India to Develop $10 Laptop!?! What?

Published on July 29th, 2008

Posted by John C Dvorak in General

Facebook ditches Scrabulous.
Adobe releases 64-bit Photoshop Lightroom 2.
Microsoft shows off new spherical display device.
Get your own jetpack for $100,000.
Dell bringing out mini-desktop, perhaps a smart phone and Wal-Mart laptops.
70-percent of Government laptops are stupidly unencrypted.
DS piracy rampant in Japan.
India going to develop a $10 Laptop.
China to clone Blu-ray with new standard.
Will Android merge with Symbian?

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16 users responded in " India to Develop $10 Laptop!?! What? "

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# 1 Ah_Yea said, on July 29th, 2008 at 3:53 pm

Yea, it’s called a notepad.

# 2 QB said, on July 29th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Symbian/Android merger? Don’t bet on it.

No talk about BT purchase and opening of Ribbit?

# 3 Jägermeister said, on July 29th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

India going to develop a $10 Laptop.

India’s slogan: Everything you can do, we can do cheaper!

# 4 Greg Allen said, on July 29th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

Could you build a simple PDA with three lines of display, a few K of memory and QWERTY buttons for 10 bucks? Maybe.

# 5 hhopper said, on July 29th, 2008 at 5:44 pm

The CPU would cost more than $10.

# 6 Ah_Yea said, on July 29th, 2008 at 6:03 pm

I also cannot imaging a $10 laptop that would be of much use.

“In 2005, MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte tried, and failed, to develop a laptop that could be sold for $100. Three years later, analyst group Gartner says that the industry will have to wait another three years to hope to achieve it. ”
http://tinyurl.com/6ba7wo

# 7 pedro said, on July 29th, 2008 at 6:45 pm

In other smartphones news, the Samsung made for Orange Networks smartphone based on Access Linux has been cancelled. So no Linux-based phones in the near future

http://tinyurl.com/5nvuje

# 8 JFStan said, on July 29th, 2008 at 6:51 pm

$10 Laptop – The catch? You have to turn it upside down and shake it to reboot.

# 9 B. Dog said, on July 29th, 2008 at 7:33 pm

I guess ducks painted on the jetpack would be cool.

Jetpack Video

# 10 Hmeyers said, on July 29th, 2008 at 7:50 pm

#8 for the win

# 11 chuck said, on July 29th, 2008 at 7:59 pm

A $99 laptop already exists:
http://tinyurl.com/6ktkr4

Too bad Nicholas Negroponte couldn’t figure out how to make one.

The trick to making a $10 laptop is wait for another Chinese factory to make a knock-off copy of the $99 model.

# 12 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz said, on July 29th, 2008 at 9:20 pm

Indians are good at salvaging parts and making thing work. You should see pictures of rual cell sites rigged up on trees with old satellite dishes.

# 13 JPV said, on July 29th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

Pfffffttttt… I’m sure that most computers cost about 4-5 bucks to manufacture with Chinese slave labor anyway. It just means less of a profit margin for these Indians.

# 14 Satya said, on July 30th, 2008 at 3:00 am

Yep!

When I informed one my Japanese collegues (and a very dear friend) way back in 2005 that India is planning to have a car within 2000 USD – he did not believe. Even I was not able to do the maths. But then, I had the belief in Tata. They did it this year and within the same price (USD has deprecated and it is now 2500 USD!).

I also find the maths for 10 USD laptop to be tough, but then considering the parties involved,i.e., IIT and IISc, it will be done. I do not how, but it will be.

Also, Tata project was within time, scope, a little over cost. Quality parameters meet all the needed world standards and customer satisfaction will be there (I am not talking of a Beckham or a Brad Pitt as its customers). Project Management at its best:-).

And is it not high time that we all start delivering projects (or at least think) within price, scope, and timeline, in place of making them as ridiculous failures as we have seen so much in Software. (over 70% are failures) Also we have tons of money being burned for projects of no value – Iridium, Concorde …

Also, India’s per capita income is 950 USD, and 10 USD is good money (for yours truly included). I should know – as a simple one like for PMP cerification, I have not spend a penny for tution/coaching (only money paid was to PMI and that too was a heartburn), whereas when I read blogs people have spent over 5000 USD to get certified! Good lord!

# 15 JimD said, on July 30th, 2008 at 5:44 am

The $10 Indian Laptop must be an ABACUS !!! A mature technology and REALLY CHEAP, and in some tests FASTER THAN AN ELECTRONIC CALULATOR !!!

# 16 ahmad said, on February 5th, 2009 at 6:52 am

i want to be the agent of that laptop in my country

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