November 14, 2005: OS X Rejected for Low Cost Laptops
The One Laptop per Child initiative is a noble pursuit with the goal of providing a Wi-Fi enabled laptop to the poorest and most remote children in the world.
The purpose is to provide educational opportunities for the less advantaged, and as such, price is paramount. Steve Jobs offered to lend a hand, or rather an OS, when he agreed to let One Laptop use OS X for free on the low cost laptops.
The group rejected Steve's either generous or calculated offer (depending on your perspective), citing the closed source nature of OS X. They opted for Red Hat Linux this week in 2005.
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But they announced a couple of months later that they will be offering Windows as an install option.
“I have known [Microsoft chairman] Bill Gates his entire adult life. We talk, we meet one-on-one, we discuss this project,” said Negroponte.
FSJ’s take on the whole OLPC buisness is just hilarious.