Sunday, March 28, 2004
Simputer Starts Shipping in India for $220 USD
Posted by Jason Dunn in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 12:00 PM
"A cheap handheld computer, designed by Indian scientists for use by the poor, went on sale Friday for $220 after a delay of nearly three years. Simputer's software was developed by volunteers, to keep development costs low, said Swami Manohar, chief executive of Picopeta Simputers, at the model's launch. Picopeta Simputers and Encore Software are the two companies licensed to make the devices.
The launch of the Simputer was delayed due to a lack of investment and a poor response to the concept from large-scale distributors, Manohar said. However, the government-owned Bharat Electronics agreed to manufacture the Simputer, which was developed in 2001 by scientists at the Bangalore-based Institute of Science in response to low levels of computer use in India. The Simputer is available in Bangalore and will be available across India by April 1, he said. Picopeta hopes to sell 50,000 units in the fiscal year ending March 2005, Manohar said."
I'm no economist, so perhap's there's an angle I'm missing here, but are PDAs really a "need" that people in developing countries have, especially when they cost a year's salary to buy? This also continues to disprove the myth that Linux-based PDAs are cheaper.
The launch of the Simputer was delayed due to a lack of investment and a poor response to the concept from large-scale distributors, Manohar said. However, the government-owned Bharat Electronics agreed to manufacture the Simputer, which was developed in 2001 by scientists at the Bangalore-based Institute of Science in response to low levels of computer use in India. The Simputer is available in Bangalore and will be available across India by April 1, he said. Picopeta hopes to sell 50,000 units in the fiscal year ending March 2005, Manohar said."
I'm no economist, so perhap's there's an angle I'm missing here, but are PDAs really a "need" that people in developing countries have, especially when they cost a year's salary to buy? This also continues to disprove the myth that Linux-based PDAs are cheaper.
