Satish, Taran, others,
I find this paragraph (originally from Satish's post) of interest:
"Simputer Never became a product. Its a great prototype that needs to
>be perfected as a "product". A product is not an idea. It is something
>that gets accepted as a product that adds value at the level it gets
>perceived at. Simputer has not even sold 10,000 units in 5 years and
>that is less than the beta testing numbers of any product I have seen
>in the past decade and a half."
Are you arguing that Negropointe's initiative is a "real" product? It
has not sold 10,000 units and has not been around for 5 years, seems to
have depreciated in value (going by your model of value built by
accumulated perceptions of value, based on the perceptions expressed on
this list so far), and Negropointe's "beta test," incidentally, appears
to be to the tune of a minimum of 5 orders of 1M laptops each, for a
total investment (coming directly out of the budgets of developing
nations) of ~$5M. I question whether such a large initial development
plan can be healthy for the governments concerned...most would balk at
the idea of spending so much on Microsoft's Windows XP licenses, though
that's a tried and tested product that's been around for years. Not
trying to make a direct comparison here, of course, but just trying to
put the amounts we're talking about in perspective...and the relatively
untried, untested nature of the "product" we're discussing.
Conversely, according to your post, Simputer has been around for five
years, sold 10,000 units, and seems to have built value according to
your perception model. It is a product that appears to be sitting in the
hands of Taran and others (perhaps others on this list?), while the
Negropointe product is so far a marketing machine and a product with a
crank handle that breaks on demonstration. Again, hard to pin this down
as a general fault or not, since no one on this list has one to review
for us. This in itself would seem to argue against Negropointe having
built a real "product" yet.
I would argue, however, that Negropointe has, indeed, built a product. A
product that has tremendous perceived value, has generated enough of an
interest that many minds thinking are about it, and has built a general
sense of something to look forward to. The product? The *concept* of a
$100 laptop. That's where the worth in all of the marketing is...and
only that. Oh, and I forget...that product was around a long time before
Negropointe got involved with it. So it's not his product, really...just
a product he's adding value to as a side-effect. His other product, his
goal, his real "product" (or at least, the product he's trying to
develop with the tag "product") is, so far, not a product at all. And
despite the general interest he may be building in the idea of a $100
laptop, his actual product is only smoke...smoke with many causes for
skepticism ($100M minimum order per country, cough, cough).
From Satish:
"there are cheaper, better, more
convenient options available or must be available to the people for them not
to try simputer.. If there is one idea that is embraced with passion without
facts backing it up, it is simputer.. a catchy name, a great idea, a good
prototype but NOT product enought to be in the hands of its own target
customers.."
I would disagree. The poor Indian villager is not turning to alternative
products, to cheaper, better, or more convenient mobile computing
platforms. He's not turning to anything at all. That's the
challenge...getting him to turn towards the digital world in the first
place. Simputer may not be in his hands yet, but to point to that as a
failure is to point to everything else in this field as a similar failure.
If you believe the Simputer was a great prototype, and suffered merely
from lack of publicity / marketing, why not help to market it yourself?
Surely your connections and experience would be an extremely valuable
addition to Simputer's direction and potential for growth...and in
India, you have the all-important connections to really move the project
forward.
From Satish: "But to trash an idea that has actually captured the
imagination of those who can
make it possible is destroying value..."
Are you referring to your preceding comments on the Simputer or to
Taran's comments on the Negropointe machine? By your argument, both seem
valid. In fact, you state that "Simputer has done a great job of
energizing the field, it also captured the imagination" and "its a great
contribution" ...does this not making bashing it an effort to detract value?
On the other hand, I feel there is some value in revealing the concepts
and ideology behind marketing hype, and in raising (seemingly valid)
concerns. The Negropointe machine may not suffer so much from those who
are taking value away from it as those who are questioning its
value...if it truly has value, it should be able to stand up those
critics and shine, yes? That is what testing a product against the
market is all about...and what Negropointe should have been looking
forward to after a UN-backed demonstration of the would-be product with
such publicity.
Dave.
-------------------
Dave A. Chakrabarti
Projects Coordinator
CTCNet Chicago
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(708) 919 1026
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