Indian Company Shows Off Sub-$200 Laptop 318
geo_2677 writes "The Indian company which came out with the Simputer has now come with a
PC which cost roughly INR 10,000; that's just about US $200. The project
was backed by the Indian government R&D department Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)." Geo2677 points out an article on the low-cost computer
at hinduonline.net and another at the Times of India, and writes "The new PC is Linux-based and has office applications, a browser and audio/video capabilities. With a keyboard that can be rolled
up, it looks pretty sleek. A U.S. company is already using it in pilot projects, and many more have shown interest. The Indian government hopes that this will push the PC revolution to the masses. It aimed for home users and small businesses/shops. The PC penetration in India is very low, at a measly 13 million, due to the high costs involved."
hmmm.... piracy (Score:2, Interesting)
Tandy 100 reborn? (Score:5, Interesting)
Moore's corollary? (Score:4, Interesting)
The main aim, Mr. Deshpande said, was to develop a system that was affordable and provided the essential features, "without the unnecessary fluff of the conventional systems.'' The target audience is households, small shops, professionals such as lawyers and chartered accountants, and field staff of pharmaceutical, insurance and other industries. It could be used as e-book readers by educational institutions, for telemedicine and as a nurse's aide.
Well, this doesn't look much like a market for Microsoft to play in. I wonder how long it will be before the intended users want to play games, or run Excel? Something tells me that it will be day zero.
Free, for only $24.95 month (Score:5, Interesting)
India will eat our lunch because they stay focused on the goal instead of stupid glittery Paris Hilton tech like we do.
Re:interesting (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:interesting (Score:3, Interesting)
That is because most of these systems, including cimputer were advertized as being useful for rural population primarily farmers. The intention is good but there are couple of problems:
- Most rural farmers still use old methods of farming. They are not mechanized. Unless they are technically savvy, they are not goona use these devices for day-to-day work like accounting etc.
- Most of the rural population are very "careful" with gadgets. And I know this because I am from India. They keep it covered and protected like a redneck taking care of his car (pun intented). Thus the device is not used as intented.
Unless manufacturers can address these two issues, I don't think they will be successfull in making these products a success. Besides, you don't give up just because history tells you its not possible.Re:interesting (Score:3, Interesting)
They only include a 90-day warranty, but upgrading it to two years cost me $120 minus $50 rebate.
$400 wireless with GPS: I'm all over it! (Score:4, Interesting)
If the IR module is powerful enough, you could also use it for home automation and as a remote for your entertainment system.. or just use the wireless to connect to your network and control everything that way.
Touch screen would be ideal. If I could get one of these, it would be my car GPS and home automation pal.
Re:interesting (Score:3, Interesting)
From my perspective, if you toss in an 802.11b CF card this thing makes the perfect PC for a manufacturing environment--I'd love to give one of these to every one of my shop leads so they can move around and do their jobs instead of being tied to their desks.
Right now the solution to that is a $2000 tablet PC--a sub $200 computer that only weighs 1.1lb?? Who cares if there's no onboard storage? That's what NFS and SMB are for. Who cares if it doesnt run windows? For email, office apps, and our ERP system, a cut down linux system is more than enough.
Sign me up!
Re:Numbers numbers numbers (Score:2, Interesting)
Then, my parents scraped together $500 to buy a computer. Don't ask me how they did, or what they expected. But it was understood that it was for us kids to learn. None of us really knew what we were supposed to learn. Not even my parents. It was an amazingly large sum of money.
Within two years, my siblings and I were at the top of our schools. Now, 25 years later, we all own at least one home (including my parents), and have good jobs. My children have very comfortable lives. They could never imagine my childhood.
Smart parents in India will place a premium on education. They will also recognize the potential of introducing their children to computers. $230 is a lot of money. I don't argue that. But it could be an investment that changes the lives of generations.
The site, with pictures! (Score:3, Interesting)
The best pictures are in the PDF.