Tech Shout!

A few things are likely to happen when you mix kids with notebooks, figures Wilton Agatstein, vice president of Intel’s channel platforms group. Kids will drop them, lose them, and use them to goof off in class. That’s why the Classmate PC–a sub-$400 notebook that Intel is developing for kindergarteners through high school students in emerging nations–will come with about 1GB of flash memory instead of a hard drive so it can withstand accidents better.

As a threat deterrent, the notebook will come with asset-control software, so if it is out of the classroom for too many days, the notebook disables itself.

The Classmate will also sport a special version of Windows that prevents kids from accessing Internet sites or adding programs that have been designated by parents or teachers as off-limits. The computer has software that can be used during classroom exercises. If a child tries to surf away from the lesson at hand, a message pops up saying, “Please pay attention to the professor.”

One thing these new PCs will not have, however, is a special processor. A few years ago, Intel was contemplating creating a processor for emerging markets. It even kicked off some trials in Vietnam, according to sources. Intel does not make these PCs. Instead, it designs them and gives free blueprints to manufacturers and the independent dealers who make up the channel.

These PCs will be sold in conjunction with pay-as-you-go and credit programs to make it easier for poor people to buy them. For PCs set up in kiosks in villages, individuals will sell computer access time to their neighbors and pay off the computer over time. Governments in approximately 60 countries have created about 170 programs for people to buy PCs with credit.