I would like to build on what Vickram Crishna has stated: It is a common concern that any such development makes some people 'more equal' than the others.
Unfortunately, in many Indian cases, the current village 'head-man' or one from the local all-powerful family was the only one educated and responsible to handle and maintain equipment that was supposed to be community-owned. Sometimes it is the only option to equipment vendors and their commissioning engineers, who would otherwise be marooned at the (very remote area) site for as long as a year, struggling to complete the 'handing over' procedure to avail of full payment. Further, the government itself monopolised access to development-driving utilities like postal services, telecom, petroleum and power distribution, besides aviation, steel, cement and fertilisers, making public representatives, civil servants and those in their proximity 'more equal' through their ability to dispense or broker scarce resources and favours. However planners at all levels have learned from these experiences and are trying to correct this. No one can say that the local private courier, PCO (Public Call Office) and Cybercafe owner is any kind of a power-broker or monopolist now. Low capital cost, limited margins, simple equipment and possibility of competition make it unattractive to the quick buck chaser. Likewise, the Nodal Agencies in quite a few States have undertaken mass-education and user-training initiatives, also motivating local 'owners' of community-owned stoves and renewable energy systems like solar streetlights. Telegraph offices have markedly improved. Cement and steel are no longer restricted supplies just as licenses to manufacture or distribute these are no longer exclusive privileges. Instances of money-order racketeering are less known among populaces with higher levels of literacy. We can learn from all this and apply it here too: In case of the Simputer, its low cost, open-source or public domain software - operating system and applications, hardware specifications, knowledge-sharing groups like the Yahoogroup and Sourceforge communities, and attempts to disseminate this information - even discussions like this, prior to its launch - will definitely help mitigate any 'holy cow' in it. In fact, IT by itself has grown from being a rocket-science for the privileged few to something taught in schools, and the many popular private institutes, with books and CD-ROMs on any topic available all over India and in several regional languages. This is bound to result in better all-round awareness of usage, servicing, applications and peripheral development as well as competition-driven low costs. Branded PC manufacturers need to run hard for their money. It appears that economy - from market-driven regulation more than administered controls, education and communication are about the best anti-monopoly weapons. On my part, I would back all endeavors in preparing all technical support and educational material related to the Simputer. Regards Udit Chaudhuri ------------ ***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.globalknowledge.org>
