The chairman of the nonprofit organization One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), Mr. Nicholas Negroponte has offered OLPC hardware and software technology for India’s project to mass produce a $35 Tablet computer.
Mr. Negroponte inviting the Indian government officials wrote in a blog entry, "I repeat my offer: full access to all of our technology, cost free. I urge you to send a team to MIT and OLPC at your earliest convenience so we can share our results with you."
OLPC has been developing its own low cost tablet and has the aim to ship a $100 XO tablet by 2012. He said the Indian project will not compete with the OLPC project but both can collaborate to promote education across the world. "India is so big that you risk being satisfied with your internal market. Don't. The world needs your device and leadership. Your tablet is not an "answer" or "competitor" to OLPC's XO laptop," he wrote in response to India’s minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal’s comments that $35 Tablet is their answer to the MIT’s laptop.
The government of India showcased a prototype tablet computer priced at just $35 last week. The government expects further price reduction to as low as $10 when the device is mass produced. Mr. Sibal showcased the affordable touch screen device in New Delhi as part of the government efforts to provide high-quality education to the students in the country.
The tablet computer will support web browsing, video conferencing and word processing, according to its developers. The tablet is based on Linux-based computer and has 2GB of RAM and USB ports but it does not have a hard disk.
The tablet could be available for school children and University students as soon as next year. The students from the various branches of the Indian Institute of Technology have designed the motherboard. The ministry expects that the price of the device will drop to $20 and then to $10.
The device still needs to tie up with a manufacturer interested in producing the device. Various global manufacturers and one from Taiwan is said to be interested in making the device. The ministry has however did not announce the name of manufacturers. The initiative is part of a larger aim to improve the education system in India.
Mr. Negroponte has cautioned the Indian government to not develop a device for media consumption but for education purpose. He has also urged the Indian government to use the open source Linux system for its tablet.
