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$10 Laptop Downgraded By Reality; Now Fancy Storage Device

Posted by timothy on from the not-that-there's-anything-wrong-with-that dept.

Ian Lamont writes "The news last week that the Indian government was working on a $10 laptop was too good to be true. It turns out that the project is actually a wireless-enabled storage device, not a laptop." Update: 02/04 21:36 GMT by T : Always-illuminating Liliputing has a short article with a picture of the device.

16 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. But by 0prime · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can use it in my lap, right?

    --
    I am not a *blank*, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
    1. Re:But by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      So...Slashdot is your holy text? God is a moderator? Getting "modded down" is like being sent to hell?

      That's a pretty fucked up escatalogy, man. So...CmdrTaco is the Father, Timothy is Jesus, and Rob Malda is the Holy Spirit?

  2. And by wireless-enabled by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They mean it has no wires. It's actually an Etch-a-Sketch.

    1. Re:And by wireless-enabled by Dreen · · Score: 5, Interesting

      More interesting are, going by the photo, 3 cables going out of the device. Any logical reason a wireless storage device would need 3 cables? Or any more than power supply for that matter?

  3. Miscommunication on the part of The India Times by jerralb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did the India Times succumb to economic pressures and outsource their reporting jobs to the US?

  4. bail & switch by JonTurner · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wait a second. What started off as a laptop has devolved into a flash drive with a bluetooth chip & a battery! Another week and it'll be described as a "spiral-bound notebook and a pencil with a string tied to it."

  5. Re:it's okay by should_be_linear · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wives also make good laptops, i hear.

    how the hell we are suppose to know, asshole

    --
    839*929
  6. Bait and switch. by anss123 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Couldn't they just have said it was a glorified USB mem stick? Why the hoopla? Oh, yeah, no one would have cared otherwise. Smart.

  7. Re:it's okay by dubbreak · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wives also make good laptops, i hear.

    If they are Japanese made maybe. My North American made model barely fits on the desktop. Also it's loud and doesn't do well in the closet (needs plenty of ventilation.. but that's a whole other issue). Buy american my ass.

    I'd upgrade if possible, but with the poor economy that's just not financially feasible at this time. Heck, I can't afford the disposal fee for the current one let alone how much it is to procure a better slimmer model.

    --
    "If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill
  8. Shocking/still not seeing the point. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, who else is shocked that Team $10 laptop didn't actually have the magic bullet? No hands? Hmm.

    Although the new form of the widget is rather fuzzy, I don't think I understand the point. Very low cost computers, designed with the particular attributes of low budget education in mind, are something that hasn't seen much market focus, and are thus a logical target for a special development program. Mass storage, though, has been cheapened and commodified with ruthless efficiency by the mainstream tech market. As have wireless communications mechanisms(GSM is super cheap on the WAN side, and for LAN/PAN you have zigbee, bluetooth, and wifi, depending on your budget). In either case, I'd be shocked if a special charity R&D project could outpace the standard R&D driven by people's desire for cheap gadgets.

    Perfectly respectable 2gig USB drives can be had, retail, quantity one, now, for under 10 dollars. If sneakernet isn't good enough, wireless chipsets can also be had for under 10 dollars a unit. What niche, exactly, does this thing fill?

    1. Re:Shocking/still not seeing the point. by gad_zuki! · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >So, who else is shocked that Team $10 laptop didn't actually have the magic bullet? No hands? Hmm.

      The morons in the previous thread who argued that "DUDE, CORPORATIONS PAY LIKE 5% OF RETAIL TO MAKE COMPUTERS, 10 DOLLAR LAPTOP IS POSSIBL!!!" These people were modded +5 insightful. My replies were either modded down or ignored by the mods. So much for the "wisdom of crowds" eh?

      Obviously, these people dont understand the margin on computers is razor-thin and life isnt just one big conspiracy to get you. A $150-200 dollar laptop thats usable? Yes. A ten dollar laptop? No.

  9. Re:it's okay by chill · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...doesn't do well in the closet...

    Well THERE is your problem. Your wife needs to come out of the closet.

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
  10. Anyone see the parallel? by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know when your company is considering outsourcing something, and the team that's bidding for it all have twenty years experience (in something that's only existed for two and a half weeks, but hey, they're keen! I like a can-do attitude) and actually speak reasonable English?

    And then, reality dawns...

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  11. Shocked. by sharkb8 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Having worked with outsourced Indian coders, I, for one, am shocked that Indian engineers overpromised, underdelivered, and were overbudget.

  12. I am so going to hell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Given that this is Slashdot, I'd say that "The Father, The Son and The Holy Goatse" were more like it.

  13. Re:it's okay by sqldr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wives also make good laptops, i hear.

    how the hell we are suppose to know, asshole

    chloroform

    --
    I wrote my first program at the age of six, and I still can't work out how this website works.