On Tuesday 17 August 2010 21:54:18 Rony wrote: > On Tuesday 17 August 2010 12:08 PM, jtd wrote: > > This is precisely what the link provided below (and the earlier > > mail announces. > > http://www.mtnl.net.in/PressReleaseMTNLNovatiumDelhi.doc > > > > An iptv box drives a tv at 320 x 240 interlaced. This resolution > > is at best useful only for the most rudimentary computer > > applications. > > > > Inorder that the idea be workable, you will need a minimum > > resolution of 800 x 600. This bumps up the STB price by about > > 20%. But the display is a much bigger problem. A TV sized display > > of 800 x 600 resolution will cost a bomb, since it is a lot > > harder to build crts. A 16" LCD display costs Rs.4500/-. > > > > So bundling this as a combo with monthly rental plan will cost > > Rs.200 ~ 220. However nobody will do this, because it will > > immediately cut into the users budget for paid channels, require > > two sets of inventories, Look more expensive when the competition > > offers tv only etc., > > In our list archives there will be a mail I had sent with links to > the above device. Some ISPs in India were trying to introduce these > boxes for spreading computer literacy.
there was a chennai based isp, which offered an email text client with a 2 line x 20 char lcd in 96 (afair). The product flopped for various reasons, including lack of phone lines for dialup, no graphics, no localization etc, within the potential market segment. But imo it failed primarily because the daily communication needs of the populace simply never needed the complexity of email (a sort of social issue). > However I feel, big PC > companies may have applied brakes to it. Every time the Govt. wants > to spread computer literacy it comes up with expensive devices by > tying up with a PC manufacturer rather than look for simple > solutions. It's the content and pedagogy that is of vital importance than merely the cost of some gizmo or the other. The scale on which we need to train our teachers and provide other basic amenities in schools dwarfs by several orders of magnitude any technology barriers. Kherat a village near Matheran is using the OLPC donated and monitored by the Digital bridge foundation. The school has one power connection with several hours of power cuts, to charge 25 odd OLPCs. On Sunday I visted a place in the middle of nowhere 4 hrs out of Mumbai in Mandangarh district. Most of the villages have no motorable roads. The few that have roads have only 10 ft wide roads. Electricity is non existent in most villages. Schools are 4 Km one way walk in hilly terrain. And this is a reasonably "well to do" region, in the most industralised.state of the country. Truly we are Gods people - only he can keep this country from chaos. > The masses are already using cheap Chinese mobiles so > what is the point in the Govt. giving them similar devices with a > marginally larger screen when the same can be directly purchased at > low costs anyway. These things cannot substitute a proper desktop > with a decent screen and a full keyboard and mouse. > > Just like the fact that bottled water companies and water filter > makers benefit from the Govt's inability to provide potable water > to the masses. Just see how the cost of water filters has come down > to Rs 1800/- and even Rs. 1000/- after some companies made bold > decisions to market cheaper water filters. Till these came, we had > to shell out 6K to 8K for a decent water filter. Petroleum > companies too have had a hand in preventing electric and alternate > fuel engines from gaining popularity. > > -- > > As a proper list etiquette... > Please trim your replies. > Post your replies below the relevant original text, leaving a line > space. Do not re-use old messages to write new ones. > > Regards, > > Rony. -- Rgds JTD -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
