That $100 Laptop Again

That other war, the undeclared one between internet rivals Microsoft and Google rumbled on again yesterday, with BillGates taking a hardly veiled sideswipe at the Google backed One Child One Laptop project. (and here, and here).


'The last thing you want for a shared-use computer is for it to be something without a disk, and with a tiny little screen,' said Gates.

'If you are going to have people sharing the computer, get a broadband connection and have somebody there who can support the user.'

Gates also blasted the crank system that can provide some of the laptop's power. 'Geez, get a decent computer where you can actually read the text and you're not sitting there cranking the thing while you're trying to type,' he said.

Gates, who was named as the world's richest man this month with a 50-billion-dollar fortune, also told the Government Leaders Forum that phones would soon become 'digital wallets' that store and coordinate personal information for everyday use.

He showed off an ultra-mobile computer Microsoft developed together with Samsung that will cost between 600 to 1,000 dollars.