OStatic

Hindsight, it is said, is always 20/20. The OLPC has traveled a turbulent path for quite some time, with its latest stumble coming in the form of drastic staff and development cuts.

Four years on, many are analyzing the choices the OLPC made, and some contend it was a bad idea all around.

We've covered the growing popularity of Linux- and Windows-based netbooks several times, including the threat they represent to standard notebooks, and their ability to put open source software in front of millions of new users.? Today, JKOnTheRun shows without any question that all of this is not lost on Microsoft.? The software giant announced today that it is laying off 5,000 employees following a $465 million shortfall in OEM revenue, and this was cited as an explanation in the 10-Q filing: ?The decline in OEM revenue reflects an 11 percentage point decrease in the OEM premium mix to 64%, primarily driven by growth of licenses related to sales of netbook PCs, as well as changes in the geographic and product mixes. Check out JKOnTheRun's thoughts on whether there is anything Microsoft can do about the trend.

At this year's CES show, there was no shortage of netbooks, which have become a surprisingly strong challenge to the whole traditional notebook market.? I remain surprised that more people in the open source community don't herald this trend as extremely positive for Linux, because Linux is making its way onto millions of netbooks and pre-loaded open source applications arrive with them. Now, there are reports coming in that one of the biggest attractions to netbooks--low prices--could get a lot more attractive.