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$10 Laptop is a Storage Device..[Shhh..ame]

February 4, 2009

By sinha

The much-hyped $10 laptop actually turned out to be a storage device, containing megabytes of data info which can be accessed by a user by connecting this device to a laptop!

“..the computing device is 10 inches long and 5 inches wide and has been priced at around $30.
The 10” long and 5” wide hand-held device, resembling a palmtop or a modem, helps e-learners access the Web easily. Priced versions of e-content available on the Net can be accessed through this device.

The cost of the device shot up to between $20 and $30 against the initial plan to peg it at $10, forcing the department to resort to a cost-cutting exercise. R.P. Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, who displayed the prototype to the delegates, expressed confidence that the cost would be brought down further.-” – ToI, , Hindu

$10 Laptop from India - A Serious Joke

Interestingly, NYTimes went on to say “Will India’s $10 Laptop Kill PC Business?”

What was govt. thinking when it called a storage device a laptop?

Articles related to low cost PC:

• 3G Connected Low Cost PC (alternative) from Qualcomm
• OLPC in Local Indian Languages, MIT Developing $12 laptop
• India Developing World’s Cheapest ($100) Laptop
• NComputing to power 5000 schools in AP
• Novatium and Tata Teleservices launch Nova netPC, thin-client based network computer

[img, hindu]

Tags: hot, laptop

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• Author

         About the author - Ashish Sinha is a Startup Mentor/Product Strategy Coach, and the founder/chief editor of pluGGd.in. He has launched/managed couple of products (consumer as well as enterprise) in US and India, and now consults with startups/small businesses on their product/media strategy. He can be reached at: ashish (at) pluGGd.in [+91 98452 06443]

7 Responses to “ $10 Laptop is a Storage Device..[Shhh..ame] ”

1. 

   ujjwal kumar on February 4, 2009 at 2:50 pm

   This is really funny.. Even I had read the same news in Hindu a few days earlier..

   Is this device similar to a pen drive, or does it have any I/O features?

   Reply
2. 

   Sameer on February 4, 2009 at 2:56 pm

   The Joke is on us

   Reply
3. 

   Yash on February 4, 2009 at 4:26 pm

   Read this a long ago somewhere – Poilce in Mumbai raided an office and confiscated all the equipment including computers. They took monitors with them leaving CPUs behind. So that is state of computer literacy amongst our government officials.
   No surprise that Mr Arjun SIngh calls a storage device a laptop. I doubt the guy has ever seen a real laptop, a USB pen drive or a portable harddisk.

   Reply
4. 

   gaurav on February 4, 2009 at 11:36 pm

   Slumdog millionaire is I all I can say….

   Reply
5. 

   Shivaas Gulati on February 5, 2009 at 2:21 am

   what a sham !!

   Reply
6. 

   Hiren Patel on February 5, 2009 at 8:44 pm

   I am very curious to see it. It will be nice if government is serious about it. I cannt imagine that there can be a laptop in $10.

   Reply
7. 

   kamal on March 20, 2009 at 6:59 pm

   500 INR laptop followed by 3G BSNL…
   Very nice one.

   Reply