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Indian Company Shows Off Sub-$200 Laptop
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."
I like how they call it "Linux based", yet in the photo its clearly Windows XP running on it... wodner what percentage will remain linux based.
The PC penetration in India is very low
That's because it hurts a lot.
It will have no hard disk but will have built-in memory and facility to plug in memory cards for any storage over and above that provided for in the built-in memory. It will not have games. High-speed computing is ruled out. The reasoning is that "while adding to the cost, these are of no use to many users.''
The one link is slashdotted already and the other doesn't say how much memory it has built-in. Yeah, it's sub-$200 until you realize that you have to pay another $150+ for a decent sized memory "stick" (or two or three).
after watching a few "internet PC's" drop off the face of the earth due to the fact that it was $300 and all it did was internet, it would be interesting to see how well this actual PC would end up doing. $200 for basically something that can do work processing, internet, music?(not sure since they didnt specify what they mean by audio...) but still. thats a hell of a deal. and big surprise.. it came from india :).
The radio show Marketplace has a http://members.aol.com/adnascar/thepark.html> story about the same machine. Not much details in the story. It doesn't mention linux, but says "it doesn't do windows".
--- http://davidnehme.blogspot.com
Sounds like a good, quiet machine which you can use for office apps - or a server. I don't think it's very fast.
That's certainly interesting, but the screen (with a size of 7,5") really seems a bit small. I understand that you can't attach a huge screen to a laptop and still be able to charge a low price like that, but I'm not sure whether this is big enough to actually use the thing as a real computer instead of as a better PDA or cell phone.
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
A comparable Dell workstation without Windows, and with a regular keyboard, mouse, memory, and 40GB hard drive will cost about $200.
But how will they be able to take my job if these computers have no processing power?
I assume the built in memory contains the OS and the
applications.
Now, If I can use my 1gb usb key for storage, this doesn't seem a bad deal.
Sign me up for one of the wireless ones for 300-400US
(Note the article's 200US price is the base model)
Looks a lot like the Tandy 100. I still have one, last time I used was 4 years ago to take some notes abord a ship. Even if have more than 20 years, is still useful. I think this "notebooks" is conceptually based in that machine :)
DNA in your Linux: DNALinux
it may be cheap, but they'll have to outsource tech support to North America and that's gonna cost ya...
The Marketplace has a story online about this pc.
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
FTA: It will have no hard disk but will have built-in memory and facility to plug in memory cards for any storage over and above that provided for in the built-in memory. It will not have games. High-speed computing is ruled out. The reasoning is that "while adding to the cost, these are of no use to many users.''
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.
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http://www.ncoretech.com/mobilis/index.html with pics and info
Interesting is that no real specs are mentioned (in the one article I could get to). I suspect the processor must work pretty slowly.
But still, that's a heck of a deal for a computer. I'd say this is a good step forward. Even a good many american college students short on cash might jump at the oppertunity to buy a cheap and working computer like one of these.
Obligatory Soundbite Catchphrase
Can you imagine the American version of this? There would be two versions; free + 24.95/month for internet service or the Premium version $400 + 99.95 month including phone, iTunes and a hundred other things you don't need.
India will eat our lunch because they stay focused on the goal instead of stupid glittery Paris Hilton tech like we do.
A very basic computer needs very little memory. I've got some older machines that are more than functional (for basic office work) that have only 16 MB of RAM and 200 MB of disk space. They're fine for word processing, spreadsheets, small databases, and email. I can even use the web, although the high level of graphics and gratuitous formatting on many websites makes it a slow experience.
Just because new machines need 1 GB RAM and 60 GB HDs, doesn't mean you can do anything with 1/10 or even 1/100 of the memory of a modern PC.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Pretty soon, computers as we knew them will be the SUV's of the tech world. We're already going there, I guess. I've seen 17" widescreen notebooks at Futureshop and they look ludicrous to me... huge. What comes next is that awful "sport yellow" colour you see on SUVs these days (remember the ferrari red acer notebook with the vroom vroom sound?) It started with the case-modding and continues with the focus on horsepower and "bitness".
