Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Not after I circulated the earlier message in Canada
that my India had reached a world stage of technology with a only $10
computer. How mocked and let down I'm feeling at this spooky hour as I
read this...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sudhir R (NeSTIT)" <sudhi...@nestgroup.net>
To: <accessindia@accessindia.org.in>
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 10:06 PM
Subject: [AI] What a letdown, my dear countrymen !!
Govt's much-awaited $10 laptop turns out be a joke
5 Feb 2009, 0054 hrs IST, Neelima Rao, TNN
TIRUPATI: The hype surrounding the $10 laptop ``prototype'' with two GB
RAM turned out to be a joke when the department of Human Resources
Development announced - during its inauguration in the temple town of
Tirupati - that it wasn't a laptop at all but a computing device.
While the world eagerly waited for the launch of the $10 laptop -
designed by students of Vellore Institute of Technology, scientists in
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT-Madras, UGC and MHRD - it
wasn't a patch on the $100 laptop made by MIT.
The MHRD officials said the price was working out to be $20 but with
mass production it was bound to come down to $10 (Rs 500) and thus
become affordable for every student in India.
But netizens were disappointed when the ``laptop'' turned out to be
nothing more than a computing device along with a hard disk with
e-books, e-journals and relevant educative material through the
state-art-of-the-art ``Sakshat'' portal.
As the device appeared smaller than the normal laptop with 10-inch
length and five-inch width, buzz got around that it was a ``Nano-top''
and not a laptop. But MHRD official brought the curtains down on all the
hungama, saying it was just a computing device with 2GB memory.
Joint Secretary, MHRD, N K Sinha said that the device still needs to be
fine tuned. But he had no answer to the million dollar question: where
was the $10 laptop?
The talk of the ``invention'' had raised expectations of bridging the
technological divide between rural and urban India. Talking to TOI, a
Professor from Sri Venkateswara University said (on the condition of
anonymity), ``How can just a computing device bridge the digital divide
and make access to computer literacy affordable to the masses? Where
will poor students get computers to jack this gizmo with? Will MHRD
provide computers and internet connectivity in rural and remote areas?
There is no clarity among the officials themselves,'' he said.
A research scholar from Mahila University said, ``How many students in
Tirupati have access to computers? Then, MHRD hasn't given details of
the size of the screen, storage, processor, etc. MHRD should first think
about the feasibility of such projects before they are launched. The
entire world was watching. This act of MHRD has shamed the nation,'' she
said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4078115,prtpage-1.cm
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