" Negroponte and some MIT colleagues are hard at work on a project
they hope will brighten the lives and prospects of hundreds of
millions of developing world kids. It's a grand idea and a daunting
challenge: to create rugged, internet- and multimedia-capable laptop
computers at a cost of $100 apiece.
That's right, the price of dinner for four at a moderately priced
Manhattan restaurant can buy a Third World kid what Negroponte
considers an essential tool for making it in the 21st century. The
laptops would be mass-produced in orders of no smaller than 1 million
units and bought by governments, which would distribute them. "
Very nice effort but riddled with all the problems possible. If it
comes to rural India, the logistics should be handled by NGOs or
corporate India. Is this do-able by one of us in India or do you need
to pull strings at processor companies and political circles ?
Is there something called a digital divide in India ? I know in Mumbai
even the kids in the slums have some awareness of computers. Although
their first attraction to the machine being the multimedia abilities.
I can imagine rural India having a real problem, but aren't institutes
like NIIT adding to the clutter of sign-boards even in the smallest of
towns.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,67115,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_6
OR
http://tinyurl.com/68lo4