The reported low-cost, compact computer will do for computers what widespread cheap cell phones and text messaging have done for communication. PocketPCs and Palms didn't deliver on their promise in that respect... way too expensive and too limited and not fitting properly into any one of the realms of PC or Phone or Rolodex. Also their operating system licensing costs (particularly with pocketpc) were prohibitive. Welcome the Japanese car invasion of the computer world.
How can Microsoft maintain value in its operating system brand (and the monopolistic pricing) when all computers become commodities like this $200 system?
to paraphrase the Lone Ranger.
Seriously, imagine the impact this will have on the global Open Office, MS Office ratio!
One article says it has "built-in memory".
Now that's something! What's next? Computer
with CPUs and keyboards!
This device should be compared to a PDA, not a PC. Lets come back in a year or so and see how many they've actually sold.
First off, not to nitpick but the title of the article is misleading. The laptop is not sub-$200, 10,000INR is $230 http://www.xe.com/ucc/
/ us.html
/ in.html
The PC penetration in India is very low, at a measly 13 million, due to the high costs involved
Although a $230 laptop is great for people in developed nations unfortunately it is still in the realm of high cost for someone in India.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos
The GDP per capita in America - $40,000
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos
GDP per capita in India - $3,100
For someone in America, hell a $2,000 computer would be 1/20th of income, while a $230 computer in India is 1/13th.
at that price you could ship to where you live and still come out on top after paying for the postage. specs look alright.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/metricmusic
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Greater access to nude celebrity pics and free penis enlargers will surely free Mankind from poverty and war.
</sarcasm>
"I worked hard for it. I deserve it. And I have it," Campbell said. "It's all mine."
Curious. I read about the $200 laptop, but the article didn't mention the submarine...
Here are some good looking pics of the laptop. Im not sure you can call it a laptop though, it looks more like a hybrid version of a pda and laptop. New segment?
h +style/2009-1005_3-5701496.html
Check out http://news.com.com/Photos+Low-cost+computing+wit
Intel 2.8GHz + Motherboard around INR 8000 (This motherboard includes an inbuilt soundcard, Intel's GFX controller)
512 MB RAM INR 2650/-
40GB 7200 RPM around INR2000/- (may be even lesser)
15Inch CRT monitor (say Samsung) INR 4000 Mouse + Keyboard around INR 700/-
Total: around INR 17000/-
And this one would actually be an overkill if you are targetting simple home users.
Take out the 2.8 GHz Intel and use a lesser mortal.. Use a smaller harddisk. Profit!!
The problem is that you will have to buy these as individual components and assemble them yourself (or get them assembled by someone)
Most people can't do this, usually out of ignorance.
p.s. These are the prices as I know them from last week. And some of the components aren't the best. But if you are targetting simple users... Shouldn't matter right ?
... and I shall strike upon thee with great vegeance, furious anger and a slightly positive karma.
Why should they want to? You assume that they need Excel because it's your point of reference and de-facto standard in the US. But this cheap device is aimed at people who don't have a computer now, clearly even a slow comp is way better than none. Consequently, any spreadsheet is better than counting on a sheet of paper and that's the alternative for the target users of these devices.
for them to be on sale for $2!
For computing (where power is available) you can get a lot more for about the same price. A couple of quick searchs turned up a Microtel 1.5 Ghz Sempron with 128 MB, 40 Gig, CD, ethernet and Xandros for $199.98 new and a 17" Dell M770mm for $55 used. Grand total: $254.98. The battery idea, while interesting, still requires access to power to charge the batteries, so I don't see that as a huge advantage except during brown-outs (frequent in India according to friends from there).
