Ars Technica reports that Intel will be following in the footsteps of MIT's $100 "One Laptop per Child" project by also providing a laptop for developing countries. Unfortunately, Intel plans to price its "Edu-Wise" notebook at $400. That might be a little pricey for students in countries like Brazil where the GDP per capita is only around $8,000.

The key question is, do students in countries such as Brazil need to "twirl an operational system complete," or would a stripped down version of Linux do just as well for them? At US$400, and without the handcrank that can power the MIT machine, Intel's laptop won't be showing up in rural Cambodian villages anytime soon. Still, it might be used in thriving markets like Brazil, India, and China. If Intel can hold the line on price, it may have a useful machine on its hands; if the project grows much more expensive, though, there will be few cost savings over a traditional laptop.

Take the UMPC (better known as Origami). Since its original announcement, the platform has swelled in price, and now costs from US$600 to US$1,000. Intel's project could very well suffer the same fate; Engadget, for instance, is guessing that it will come in at US$750. That seems pretty steep considering that current cheapo laptops cost less than this. Plus, the the new machine won't be out for a year. Given that processors are a major piece of a laptop's costs, Intel may be willing to provide older chip stock at blowout prices, which could potentially help the new laptop stay at US$400. Even at those prices, we think the machine may be too expensive to be widely deployed; anything higher could kill the project completely.