
How a $20 tablet from India could blindside PC makers, educate billions - donohoe
http://qz.com/26244/how-a-20-tablet-from-india-could-finish-off-pc-makers-educate-billions-and-transform-computing-as-we-know-it/
======
GFischer
My country (Uruguay) deployed the OLPC, but the problem is that teachers are
not prepared to take advantage of it. I worry that India will make the same
mistake.

I interviewed some teachers, and they praised the fact that most children were
inquisitive and taught themselves how to use the main programs quickly. But
they also cricicized that they disrupted classes too much, and the lack of
support from the education ministry.

Teachers are much more resistant than kids to use them.

Another problem is that the XO laptops break A LOT, and when they're
functional, kids forget to charge them before class, no idea how a tablet will
fare.

I also believe that the tablet form factor is much better suited for class
use. I dislike the fact that the screen in a laptop breaks visual contact
(tablets are much better at that), and laptops are not the ideal form factor
for books (I'd rather have e-ink, but a tablet would be multipurpose).

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j45
Amazing how something with the potential to impact so much gets so little
attention because it's not a kickstarter?

~~~
blndcat
I don't know, I'm trying not to be negative here but the company mentioned and
the numerous under $x (where x= 200, 100, 20) Indian computer stories that
have the potential to change Indian education have mostly been vapourware
and/or failures.

Contrast this (and here I try to redeem myself in terms of positiveness) to
the Raspberry Pi project which not only delivered but over delivered, even
though there were delays.

~~~
DanBC
The first version of this product was criticised; the second version is
better.

(<http://www.akashtablet.com/aakash/index.html>)

There's a commercial version that anyone can buy. This is more than $20! But
it's still cheap and reasonably specc'd.

(<http://www.akashtablet.com/ubislate/index.html>)

Some comments yesterday (<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4769265>)
suggested that they're already building 100,000 units, which is pretty good.

~~~
GFischer
The linked articles have some interesting information as well.

<http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/15/hardware-is-dead/>

Decently spec'd tablets are already selling U$ 35 in China (though, from
personal experience, the real cost is higher due to lack of quality control).

Edit: the same thing happened with the 1st gen Aakash: "Hundreds of Aakashes
arrive at IIT Rajasthan for testing; a third of the devices don't start at
all."

I'm also excited about the potential of tablets as enablers of new business
models :) . It's a nice time to be an entrepreneur :)

~~~
DanBC
Someone tried shipping Kindles to Africa. It wasn't a great experience.

And they've tried using the big Kindle DX in US colleges, but that was also
not a great success.

It's a shame, because it is exciting tech.

US Colleges -
([http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e185bce2-b76a-11df-839a-00144feabd...](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e185bce2-b76a-11df-839a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2C0wNaK5Z))

WSJ calls Kindles "rugged"
([http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230376810457746...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303768104577462683090312766.html))

Gigohm says nearly half the Kindles sent to Ghana broke
([http://gigaom.com/2012/04/27/worldreader-kids-e-readers-
kind...](http://gigaom.com/2012/04/27/worldreader-kids-e-readers-kindles/))

But Worldreader have turned this into an opportunity, by launching an
independent repair centre ([http://www.the-digital-
reader.com/2012/06/13/worldreader-lau...](http://www.the-digital-
reader.com/2012/06/13/worldreader-launches-first-independent-kindle-repair-
center/#.UKD4r-OTtR4))

Recycling electronics could be valuable for developing nations. It's such a
shame that unscrupulous people ignored any semblance of safe and ethical
working conditions, and now it's not legal to send electronics from the UK to
developing nations to get recycled.

~~~
GFischer
I agree that the current Kindle is not the best format for college - I have
one, and I'm doing a business degree (technology MBA).

In my experience, both paper and traditional tablets (such as the iPad) are
much better suited for case studies and reference material - the refresh rate
and lack of touchscreen of the older Kindles are both dealbreakers, and it
would need a tablet-like UX to be more usable.

I actually use my Android cell phone for classes, download the PDFs of the
case studies and all that. I still prefer paper (I'm used to spreading
multiple pages around, something you can't do with a tablet. Maybe with a
Microsoft "Surface".. err Microsoft PixelSense).