The smartest man in the whole, wide world really don't know that much. - Mose Allison
This unit was also featured on NPR's Marketplace last night. One of the features that they touted in the interview was the units very low power consumption. It's designed to be run off batteries or unreliable (which I assume means varying voltage) power sources. As they mentioned, this will help many more third-world villages have computer access. Remember even at $200 it's still a substantial amount of a year's salary.
1 0/PM200505102.html for more details
See http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2005/05/
You know there's something wrong when you see a homeless guy in India pull out a mobile better than yours and say in a perfect british accent "Hello, BT help desk"!
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. - Douglas Adams
I've tried to buy Encore's Simputer. They're not really into retail or for that matter anything close to "consumer electronics" as we understand the term. They like to sell stuff "vertically" - i.e. they use their Simputer as a platform for specific applications. Look for a link to their handheld military version with GPS etc. Very cool.
I would expect them to do something similar with this device.
You can see a bit of that happening already with the reference to the US company which is planning on using this for some kind of security application.
Also, they are a very Linux centric shop.
More details at encore mobilis website.
Depending on where you are, $200 could be a fortune. Relatively speaking, how much is $200 in India? What will it buy you (asside from this computer)? I'm trying to get a better feel for how 'inexpensive' this might be.
I seriously wish I had mod points for your simple, yet elegant, reply. Thanks for calling a spade a spade.
Most people can't do this, usually out of ignorance.
Ignorance? So, can you do brain surgery? If you say no, do I get to call you ignorant, as well?
I'll admit that assembling a basic computer isn't really a brain straining activity. However, you can't just go out and buy whatever parts cost the cheapest. What type of RAM do you need? Is the price difference between a 2.3 and a 2.5 GHz processor worth the higher one?
Even with the mouse, you have so many options. Wireless? Optical? Two button? Four? Eight? For the plebians, it's easy to get get confused. If someone buys the parts for them and gives them a small picture book detailing installation, then, yeah, most anyone could probably do it. Would they be able to run Linux on it? Doubtfully.
And I'm saying this considering the American population, where most people, even if they don't own their own computer, have used one to some degree at some point in their life. In India, you have a much larger group of people who may have seen a computer from afar once in their life. I bet most of those 13 million computers come from outsourced helpdesk setups, basic "You get this question, you give this answer" computers (like what's used in telemarketing places) by Microsoft and what have you.
Yammering that these people should be able to set up a computer like you or I can makes you ignorant, not them.
Where the hell is my coffee.
The PC penetration in India is very low, at a measly 13 million, due to the high costs involved."
Doesn't the fact that many of the population are struggling to feed their families or dying of easily-curable diseases, and that many more are illiterate or live in places without a reliable electricity supply, let alone an Internet connection, have something to do with it too? The Indians who are on the receiving end of outsourcing are a small minority. Also, how interesting is a laptop if you rarely leave your village, compared with, say, a cybercafe (costing typically a few cents an hour)?
Virtually serving coffee
Car GPS systems with smaller displays cost $600 and up. A $400 system that includes a GPS and can also be used for other things would sell like hotcakes!
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.
Hmm, I think you could build a very low end system using parts from online retailers for around $200, although I haven't priced it out in a while. I mean things have just gotten absurdly cheap, like $25 motherboards and so forth.
It wouldn't be high end, but it would have a hard disk and be a "real computer".
1) Mentally block out that it runs Linux
2) Mentally block out why it doesn't run a MS OS
3) Make a note to block out the next low cost device to run Linux
4) Write indignant Slashdot post about how MS could care less anyway since they have X billions in the bank and could just buy the whole country if they really wanted to but they don't.
My grandfather, my mother, and her family overseas could all use them because all they want to be able to do is send email and visit our website to see picutres. They could care less about anything else. I think this is a good thing as long as the quality is there.
I'm not a troll, but I play one on Slashdot.
This would be a boon for the small business and to potentially reach the millions in rural areas. Consider the advantages this would bring to a small store owner who does all his inventory and order management in this and at the end of the day takes it along home and he can continue working on it, or his kids can do their school work on it / browse etc.
