KEY POINTS:
The Classmate PC's cramped keyboard obviously isn't built for adult fingers.
Its rugged plastic case and small screen also make it look like gadget toymaker Fisher Price would produce.
But the Classmate PC is no toy. It's a stripped-down laptop with all the tools needed to create documents, run applications and access the internet.
It has been made for children in developing nations. It's rugged because it might be carried long distances and won't always be used on a desk. It gives four hours of battery life between charges and its hardware configuration, which includes a 900MHz mobile processor from Intel and a solid-state flash drive, is designed for lowest-cost production.
This one runs on Windows, but it can also be used with the free Linux operating system.
Of the 6.3 million people in the world, about 5 billion don't have access to computers. At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco last week there was lots of talk of getting computers into the hands of the next billion people. It's a worthy project but one that has been rife with problems and political division.
Computer scientist Nicholas Negroponte unveiled the US$100 (NZ$135) laptop, or OX-1, in 2005 as part of his One Laptop Per Child initiative. The green and white machines built by computer maker Quanta run Linux and the open source OpenOffice.org word processing suite, as well as the Firefox web browser and Skype internet telephony service.
They use mobile ad-hoc wireless networking, which allows many devices to connect wirelessly using the same internet connection. They also use processors from Intel rival AMD.
Meanwhile, Intel worked away at developing the Classmate PC, which last year led to the OX-1 and the Classmate competing for the attention of developing nations' governments, which were offered them cheap for mass orders.
Negroponte lashed out at Intel, claiming the chip-maker was hurting his initiative. It didn't help the cost of the OX-1 blew out to about US$190.
After a bitter dispute played out in the media, Intel joined the One Laptop Per Child initiative in July, clearing the way for Negroponte's non-profit organisation to push the technology without fear of being undercut by rivals.
Intel last week showed off another low-cost machine, the Eee PC, it developed with computer maker Asus. The Eee PC is slightly more stylish than the Classmate and the OX-1, its maker planning to release it as a general use low-cost PC.
The main focus now is getting the price of such computers down to the US$100 level. Developing nations are keen to get the laptops to children by March. One Laptop Per Child announced it had a million orders for OX-1s and they're in use from Africa to South America.
One positive spin-off from having large numbers of low-cost laptops in the developing world, apart from helping to educate a generation of children, is in healthcare. Able to keep patient records in digital form, doctors and nurses will be able to take advantage of the laptop's open standards to use medical equipment.
E-books are being created for the laptops and Wikipedia is designing a free off-line version of its encyclopaedia in different languages to put on the laptops.
It's taken a while to get the tech companies on the same page - after all, the children of the developing world are the consumers of tomorrow. But a co-ordinated effort to get computers to them is now under way.
* Peter Griffin attended the Intel IDF as a guest of Intel.
