Instead of having a full blown laptop, we could have something akin to a toy for learning.

Let’s just hope they are not planning to subsidise the whole thing though.

government officials are not the sharpest knives in the drawer … but how does the press go about reporting their statements

Have you entertained the possibility that the featherbrained 20-somethings working in Indian media are not even blunt knives? Might it be possible that anyone who “cuts it” is already abroad?

During the past year or so, ever since Asus introduced the Eee PC, the netbook category of PCs is gaining traction and can come closer to $10 pricing faster than any other product line. A few trends are making this low-cost a reality: panel prices are dropping, Intel’s Atom processor will likely be replaced by much cheaper ARM processor that has sufficient processing power for this product line (or even VIA or AMD), Linux is already on some of these low-end netbooks (Ubuntu) and the manufacturers will sell this product bundled with some kind of a internet access/3G service fee. I know one of my customers has a netbook product priced under 600RMB (around $90) which is selling well today.

Fyi, checkout http://www.netbooktracker.com.

Who would have thought CD/DVD players will sell at $19 or so when the first pricepoints were at $400+ ?

Whether these low-cost PCs are essential or even mildly helpful in improving the education status in India, that is a different question: I think they will have an impact provided a whole host of specific software applications are built to achieve it.

This whole low-cost laptop thing is an opportunity for the educational software segment to tap into it. I think in the end, the real revolution here may lie in how the Indian software industry will turn innovative to take advantage of this segment. I think there is a business model out there that can deliver a $10 PC to the user, but the same business model will also require the user to pay for the software that is required for it. I am sure your readers have heard of Leapfrog toys (www.leapfrog.com). A low cost $10 netbook/laptop with Leapfrog like educational software/system for additional cost is not such an unthinkable one, and quite a welcome one in my opinion. Interestingly, the customer I referred to earlier – a China processor chip company – who is now stepping into the netbook segment generates their largest revenue from the educational toys segment.

Regards,
Crazyfinger