Indian Government in its attempt to provide the ultimate credit crunching laptop which costs only $10(£7 or rs.500) is set to provide India's masses and indeed the world an opportunity to bridge the “digital divide” between rich and poor.This endeavour ,forms part of the Indian National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology, to boost learning in rural areas through the internet. According to K. K. Pant, a government spokesman, “This basic computing and internet access device will be an extremely powerful learning tool in the hands of the country’s youth.”The laptop is the result of cooperation between several of India’s elite technology institutions, including the Vellore Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the Semi-conductor Laboratory that forms part of India’s Space Department. Private companies are also taking part.
Technology experts, mindful of Mr Negroponte’s experiences of failing to get through a $100 laptop plan following non cooperation from major chipmakers and other essential partners, India’s plans for an even cheaper machine are unrealistic. But this world is always pessimistic isnt it?Some have went to the extent that the project is a mere stunt timed to coincide with the forthcoming general elections. Plans to cut the price to the bone appear to hinge on domestic technology that uses low levels of power.
Our view also is that the price of computer components was too high to make a 500-rupee laptop. Analysts at the financial management company Merrill Lynch estimated that the Negroponte laptop screen alone cost about £20. “India’s $10 price hopes appear to be nothing more than pure fantasy,” it concluded.
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