Simputer was a noble concept, but the small size worked to its disadvantage since it was never considered as a replacement for a PC. This on the other hand has the potential to do so. And for medium to large companies can use this to automate their supply chains and any of their outdated processes that can be implemented better with automation. The portability is the biggest benefit while offering everything a PC offers.
Rapid Nirvana
if everyone in india got one. This company would make $200 billion dollars...
--
http://unk1911.blogspot.com/
why PC "penetration" is really low in India is because a majority of the population has to fight hard every day to *eat*.
The reality is quite different from that created due to the "outsourcing mecca" image. IT and related services employ only about 6 million Indians (out of a 1.1 billion total). IT related products/services are only about 1.5% of the Indian GDP.
It is going to be a long time for the PC to become a part of the average Indian's life.
BP http://www.card-central.com
sick? poor? no home? no food? doesn't matter get this magical computer and fix all your problems.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
India's focus on IT is really starting to pay back the dividends... The problem now is that their focus has to start to shift to quality.
Although they are becoming a threat for people in NA (in terms of job competition) I wonder how long NA customers can go with the quality issues in the Indian IT market and work force. Anyone who's dealt with an outsourced call center in India will certainly relate to that
I'm by no means flaming India, in fact, I'm pretty amazed at how far they went and wish them all the best; but I believe unless they shift to the next gear (Quality) they will fall as fast as they climbed up..
My 0.2c..That's the guy that did all them fanciful designs for Radio Shack and Realistic back in the 70ies en 80ies. I say the evidence is clear enough. I finally have the honor and pleasure of seeing him. Thanks for the flashlights!
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
the real story is the $20 digital camera they developed to take those awesome photos.
;)
but does it run Windows?
Why not just use old technology for cheap laptops; with slower processors, smaller hard drives, and previous generation LCD displays? Would it cost that much to create a new laptop with specs comparable to a decent laptop from 2000? At first glance, it would seem cheaper than reinenting the wheel.
Where is "Mr. Handtop" CaptainJam when you need him? I was totally expecting him to pipe in! :)
How much does an external hard drive go for in India? When the producers of the thing said "no frills" they obviously weren't kidding about that.
Also, they provided the ability to play music and videos, but since such things are (I imagine) considered luxury items (presumably with their own seperate costs, piracy aside), maybe the producers just decided that no one would ever need to purchase such extras. The important stuff (homework-related stuff to help educate the many poor children out there) seems to take precendence, as it's already included, and if a wealthier person wanted one of these laptops, he could very easily just buy an external hard drive to go along with it.
Of course, I could be horribly wrong.
Frequently in the 3rd World, as us arrogant Westerners describe it, or the less developed world or whatever you call it, systems are shared. For example, a village will have one computer. When you spread the cost of this out between 50 families in a village in India that make far less than the per capita income, it becomes much more affordable. I suspect that this system with also be attractive to NGO's in regions like this and charitable foundations because they can spend less money and get greater distribution of technology and services.
I'll be importing them.
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Named it the Audrey. Failed miserably. I have no doubt this will follow along the same doomed path.
Norwegian site http://digi.no/php/art.php?id=213982 does not give sources, but claims the units have XScale processors running 200 or 400 Mhz and 128 MB Ram, 6 hours battery.
For $200, I want one!
It looks like the new tablet PC's, minus the touch screen...and cost. ~CYD
//Nothing to see here, please move along.
This is India. The technology has to be cheap in order to sell. That means cheap memory as well. Besides it supports USB2, put your data on a flash drive.
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Seems to me that with the number of two gig gmail accounts out there these days, you really don't *need* to have all that great storage on the computer itself. I know I'm running a crappy crappity craptop with less hard drive space on it than the typical gmail account offers, that I have over a hundred gmail invitations that I can give away at my leisure, that if I became tired of that I could use yahoo's briefcase service etc.
