Just brainstorming a hypothetically compelling reason: consumption of locally-made movies, which I'm given to understand currently happens wholesale on cellphones in India. Would the move to tablet form, i.e. bigger screen and (one would hope) better sound, make for a massively improved experience?
The Aakash could be a better investment than a TV / DVD player, given the greater capacity and reusability of USB or SD cards compared to DVDs. Of course, the TV has a bigger screen, but it doesn't run on batteries. How much would a TV cost? Fritz On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 3:15 PM, Jerome White <jerome at cs.caltech.edu> wrote: > > However, there is a "rural/poor" segment that could afford this: those > making between 5 and 10 thousand Rupees a month. In fact it's what some > spend on a mobile phone. However, with the mobile, there is very compelling > reason to make such an investment. A similarly compelling reason, from their > perspective, to own this device isn't clear to me. > > But, at least we've got another device to help us generate publications :) > > jerome > > On 06-Oct-2011, at 4:11 PM, Fritz Meissner wrote: > > > How much is $35 to the poorest of the poor? I recall an economics study > that paid Indian workers the equivalent of a monthly salary, I think that > was 50USD... 35USD is beyond cheap in the West but perhaps still not > affordable in that context. > > > > OTOH if the tablet is locally made, perhaps just the work that the > manufacturer provides will be beneficial. > > > > Fritz > > > > On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 1:32 AM, Joyojeet Pal <joyojeet at gmail.com> wrote: > > I agree with Yaw on this -- sure, it is great that this technology is so > cheap, and one can argue that similar such efforts have brought up new > technology innovations (Netbook etc) and various other benefits, what is > deeply problematic is the idea that this will solve the issues of > development in India, and Indian minister Kapil Sibal's announcing the > project as being some kind of a dig out of exclusion ( > http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/india-announces-35-tablet-computer-to-help-lift-villagers-out-of-poverty/2011/10/05/gIQAPT8PNL_story.html > ) > > > > If you look at UNDP's latest HDI report on India, you may find that > someone should find this claim at least quixotic, given that the country > ranks 119th in the world for what ranks are worth. India as a state spends > among the lowest on education (3.6%) and healthcare (1.1%) and has an income > inequality problem that is by all measure growing yearly, gender inequity is > 0.748 (on a scale of the 'best' at 0.212 and 'worst' at 0.814). the average > Indian spends 4.4 years in formal schooling.. the list goes on and on. > > > > i'm not saying this is not a significant achievement, my concern is tying > this to development in such a way, in fact specifically in the perception > that this could be the state's part in providing development in india. i > think it hurts the cause of folks working in this space at the very least. > > > > On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 7:03 PM, Yaw Anokwa <yanokwa at gmail.com> wrote: > > the hype around this tablet is terrible. > > > > i think it's great to have cheaper technology, but android tablets, > > even cheap $35 android tablets, will not lift villagers out of > > poverty. i wish it were that easy... > > > > > > On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 15:49, Rahul Banerjee <banerjee at cs.washington.edu> > wrote: > > > Sorry for the spam, but I couldn't resist sharing such wonderful news: > > > > http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/India-announces-35-tablet-computer-for-rural-poor-2203509.php > > > > > > (Actually, the government is subsidising its price (which would be > > > closer to $50), but it's still pretty amazing that something like this > > > exists at all) > > > > > > -- > > > Rahul > > > _______________________________________________ > > > change mailing list > > > change at change.washington.edu > > > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > change mailing list > > change at change.washington.edu > > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > change mailing list > > change at change.washington.edu > > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > change mailing list > > change at change.washington.edu > > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change > > > _______________________________________________ > change mailing list > change at change.washington.edu > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/private/change/attachments/20111006/6c90c01f/attachment.html>
