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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."
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
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.
But how will they be able to take my job if these computers have no processing power?
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 :)
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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
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.
One article says it has "built-in memory".
Now that's something! What's next? Computer
with CPUs and keyboards!
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.
The cheapest "Alternative OS" desktop from Dell is $319 and that includes no monitor. Would you like to prove your claim?
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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
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.
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.
Because a laptop with a reasonable battery and a good powersupply will let you work on sub standard power grid....
Your desktop pc is going crazy as soon as the ac outlet produces something funny.
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I'm sorry, but I didn't see anything in the pictures that would convince me that it was a Windows OS I was looking at.
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.