$10 laptop: The cheapest laptop ever unvelied by Indian government

Bringing the digital age within reach for millions of poor

The Indian government is unveiling a prototype laptop tomorrow that is purported to cost a mere $10 (or 500 rupees, 7 euros). This would make it the cheapest laptop ever, far outstripping the laptop developed by Nicholas Negraponte for his One Laptop per Child project (OLPC), which ended up costing around $200. The $10 laptop was on the drawing board for over three years, and it will be the centerpiece at the launch of India’s new National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology. The mission is a scheme to boost learning in rural areas through the Internet.

The low price hinges on the use of domestic technology. The $10 laptop is the result of collaboration between several elite technology institutions in India. The Vellore Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science, and the Bangalore and Semiconductor Laboratory, a part of India’s Space Department, were all involved in the process of creating the laptop. It will have 2GB of memory, wi-fi, Ethernet and expandable memory with a screen, keyboard and USB port. Some technology experts are saying that a $10 laptop is impossible. One technology site, Arstechnica.com, says “No way.” They point out that Merrill Lynch estimated that for the OLPC laptop’s screen alone, the cost came out to around 20 euros per unit.

The One Laptop per Child project set out initially to produce a laptop for $100. It ran into problems when large companies, including Intel, the world’s biggest chip manufacturer, refused to cooperate. The XO has a screen that can hold in direct sunlight, wireless mesh networking and a Linux-based Sugar platform. It is durable and energy-efficient. It remains to be seen if the laptop being unveiled by the Indian government can really cost as little as $10. Officials had previously said that the machine would cost 14 euros, but that the price could come down if mass produced.

Whatever the actual cost of the prototype $10 laptop turns out to be, seeking to provide educational tools for the millions of poor children in India, in addition to other developing countries, is a laudable goal. It was Nicholas Negraponte’s conviction that affordable computing for children would help developing countries “leapfrog” into the future, and that it was necessary given that children in the developed world are now “digital natives,” having grown up in a wired world. Even if India’s laptop ends up costing more than $10, it and other low-priced computers, including netbooks, will help bring the digital age to the millions of poor who are seeking a way in to the wireless world.