There're so many offsite storage solutions available for free to the average user that lacking a hard drive worth crud isn't really a problem anymore. Hell, if it has over 24 megs of RAM then you could take a couple of blueflops floppies and load your entire OS into it every time you wanted to use it, have a graphical browser and a word processor and other stuff available to you and still offload anything you want to save to offsite storage.
In fact, this is sounding like a decent business plan. Maybe I should make a few craptops designed around this principal and see how they sell. I could probably make a reasonable profit if people were willing to pay fifty dollars for 'em.
How to use coral cache: http://slashdot.org.nyud.net:8090/~oscartheduck
sounds just like the US population, if I'm honest about it. Massive amounts of poverty and illiteracy and diseases-whose-cures-can't-be-afforded-in-a-for-pr ofit-health-system kinda stuff going on here all the time.
How to use coral cache: http://slashdot.org.nyud.net:8090/~oscartheduck
Well, look at it this way: stuff like this happened from day zero. Computing power keeps increasing up to a point where there is a viable market for something less powerful but cheaper or smaller.
That's how we got, for example, mini-computers and then micro-computers.
Each of those was awfully under-powered when they appeared. E.g., early minis were _very_ under-powered. Don't think "DEC Vax", think 8 or 12 bit machines that had all the computing power of a C64 or less. E.g., the original IBM PC was a pretty shitty machine, compared to a Vax, and the 8 bit CP/M machines were doubly so. Yet they were a very valid market.
Sure, a lot of companies would have preferred a big mainframe instead of a mini, and they sure could think of applications that would have run better on a big mainframe, but then again a mini was cheaper and enough.
Sometime later, sure, most of us would have preferred a personal mini near the desk instead of a micro-computer on the desk. I mean, again, have you used an 8080 CP/M machine with a 8" floppy back then? Ooer, those were slow. Running some database program off a floppy would give any programmer nowadays permanent trauma. But then again, noone could afford to give everyone a mini. So the micro-computer had to do.
My gut feeling is that the same _could_ work for this kind of machines. If they're not crippled to the point of being useless, which was the mistake of other cheap PC attempts, it could find a niche.
Sure, the users _will_ very much prefer a PC that can play games and run Excel instead, but given enough economic incentive some will settle for these instead.
There are countries for which $200 is a month's pay (or in some cases a _year's_ pay), and you have about a 1/10 of that left after rent and food. So buying a high end gaming PC for $1000 would pretty much mean someone's lifetime savings. I'm guessing they'll settle for the $200 PC instead.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Leaning away from desktop computing, I even find a laptop to be "too much" for true mobility... gotta pack a bag with powersupply to do any real computing, unless i want to work short-term. Ideally what I want is a mobile, wireless terminal to a server at home running ssh and X - could this be my solution? PDAs are too small and expensive, and standard laptops too bulky. This looks and sounds like a "just right" alternative, that isn't trying to be a "PC for your backpack". And they've already done the hard part of putting Linux on there for me, so it's just a matter of changing the startup scripts and using it as a convenient device from virtually anywhere.
So... where the heck do I buy?? Why do companies like this never include sales information?? Anyone know?
which is not a bad idea (except for the US balance of payments,)
But how do you know that our insatiable apetite for cheaper, faster, better won't out strip their production capacity and market conditions will leave the Indian poor still out in the cold and dark.
The price will rise due to demand and the Indian farmer is right back where he started, competing with us and our much fatter wallets.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Parallel processing
To "rich" westerners like me, employ tens of thousands of Indians, import food, medicines and build decent homes and infrastructure with the money you've made and taxes you've paid.
I could make a lot of money integrating these things into European business systems at the prices they are talking about. I would have to be able to get hold of them though.
Deleted
A P120 is overkill for a lot of applications (except recompiling a kernel).
