A Chip That's Worth a Wait

Will we ever see AMD chips inside Apple computers?
Apple is a great company, and we would love to be a supplier to them. We will continue to work hard at earning their business, and I hope someday we can.

You've pioneered an initiative called 50 x 15—to help connect half of the world's population to the Internet by 2015. Currently only 15 percent are connected. Is this realistic?
I believe so. This not a linear thing, and I think it's going to accelerate more and more. We're going to see in the next few years an explosion of incredibly high-quality, low-cost devices, and I'm very optimistic that half of the world will be connected.

You supply chips for the $100 computer for the developing world. Originally your rival Intel was opposing the effort but recently announced its support. How do you view that?
I think it's great. One Laptop Per Child is a philanthropic effort and is designed to help mostly the poor children of the world who don't have good access to educational technology. Intel's involvement hopefully will make it easier for those children to access the technology.

Your personal story shows how a door to the United States can bring in talented people. Do you think that the country is losing sight of that, at least when it comes to legislation?
Absolutely. It's very disappointing to see this issue politicized. There are millions of people around the world who could contribute to this country tremendously who would like to come. But we have not allowed yet for that to occur. It's not a complicated issue. My case is a perfect example, and I'm so thrilled that many years ago an enlightened school district would allow a student like me to come across the border to go to school. That sort of enlightenment doesn't exist in our government today.

You are a guitar player—what's your signature song?
Well, that would be "Me and Bobby McGee"—but with Janis Joplin and Kris Kristofferson.

© 2007