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What Happened to Simputer?
An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices.com has published a brief update on the much-heralded Simputer, the Linux-based 'platform for social change' that was intended to bring inexpensive, easy-to-use computers to rural Indian villages. In the last 12 months, only about 4,000 units have been sold -- well below the planned 50,000+ units. Three Simputer models priced from $240 to $480 were introduced by PicoPeta one year ago, whereas the original goal was a maximum of $200. A cost-reduced redesign is reportedly in the works."
My sympathy goes to them for failing twice.
I wonder if they did have market research to identify the need? You can't just build and hope they will come anymore.
This reminds me of a joke where a group of settlers came to this island and gifted the chief some pet gold fish as a gesture of good faith, but the chief just ate all the them.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Linux-based systems like the Simputer have a problem competing against Windows/x86 machines in third world markets. The problem is that Windows-compatible software is effectively free, due to piracy. And, even if it isn't strongly marketed locally, that software is made more attractive by all the money spent promoting it elsewhere. (And, this is a dupe, too. The Linux Devices story even links to the same AP article as the original Slashdot posting.)
The Simputer folks designed some really cool software for use with low-horsepower machines where people use a wide variety of languages and alphabets and village-appropriate applications. It was cool stuff, and apparently they were better at that than they were at hardware design. Sounds like it's a good time for them to recognize what they're good at and what they're not good at, and port the software to newer commercial PDA platforms and/or open it so other people can port it.
I can't tell if that $199 Dell can support USB adequately or not - too many PDA devices know how to be a USB slave that can be updated by a computer, but don't know how to be a USB master than can drive printers, modems, etc. But it wouldn't be surprising to see hardware that can do that well in a similar price range - if not now, then wait 3-6 months.
it's my totally insightful comment on this same story from last week: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=144848&cid=121 31116
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Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
I'm really not surprised this wasn't a success. A lot of companies blindly go after "emerging markets" without really understanding them. In particular, price isn't as big of a deal as some people think it is. For example, people vastly underestimate the buying power of people in India. Even if everyone was able to afford a computer, what would they do with them? They have no training, no experience, and no support infrastructure.
Interestingly enough, there are some business models that work well. Take the "village PC" model. One person in the village buys a computer (possibly with village assets), supports it, rents out time on it, etc. Everyone in the village, regardless of their technical expertise, benefits from the technology. This model has also worked well for mobile phones.
Last quarter, there were two good talks on technology for emerging and "invisible" markets here at the University of Washington. The first is a talk by Eric Brewer (UC Berkeley) entitled The Case for Technology for Developing Regions. An abstract, video, and MP3 of the talk are available from that site. The other talk was given by John Sherry of Intel's People and Practices Research Group. PowerPoint slides, an abstract, a suggested reading list, a discussion wiki, and more. I highly encourage you to check these talks out.
Your factual accuracy would make a Fox news commentator blush.
The simputer is being funded by private capital. I've even met some of the people bankrolling it. Those rich Indian guys spend a lot of time dreaming up creative ways to make money. But most ideas like this are going to fail. It's not a "boondoggle", and entrepreneurship.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
"Seriously, $100... why, when you could probably organise computers for India for free with a little international logistics and som..... wait..."
"Actually scratch all that I just remembered we are capitalists. Silly me."
Oh boy, does that ever strike a chord for me. I just ranted about how hard it is to get decent equipment in the developing world last weekend.
Honestly, the big problem is not whether people would actually buy such a device, but how they would go about buying one. You see, shopping online is not an option if you're not online(!). Nor are there handy factory outlet stores in the places where these things are most useful. Governments do some things very well; one of those things is business and/or technology development. They generally don't know jack****, however, about little details like sales channels and marketing.
If I could get in touch with a supplier of these (or any similar competing device), I'd order a dozen right now. I'd easily be able to sell them on my next trip into the villages.
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
Even if 20% of the people can afford the Simputer, you are still looking at a market of over 200 million; a market roughly the size of the USA.
Please, use some of your fancy 'Intarweb skilz' to learn more about that country. Learn about things like PPP (purchasing power parity) and the fact that India is a net exporter of food. Even if India didn't produce a single grain of food, their stocks would last 3 years. India is also the world's largest producer of dairy products.
In general, thanks to the culture there, people can survive with the most minimal of resources. If cows can run around on the streets and eke out an existence, don't you think people can? And I'm talking about the worstcase scenario here.
For one thing it has both USB host and device ports. I haven't seen anything else in the small mobile space that has host ports.
It's very powerful for $200. Granted the screen at that price is monochrome, so it will never be an executvie toy, but there are similar mono devices for industrial apps by companies like Symbol. I could see it used in the same kinds of applications.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Fry's Electronics (electronic store chain based in California) has been making wonderfully crappy 199.00 dollar computers for years! They run Linux, and are cost-efficient in every respect. Are these other people aiming for a massive profit margin, or are they just unable to replicate the technical efficiency of the local computer-monger?
handheld technology is a useless and unaffordable novelty for these people. this sounds like just another attempt to create a market to profit from without considering the true needs of the targeted social group(s).
a stripped down palm pilot isn't going to bring about social change. if they are trying to connect rural indian villagers to the benefits of the modern technological world, then create government subsidized computing centers in rural villages. how about free e-libraries for people to access the internet, and free electronic texts from?
education and greater (free) access to information might give these impoverished people more upper-mobility. but giving them some technological novelties is really just shoving modern consumerist culture down their throats. i'm decidedly a computer geek and i can't even justify spending money on a palm pilot for myself. i could understand if these were cheap computers with free internet access, but giving poor rural villagers a stripped down pda with an organizer and what-not is really just like giving inner city kids $200 nike sneakers. maybe you'll condition them into thinking that they need these exorbitant luxuries, but you sure as hell aren't helping them in any way.