03-28-2004, 08:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Simputer Starts Shipping in India for $220 USD
"A cheap handheld computer, designed by Indian scientists for use by the poor, went on sale Friday for $220 after a delay of nearly three years. Simputer's software was developed by volunteers, to keep development costs low, said Swami Manohar, chief executive of Picopeta Simputers, at the model's launch. Picopeta Simputers and Encore Software are the two companies licensed to make the devices.
The launch of the Simputer was delayed due to a lack of investment and a poor response to the concept from large-scale distributors, Manohar said. However, the government-owned Bharat Electronics agreed to manufacture the Simputer, which was developed in 2001 by scientists at the Bangalore-based Institute of Science in response to low levels of computer use in India. The Simputer is available in Bangalore and will be available across India by April 1, he said. Picopeta hopes to sell 50,000 units in the fiscal year ending March 2005, Manohar said."
I'm no economist, so perhap's there's an angle I'm missing here, but are PDAs really a "need" that people in developing countries have, especially when they cost a year's salary to buy? This also continues to disprove the myth that Linux-based PDAs are cheaper.
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03-28-2004, 08:31 PM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 864
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Re: Simputer Starts Shipping in India for $220 USD
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
I'm no economist, so perhap's there's an angle I'm missing here, but are PDAs really a "need" that people in developing countries have, especially when they cost a year's salary to buy? This also continues to disprove the myth that Linux-based PDAs are cheaper.
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My understanding was it to act as a "full computer" and replace that not just be a PDA...whether it could/can is a different question but I believe that was the goal.
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03-28-2004, 08:56 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 301
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I read this earlier too. This has got to be one of the dumbest ideas I've seen in a while. If you only make $220 a year do you really have that much stuff to keep track of that you would need a PDA?
Also, couldn't a $70 Palm Zire do the job just as well?
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03-28-2004, 09:13 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 276
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Re: Simputer Starts Shipping in India for $220 USD
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
This also continues to disprove the myth that Linux-based PDAs are cheaper.
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Isn't "the myth of Linux-based PDAs being cheaper" a myth itself :?: Now, there's a brain twister for y'all! :lol:
What seems to be the cost-factor here is the hardware to run the stuff. (Now, what's the price for a StrongARM processor again?)
Also seems like the Simputer has got some nice features such as a USB connector, speaker and microphone jacks, a smartcard connector (what's that, btw?) and a built-in phone jack. 8O
Maybe the cost of including those features are the reason for the relatively high price?
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03-28-2004, 09:19 PM
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03-28-2004, 09:25 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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I think the point of the device is to get technology in the hands of more Indians, so they can "jump start" their interest in it, get more people educated, produce more programmers, etc. That in turn will help the Indian economy, and increase the quality of life for a greater percentage of the Indian population.
When you consider that a basic desktop costs $450, and this costs half of that, I don't think it seems so odd. Those that can't afford a desktop at least have this as an alternative.
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03-28-2004, 09:28 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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Looks like it also includes a built-in motion sensor:
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Amida is the world's first and only computer that responds to your gestures - eg. you can turn the pages of an e-book with a flick of your wrist, and can close a program by pulling Amida towards you!
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8)
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03-28-2004, 09:35 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,055
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Yeah, it's absolutely supposed to act a full-size computer, not as a PDA. However, they're marketing this to the poor in India. I'm not sure if the poor people in India will be able to afford a $200 computer, unless of course their bosses buy it for them.
I'm Indian myself, and I think it's pretty cool that the country is trying to get technology to the masses. It only means for a better country in the long run.
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03-28-2004, 10:19 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 95
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by zkmusa
Yeah, it's absolutely supposed to act a full-size computer, not as a PDA. However, they're marketing this to the poor in India. I'm not sure if the poor people in India will be able to afford a $200 computer, unless of course their bosses buy it for them.
I'm Indian myself, and I think it's pretty cool that the country is trying to get technology to the masses. It only means for a better country in the long run.
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Exactly, and it is the first completely home grown device of its kind, I am sure it will get better if there is another iteration. Plus, I think the goal may also be for multiple people to pool their resources and buy one. It does have a nice featureset.
Suhit
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03-28-2004, 10:41 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 275
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That whole linux being cheaper thing... Nothing is cheaper exactly, things can just be sold for more affordable prices if the demand is there and it's necessary to get your product in as many peoples hands as possible. Well, people would be saying "Windows would be cheaper on pda's!" if linux had been on it first. They would say it because microsoft has a large team of developers who can generate higher quality products faster, or something to that effect.
This is a pretty cool device. I have a friend who regularly goes to developing countries with solar panels or wind energy models, basically saying "Do this before you do anything else." So she encourages them to dump their current energy gathering methods in hopes of a cleaner, healthier country. I think this is a similar step. You can use this electronic device that can save thousands of sheets of paper and the energy used to create the paper, it's really logical. Sure, there is a downfall to the manufacturing of a pda, but not as much as the waste product and destruction of land that new and recycled paper causes.
My point is that I like the direction that this technology could take us and those people.
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