooks cost less than $200.  And by most accounts the OLPC is a POS.

“He was actually a very good critic, and each time we got to a point, I did talk to him,” Negroponte added. Negroponte also mentioned his displeasure with Microsoft, both in terms of Windows 7 performance, and Microsoft’s attempts to thwart the OLPC initiative.

How will FakeSteve reconcile this story?

Via CoM, Image via Gizmodo

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel