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By David Rothman

OLPC Windows illustrationWho says OLPC is the only outfit with trouble meeting cost goals immediately? India’s $10 laptop project faces challenges, including accusations on one e-mail list that the government policymakers cheering program on are idiots. Comments welcome from all sides.

Related (photo): Putting Windows on XO Will Kill One Laptop Per Child, from the unofficial OLPC News. Also see OLPC Staffing Plan: Great Geeks But Wrong Emphasis.

Housekeeping: The TeleBlog post on some U.S. schools’ abandonment of laptops will be coming later today. [Update: Make "today" Monday. - D.R.]

From David Farber’s Very Interesting People list:

From: Srini Ramakrishnan
Date: May 5, 2007 11:36:38 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: $10 laptops from HRD Ministry, India

This deserves wider coverage to publicize the super geniuses that this country produces, or rather the grade-A morons we seem to hire into government.

As far as I can see here is a pretty darn tall claim, and knowing something of Indian governmental bureaucracy, and bureaucracy sponsored innovation, this just might be something that fulfills the sketchiest definition of a computer while completely defeating the intent of the whole exercise.

Cheeni

[URL]

HRD hopes to make $10 laptops a reality
Akshaya Mukul
[4 May, 2007 l 0253 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]

NEW DELHI: Having rejected Nicholas Negroponte’s offer of $100 laptops
for schoolchildren, HRD ministry’s idea to make laptops at $10 is
firmly taking shape with two designs already in and public sector
undertaking Semiconductor Complex evincing interest to be a part of
the project.

So far, the cost of one laptop, after factoring in labour charges, is
coming to $47 but the ministry feels the price will come down
dramatically considering the fact that the demand would be for one
million laptops. “The cost is encouraging and we are hopeful it would
come down to $10. We would also look into the possibility of some
Indian company manufacturing the parts,” an official said.

The two designs with the ministry are from a final year engineering
student of Vellore Institute of Technology and a researcher from
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Due to reasons of Intellectual
Property Rights, being insisted by the two designers, the ministry is
not parting with the design except giving out some of the major
details.

The laptop would be made on a single board which would make it easy to
find fault and rectify it, say sources…

 
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