This is a system for people who need email, productivity, etc; "meat and potatoes" stuff. I would have thought it pretty obvious that with the lack of hard drive and limited memory, we wouldn't be having this discussion. But, apparently not. This isn't a device you're going to see some technophile in the subway attaching his little white iPod earbuds to, so he can jam his iTunes on the way to work-- it's just a productivity machine, designed so low-income families/individuals can have *something* to stay connected and productive with.
I don't moderate anymore. Karma penalty for 90% fair mods? Can I mod that unfair?
Built-in: Ethernet, Analog modem, 2x USB2.0 ports, CF-II, SD/MMC, VGA out.
With 2 USB ports, you can add on a lot of other crap.
Even if this doesn't succeed: it is good to see them experimenting.
the GDP for the US is $40.000, for America (which is a CONTINENT) it is a lot lower
Check out Website development, maintenance and accesibility cons
I see stores selling old PII 400's with great performance abilities.... Linux or Windows! selling for less than $50. Why not gather all the old computers in a logistic sweep, and ship them to places that need them?
It would be great for the environment, and I could finally have a reason to upgrade... 'cause I certainly find it hard to justify more power...
..bright screens for bright people, but now I've got to wear sunglassess.
I think I'll stick with my iOpener, no thanks.
This is a great answer to the grandparent post, and I'd hate to see it lost due to being AC (default score 0).
WMBC freeform/independent online radio.
For $230, you can get a new Dell 2.4GHz Celeron box on sale with a refurbished monitor.
You either found a really short-term special offer or you are full of sh*t. The machine you mention is in fact $298 and NOT $230. Even if you go refurbished the price is $259. You also have to pay for shipping. So you have not refuted the price point argument entirely.
If you buy the cheapest Dell new they have a special offer for that price (normally $375) and include a printer (the crappy re-badged Lexmark inkjet poor-excuse-for-a-printer--and you do still have to pay the inflated price of $25 to get the cable to actually USE it). In any case, these Dell machines do not include the display. In any case they are not competitive on price alone against these Indian machines. They might get closer if they ditched WinXP for Linux but even then it would still be a bit more.
There are a few more things to consider as well--The Dell is a clunky desktop machine which uses much more power than the portable Indian machines. The Indian machines have LCD displays, touch-screen options, flexible keyboards, etc. They appear to be simpler and more rugged, and they support localisation for several Indian languages. Not sure Dell has an offering to match for its Indian customers.
Perhaps India is planning to outsource the manufacture of these devices to the U.S.? ;-)
Seriously... Wouldn't the resources spent to develop this device have been better spent making sure that people have clean water, decent food, affordable housing, and good schooling for their kids?
Or does that make too much sense?
Keep the peace(es).
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
...such as...
;-) but I agree it would be great and wouldn't add great cost. OTOH, it could make it vulnerable to a bluetooth virus. The flexible keyboard is neat though
/. post:
Or it is set up for network computing
Yes, all models have built in Ethernet and dial-up modems for networking and can dock to a PC like a Palm
Does it have wireless or a network port
Yes, it is an extra cost option but still is a sub-$500 model
If you are going to have high speed networks in at least the urban areas you could use a network based storage system. With wireless you could have what would amount to a HUGE hard drive at all times.
The designer had those in mind, along with the ability to dock with a full-sized PC for data exchange and storage.
I want want to hack
It runs Linux and open source apps..you could hack those today
I just hope it comes with bluetooth so I can use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse with it.
No answer to that in the articles, unlike every other question you asked
Might make a cool car computer as well
Might? It already does...from the Times of India link in the
Mobilis' innvative features had already been used in the elctronic dashboard of country's indigenous electric car, REVA, Sibal said adding Some other car manufacturers had shown interest in the technology to make it part of their cars' dashboards.
I figured if someone was so interested they might actually read the article...but at least there is interest in it.
...the dream of a very cheap "PC" (or PC-like thingy) will happen. I think this will take a country like India or China building such a thing themselves. Not using off the shelf parts, but building it from scratch. Hopefully, it will be standards compliant enough that I might want one. I'm a little surprised that this hasn't happened already.
