At Davos, the Squabble Resumes on How to Wire the Third World. Barrett vs. Negroponte

Here in the Swiss mountains at the World Economic Forum, the annual conclave of world leaders, concerns over a growing digital divide this year have taken a back seat to the challenge of climate change.

The controversy boiled over on Saturday at a breakfast meeting here where Craig R. Barrett, the chairman of Intel, squared off with Nicholas P. Negroponte, the former director of the M.I.T. Media Laboratory, whose nonprofit organization One Laptop Per Child is trying to develop a low-cost computer for the 1.2 billion children in the developing world.

By JOHN MARKOFF

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/business/worldbusiness/29cheap.html?_r=1&oref=slogin