Slashdot. *sigh* If it's American-centric, it's on Slashdot. This sort of adds to my personal perspective...
Well, I have this from the UN ICT Policy Task Force from Satish Jha, which I responded to: > > I came across Simputer in 2001 and my first response was that India > did not have the capacity to productise a simple (and therefore rather > complex) device such as simputer. I got to know Chandru and Vinay a > little during various meetings at MIT Media Lab and I regard both as > first rate professionals. Unfortunately, productising anything like > simputer is something that requires a lot more than very fine minds. > It requires the experience of dealing with markets, product creation > capability and manufacturing prowess at the cutting edge of productivity. > The best thing about simputer is simply its name and it gave Vinay an > unimaginable amount of publicity and respect. Idea was simple indeed > and my initial observation that its a great project but a rather poor > product did not win me friends. I gave the example of HP 95LX, a > product I had close association with as my younger brother led it for > HP in the late 90s and it had become a standard setting product-- they > spent over 30 million dollars in acquiring various innovations- some > 200- to miniaturise it.. Few products have managed to pack in so much > in so little. The story is told in an interview of the month in > Silicon India a few years ago and I need not go into that. But the > lesson was very simple- simplicity hides complexity and its a very > expensive proposition to do so. But more than simply the expense, its > also a matter of moving up the expereince curve. > Then I heard that Pramod Mahajan was going to turn simputer into a > national treasure and I promptly SMSed him that he just killed it. A > technology that requires protection when the average age of technology > has shrunk to months is dead before you name it. Luckily the > government did not make that mistake. And I kept hearing talks about > simputer everywhere and kept advising them that it was a great project > and wasted effort at productising it. Vinay did mean to talk but had > different priorities. > As head of InterMatrix I also advised some of my clients in product > creation and realised that often to know what we do not know is the > first qualification of a good client. Even more important was the > lesson that such clients are rare indeed and one should grab them if > one found them. Simputer may have fallen prey to optimism and the > false sense of appreciation it got frm those who had little experience > to justify their optimism about a product like simputer. > Just when simputer was being passed around in MIT Medialab at > Cambridge, MA Sandy Pentland exhibited a $50 toy that could do a > little more than simputer could even aspire to do in a few years at a > several times the price. But it did not lack idealistic supporters. > We do need thousands of masters level project like simputer before we > will come close to having the capacity to productise. We need several > failures before we may succeed too. But most importantly we need to > know what we do not or may not know and stop showing our ignorance > about something we have never dealt with yet appear just too ready to > opine. Similarly, entrepreneurs need to learn a lesson too-- idealism > seldom sells products, least of all aspirants to what may have been a > product. If it had any potential, there will be many global takers for > it even if it had no publicity of the kind it got. A lack of interest > by the market forces was itself a good proxy that it may be an idea > whose time may have come and gone.. and may come back in some other form! My response on the UN ICT Policy List, which has NOT been responded to: >From reading this (with alarm, I might add) is that there was little >input in what was wrong with it, and that it is presently considered a >failure because the community let it fail by not participating. > >Like you, I came across the Simputer around 2001, and was very excited >about the possibilities. Where the Brazilian endeavour failed, the >Simputer was considered a success by in a comparison paper co-authored >by Joyojeet Pal (Berkley, as I recall). I reviewed this paper for them, >and was happy to point out that the Simputer could be steered by the >community. > >Lately, I've noted that the published 'failure of the Simputer' happened >the same day that MIT's $100 Laptop project was proliferated on the >Digital Divide (http://www.digitaldivide.net ) email list, and this I >found strange - and I documented here: >http://www.linuxgazette.com/node/10134 > >The Simputer, in my eyes, is not a failure since it can still be >modified. Where some see failings, the greatest failing is in fact the >price. Where the Indian president spoke glowingly of it before, I fail >to see why such a small run was done. One would think that the Indian >government would support such an endeavour. A short run of 50,000 causes >the price to be high - that is simple economics. Were the demand higher, >the run would probably have been higher and therefore the price would >have been lower. > >I've been trying to get an evaluation model so I can test it - as the >Editor of Linux Gazette, and a writer for Linux Journal and Tux >Magazine. I am presently planning my travels through Latin America, and >the Simputer would be a good travel companion - and something I could >test in some rural settings. Yet perhaps because of that bad press from >Associated Press, the Simputer has been dealt a strong blow that Amida >doesn't know how to deal with. > >It's a completely Open Source software and Open Hardware project - it >can be modified by anyone, and even manufactured - so the project cannot >be a failure unless it is abandoned. Is it now abandoned? I would >certainly hope not. > Frankly, it looks like politics has overcome technology once more. Score one for the other side. And no, Amida hasn't even responded to my request for a Simputer to evaluate, or even some form of discussion from them for a comment. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: Esteli, Nicaragua [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxgazette.com http://www.a42.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