What I'm saying is, this hardware seems to be assembled from off the shelf parts. When China or India start making off the shelf parts (or making more), then we may see what we're looking for.
Put all the storage you like on it.
Deleted
You're right! I remember those--they were excellent! I bet there are still reporters who won't part with them today. Only thing is I'd venture to say that the Tandy 100 was probably nicer to type on. Even so, these new machines have much richer functionality.
I fear however, that these machines will not see the light of day outside India--aside from specialised uses like the security system terminal mentioned in the article. Hopefully (in my dreams I'm sure) someone at Radio Shack would catch wind of these machines and get them sold at stores all over North America (The new Tandy Model 100-II? Or maybe Model 300?). I would definitely be interested in one!
If that isn't in the cards then perhaps some enterprising people on this side of the world will make a cheap, portable and machine that is practical to use for everyday tasks (PDAs and nifty smartphones will alwasy be limited by their form factor). To this day there has always been something wrong with American efforts of this type. They are either tied to a service (like one poster suggested would happen---free PC with a 2 year contract for internet at $24.95/mo or some crap), or they are too proprietary or have design shortcomings (almost always due to feature creep--trying to be a "convergence device").
Cos where I come from $200 is about £110, and you can't buy anything but scrap for that kind of price. Never mind something mobile.
Deleted
My prediction is that all attempts at selling what most people would consider inferior computers will not work. Not in India nor in any other developing country.
What many people from rich countries do not realize, is that people in countries like India have a different set of priorities. If you go to any slum you will notice that even though housing is terrible, plumbing is non-existent, and garbage is strewn everywhere, many people own televisions, refrigerators, radios, cell phones, etc.
I don't see any reason why computer ownership will be an exception to the rule. Poor people will want their kids to have the same computers as rich people do (perhaps with less RAM, smaller monitor, etc), and will not be interested in buying a computer designed for the poor.
One more note... a lot of statistics about computer users in developing countries are very misleading. For example, the CIA claims that there are about 18.4 million Internet users in India, but if you travel to any Indian city you will see Internet cafes everywhere, all crowded with people. There may be 18.4 million subscribers to Internet services, but the actual number of individuals with Hotmail/Yahoo/Rediff accounts is probably a lot higher, perhaps even 10 times higher.
When will people realise it would be a lot cheaper and a lot more useful if there was an effort made to provide people with mobile phones and not PCs.
I can remember reading an article which made this exact same point in The Economist.
I think the Epson HX-80 preceded the Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 by two years and was the first laptop ever made. It had 16K of RAM, a 4x20 character LCD display and an optional cassette tape recorder. You could buy a 16K expansion card if you needed to do advanced applications. It had Microsoft Basic in ROM. It was my first laptop computer and was actually useful to me. I programmed it to function as a point-of-sale computer for computing sales tax and totals and balancing the till at trade shows when I had my Commodore 64 software business.
I've found that the company name is Encore Software already famous for the Simputer
The Mobilis stuff is described here.
Just if none else quoted their website arelady.
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
They dont need computers anyway. They should be out digging graves instead.
Cant buy thing here in the us where it matters, so why should i even care?
That's approximately the size of a size 6 envelope. 3.625" by 6.5". Does that still count as a laptop?
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
Of course it will have games. That's the first thing the kids who get hold of these things are going to program.
As I recall, the golden age of gaming all happened on machines with kilobytes of RAM and 1+Mhz 8bit processors. The 2600 had only 128Bytes of RAM for christ sake.
If it can run a word processor, it will be perfectly capable of lots of good games. I'll wager MAME will run many titles just fine...
Blogging because I can...
So basically, it's a big lumpy Palm Pilot with a color screen?
The best pictures are in the PDF.
You aren't remembered for doing what is expected of you
- Given away as part of a premium service (think Yahoo Mail Plus) much like you can get a 'free' mobile phone in the US today
- School districts can buy and distribute a system to all students instead of leasing as they do today.
