OLPC – the G1G1 will only be til December 31?

I just read on TechDirt that the Get One Give One OLPC program will only be until December 31 and after that it will just be Give One. Some people think it’s Negroponte’s way of expressing his bitterness over Intel’s release of another laptop called Classmate.

Maybe he’s being bitter, maybe he’s not.

Here’s my take on the matter: Negroponte and entire OLPC team as well as everyone who contributed to the project showed that it is possible to make computers that are not so expensive and could be used as educational tools. Sure, they had a very big dream. And now that they seem to be stopping at that they appear to be bitter. I don’t know if they truly are bitter. But it’s a practical move for them. Intel, et al have greater amount of resources in terms of material and people. They have means. They have the experience. A lot of it. And that’s what the OLPC would probably need in order to surpass their obstacles. In any case, this project probably did something to trigger manufacturers to produce something like the OLPC and we could see them now in the Asus EEE and Intel’s Classmate. What matters most is how these laptops will be used for education. It’s still something we still have to work on, all of us, if we want it to succeed.

What’s your take on the matter?