India's $10 Laptop Isn't A Laptop… And Nobody's Sure Exactly What It Is
from the land-of-confusion dept
Earlier in the week, I posted that a new cheap laptop initiative from the Indian government was following the OLPC project’s strategy of forging ahead on its own, instead of collaborating with market players and taking advantage of the benefits such collaboration could offer. Some more details about the project have emerged, and I’m glad to report they weren’t doing what I predicted, in that they didn’t launch a new student-focused netbook; instead, they launched… well, this thing that isn’t a laptop. The problem is it’s not very clear at all what, exactly, the device is. The Times of India calls it “a damp squib,” and a storage device that could lead to the development of a $60 laptop. Photos aren’t a lot of help, nor is the description that it “helps e-learners access the Web easily.” Even the most detailed list of specs doesn’t help. As far as we can tell, it’s some sort of glorified 2GB thumb drive, in a 10-inch by 5-inch case, that may or may not include some networking technology. It’s somehow related to a project to put textbook information online so it can more easily be accessed in remote parts of the country. So, congrats to the Indian government for not going down the laptop path, but if they could better explain just what they hell they have made, everybody would be grateful.
