History of Affordable Computing

India’s tech community is all a-buzz once again with the announcement of yet another breakthrough in communications. After Notion Ink’s Adam Tablet made big news at the latter end of 2009, we’ve now got, what can only be considered the world’s cheapest portable computing solution at just $35 (Rs. 1,640).

Seeing as the mobile industry is going ‘ballistic’ at the moment, what with all the new budget devices being announced on a daily basis, it was just matter of time before the computing industry took the same stand.

As we have seen the growth of the Tablet PC in the market, with people absolutely focusing on portable computers with efficiency, the introduction of this project should not be surprising especially if you have watched the trend.

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With this drastic step towards building cheap and efficient computers, we thought of giving you a small history of how and when cheap computers have cropped up, helping educate children from all walks of life.

The One Laptop Per Child ( OLPC ) Association Inc., a U.S non-profit organization came up with a project
to create an affordable educational device in the developing world. Introducing the XO-1 laptop (prototyped Children’s Machine) with an aim of reaching a $100 price, on 23rd May 2006; the device is energy-efficient, has a long battery-life and is easy to service, the biggest reason it’s not done too well in the market is because it hasn’t still come up with a solution for the price, with the bar lurking between $150-200. (Source: Wikipedia )

After seeing such a device at that particular price range, we come to a Tablet which is not released yet, though it has been showcased (in December 2009) and scheduled for release in the third quarter of 2010. There’s this India-based company called Notion Ink from Hyderabad that has come up with Adam. As the site says “It’s not a tablet or a book reader. It’s a new species, and we call it ADAM. The First.” Price is supposed to be at Rs. 15,000 and can be quite a steal with the kind of features enlisted. (Source: Teck.in )

Today we’ve just seen the unveiling of a computing device ( click here ), again based in India, which is a project undertaken by a group of Institutions with the IIT’s playing a major role in the project. The best (maybe also the worst) part is the price which stands at a mind-boggling $35. Also, the product seems to boast of some good functionalities, we still will have to wait and see how will it exactly impact the Indian market. Here are the updates and quotes .

We would love to have your views on this Computing Device, what do you think? Good or Bad? Hit or Flop? Do write and let us know.

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