- Direct sales: buy one at the airport when you drop your Thinkpad at the security check-in. They're selling iPods from vending machines, why not a notebook.
Of course, it's important to remember that a $200 computer isn't very useful unless there's an easy way to network it. Many cities recognise this and are now planning and installing WiFi networks; Boston is going to discuss plans next week****
"I'd never want to join a club that would have me as a member" - G. Marx
"...run on batteries, thus doing away with the need for electricity."
Dang! Those new-fangled non-electric Indian batteries are the shee-it!
This is like most every other /. hardware story.
"Ooooh, look! Ultra cheap computer!" It's only missing X, Y, and Z. And once you buy what you need to make it useful for yourself, you'd have been better off just buying what you needed in the first place.
As much as I despise Walmart, they have been doing a hell of a job undermining the artifically high notebook prices that were completely universal until they stepped-in. If you want a cheap laptop, you should actually buy one From Walmart, or From Dell, and actually get what you need, rather than buying some tablet PC, and trying (unsuccessfully) to upgrade it to what you need.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
And they still export their programmers, talk about a brain-drain
I have nothing to hide. So, why are you spying on me?
I heard the story on public radio, and they threw in a comment about "You're not going to see one of these in WalMart any time soon." Well, you probably won't see *this* PC there, but Walmart has carried $199 standard PCs running Linux. This device does look nice, and the low power and built-in battery support are especially useful in India, but it's not like there's no competition. They also didn't mention the ~$100 PC project that somebody's working on (Negroponte, I think?) which was in the news recently.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
This is absolutely correct. The $200 price is in actual dollars NOT PPP dollars. Thats one third the average annual income of indians and TWICE the modal income of India (modal income=most frequently observed income).
That's right, +1
The cost of portable DVD players is under $200...why cann't we build Laptops with color screens for the same price? I know...the processors, RAM, and HDDs cost money. My first IBM compatible PC was an 8MHz 8086 with 640k of RAM & a 40MB HDD. We have 2GB SD cards now. They were putting those in wrist watches 5 years ago. Can't we use a little common sense in our choices of software, and pair down the software to, say, Palm levels? Take out the portable DVD player, and replace it with the guts from a Palm. We've got room to spare, so add in a pair of PCMCIA slots and a few extra media cards (CF / SD / etc.) Also add in a fully functional USB port so we can print, connect to a network, or use a real keyboard. What you get is a cross between a palmtop and a laptop. I need one! Andy Out!
I see refurb'd Palm III's selling for around $50-$60... If all the "obsolete" Palm III's in everyone's closets were refurbished and sent to India with appropriate software, it'll do an adequate job of connecting the farmer's to information sources via a cheap $5 modem...
It's too bad that he died before he saw the introduction of a cheap general-purpose information appliance to a huge market.
Last year, an xpert on 3rd wold development was on NPR talking about how Africa could be jump-started into the 21st century if only the peasant villagers had PCs so they could connect to the internet to get better prices for their agricultural good.
To the technologically unsavy it sounds like a good plan. But in reality, if the nearest place you can recharge your lithium battery is 10, 50 or 100km away and you don't have a car (and there is no road there anyway) - what is the point??
Clean water, a decent road to the nearest port of railhead, a sewage system, medical care and electricity are far more important and useful to most subsitance farmers than something to play solitare for 6 hours every 2 months.
A PC isn't that useful of a tool until you have INFRASTRUCTURE and that cost serious money.
I don't see the big deal. We here in America have had a sub $200 PC for years. We call it an X-Box
For what it's worth, this *not* a "Sub-$200" laptop, as the story's title states. From the article, this is a series of three models. The cheapest one is a desktop computer, costing less that Rs 10,000, which is US$231.27, and the cheapest laptop is less than Rs 15,000, which is US$346.90.
If aspiration is a virtue, achievement cannot be a vice.