You read it right, a laptop worth $10. [TOI] (tip Videsh via Tipster)

After the effort to build a $100 PC, which we featured here on Über Desi and Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 laptop scheme comes a brand new scheme by the HRD Ministry of India to build a $10 laptop. Unlike other grandiose government schemes this one seems to be close to fruition than one would expect.

So far, the cost of one laptop, after factoring in labour charges, is coming to $47 but the ministry feels the price will come down dramatically considering the fact that the demand would be for one million laptops.

The final choices for design are between that of two engineering college student.

The two designs with the ministry are from a final year engineering student of Vellore Institute of Technology and a researcher from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Among other factors, the design is expected to stay simple and parts manufactured in India, which the interested parties feel will bring down costs and, of course, as with most government projects the earliest these may be available is 2 years or later.

My initial opinions are that of guarded optimism. While it’s great that the Indian government has taken the initiative to provide affordable $10 laptops, at this stage it’s unclear how the government arrived at this figure and what compromises have to made not only in the design of the machine but also in how much of the taxpayers money will be used/wasted in this risky project. It is also unclear on what the project’s fate will be if there is a change on governments, which seems likely considering the Congress party’s performance in recent elections and the omnipotent anti-incumbency factor in Indian politics.

While it is truly heartening to note that the Indian government has preferred to move away from the concept of antiquated desktops, another question arises, why laptops?

We’ve previously made arguments, not necessarily against computers, but in favor of the use of mobile phones as information devices. [UD link]

In days of yore, which translates to roughly 6 years in computer technology, people used to rely on computers to browse the internet and for running useful applications like MS Word and MS Excel. Besides the fact that most encyclopedic knowledge is available online, with the advent of online tools like Google Docs, a computer or even a laptop could arguably be replaced with a phone that has a robust internet browser and easier-to-use keyboard. If the purpose of these $10 laptops is simply to enable the students online where most of the information is, in fact, an argument could be made for the Indian government to make the push for a $10 iPhone. Yes, it’d be pretty challenging to type a 1000 word essay on a mobile phone keyboard, but think of all the money saved on IT services, expensive software, networks, firewalls, servers, (the list goes on), since the cell phone company would take care of the infrastructure.

Thoughts? Opinions?

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