On Thursday, 17 February 2005, Mr Sachin Joshi wrote: > The questions are certainly justified to be posed, but it is likely that > the major computer manufacturers would have looked at the market > feasibility, which demands huge resource investments.
The major computer manufacturers are stuck with inappropriate market models. They have no idea of any viable approach to computers for poor people. Computers will be sold to the poor by microbanks, which have a viable financial model. > The Simputer in India costs $200 which many Indian families still cannot > afford. So the poor will certainly not buy them. You are quite right that the poor will not pay cash for Simputers, and will not buy them to surf the Web. But that does not mean that Simputers are beyond their means entirely. Poor people buy $700 cell phone packages with loans from the Grameen Bank and others like it, but only after they are trained in banking and in business, specifically including how to make money renting out the phone so that they can pay back the loan and have something left over to live on. Exactly the same process will apply to computers with wireless connections to the Internet, once there is suitable software and training for an application known to be a money-maker in the villages. The ITC e-choupal program has had very good success in placing computers in villages for farmers to use in looking up international commodity prices. The company offers to buy crops at the previous day's price on the Chicago Board of Trade, and does excellent business. The farmers receive more money, and can invest in improved equipment and supplies, or pay more for their children's health and education, or otherwise improve their situations. Investments in health and education have a spectacular Return on Investment, especially when putting invalids back to work or when enabling children to get better jobs than their parents had. > It has been used in villages as a community device customized for > specific jobs, such as e-trading for farmers. Such a specialized use > requires customization by the company that promotes it, and this > customization necessitates a working partnership with various > organizations and government agencies, active at the grassroots level. ITC has not needed government assistance, and we would prefer to avoid government programs wherever possible. They are almost always inefficient, and absolutely always a temptation to corruption. > A mass promotion would work when the Simputer is as trendy and classy as > handheld devices, if it has to be pitched with the existing PDAs from > the mobile/computer manufacturers. The market price of all these models > is the same. The Simputer is not a PDA, and there are no plans to market it as such. It was designed for villages without power and phones. There are other applications for a portable computer, and Simputers are being used in various other ways. > Simputer is a good but expensive option to bridge the digital divide. Expensive compared with what? -- Edward Cherlin Generalist & activist--Linux, languages, literacy and more "A knot! Oh, do let me help to undo it!" --Alice in Wonderland http://cherlin.blogspot.com ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
