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India unveils $35 computer for students

danarhea

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A 10 dollar computer? Holy crap. You know what a 10 dollar computer is going to do to HP, Dell, and the rest? Won't kill 'em, but it will put a serious dent in their business, if these new computers make it to the US.

But I am looking to the future. What will it bring? How about every citizen in the US having online access through their cell phone service? No more need for newspapers. They all go online. Same with many magazines. And goodbye USPS. No need for you either. How about real-time online universities? The possibilities are endless. IMHO, a revolution that brings us 10 dollar computers is going to be....... um, what's the word?.... Oh yea....

A revolution. LOL.

Article is here.
 

We shall see.. India has had a tendency to make "worlds cheapest" things late, including a car. Most of them would never get approval in the west due to environmental, health and other standards. There is a reason often that they are "so cheap".
 
PeteEU said:
We shall see.. India has had a tendency to make "worlds cheapest" things late, including a car. Most of them would never get approval in the west due to environmental, health and other standards. There is a reason often that they are "so cheap".
Click to expand...

What's that old saying again? Oh, yeah... you get what you pay for.
 
Do you honestly think Bill Gates would allow this? He could crush IE right now if he so chose to. He bundles so that any software that doesn't lick his damn feet is essentially blacklisted from the American home and place of business.

He can do it to hardware too, I'm sure.
 

Doubt Bill Gates would bother or care.

To get this machine to this price you either have to give massive subsidies, hence it can only be sold at that price in India, OR, use outdated technology that basically is scrap in the west. There is no info on the chip being used or the amount of memory or which linux kernel they are using.
 
Well true, it's not meant to compete with the "latest and greatest" they can put out, but even reasonably outdated laptops can easily go for a few hundred dollars. Also, there may still be a way via some underground network that these computers make it to the states or other first-world nations. Since it's international, it doesn't necessarily have to follow rules - because if they ever did make it over here with even comparible prices, it would reek of dumping because it most likely requires subsidies as you mentioned.

I'm not incredibly concerned about it, but I would like to see how it's played out. It's failed in the past - this isn't the first time someone elsewhere has proposed very cheap laptops.
 
PeteEU said:
We shall see.. India has had a tendency to make "worlds cheapest" things late, including a car. Most of them would never get approval in the west due to environmental, health and other standards. There is a reason often that they are "so cheap".
Click to expand...

They said that once about calculators. :mrgreen:
 
A 10 dollar computer with a 10 dollar sound card and a 10 dollar chipset and a 10 dollar CPU with a 10 dollar screen and a 10 dollar wifi and a Linux system.

Im not jealous. But its good for the kids, yaaaaayyy
 

Yeah...but the technical support for that is gonna be a bitch!
 
danarhea said:
They said that once about calculators. :mrgreen:
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Yea, but this is different. A calculator does one thing.. this does more for one. (unless writing boobs on a calculator counts as an extra application).

To make such a screen thingy work, you need a processor and some ram as a minimum.. We all know the price of ram, and that can easily take 1/4 of the price. Add the processor... I can remember any processor that has gone for under 30 bucks, not even ATOM atm. Add to that a screen, and wages to build it.. sorry but the math simply dont add up unless you use 3+ outdated scrapped chips.. if even then. And then there comes the screen. Oh lets not forget the battery, not cheap either.
 
A calculator is incredibly powerful! Before calculators you had to use huge ass log tables or slide rulers and such. Just taking a trigonometric value like sine is amazing. I think people don't even understand the technology that's in a standard, scientific calculator. They're amazing...until the custodians come into your lab and steal your TI-92 Plus you've had for like 6 years.
 
danarhea said:
A 10 dollar computer? Holy crap. You know what a 10 dollar computer is going to do to HP, Dell, and the rest? Won't kill 'em, but it will put a serious dent in their business, if these new computers make it to the US.
Click to expand...
I do not see that happening. Maybe a dent in the antique PC sales in the mom and pop computer shops, pawn shops and used computer stores. Of course thats assuming a 10 dollar computer is better than some dinosaur pc with windows XP,2000,me or 98 or some crappy linux or mac computer that only a handful of people use. If anything it will boost the sales of Dells,HP and other computers once people realize that they can not do **** with a 10 computer.
 
This computer is not meant to compete with the current lineup of desktops and laptops. It is meant to provide the most basic computer functions to people who otherwise would have to use paper. The most likely use would be spreadsheets used for doing the books in small rural businesses who can't afford today's computers. I am curious is the claimed price can be met in reality, but the concept is a good one.
 
It won't put a dent in the other big brand names because the import of those computers into the west will never be allowed by business and government. Every piece of technology made overseas and shipped here needs a license to get into the country and this one will never get it.

It does shed some light on the true cost of making computers though. We pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for a machine. It costs very little to make it there. Same goes for most of our products. When I go to buy clothes now and a sweater is $50 I just put it down and walk away. I'd rather invest in a ticket to Asia once every three years to stock up on my wardrobe and gadgets than be gouged at retail prices here.
 

Not it doesn't. Some wild claim of a $35 computer with no specification is hardly comparable to existing models. Realistically, the best computer you get for $35 would be a more versatile graphing calculator, not a real laptop or desktop. The computer industry is viciously competitive, and margins are quite slim. Far from gouging consumers, the computer industry manages to deliver a new superior product every year at a low price. It is miles ahead of your typical consumer product.
 

Yeah, without specs there's very little to work with. However, I disagree about margins being slim. Best Buy and the like manage to sell products at enormous markups. I've built a few computers, and every time I do I compare the prices online through places like PriceWatch or Newegg and find that Best Buy's prices are usually about double what I end up paying, depending on the component. (Hell, RAM sticks are sometimes triple)
 

Netbooks in North America sell for a few hundred dollars, and that's the end retail price. I'm sure the true manufacturing cost is much lower.

It doesn't have to be a wonder machine to connect more people to the internet and assist with a child's education.
 

Best buy is a festering pit of evil that preys on the ignorant. They markup everything, with their $120 buck usb cables being one of the worst rip-offs around. Computers are sold a reasonable prices if you buy them from decent retailers like fries or new egg, or direct from the manufacturer.
 
Netbooks in North America sell for a few hundred dollars, and that's the end retail price. I'm sure the true manufacturing cost is much lower.
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Not by much. The industry has extremely cutthroat competition that dramatically drives down the price of everything. Most parts have a fairly small number of designers who rely on huge volumes with low margins to generate profit.

It doesn't have to be a wonder machine to connect more people to the internet and assist with a child's education.
Click to expand...

I doubt the $35 dollar computer would have internet connectivity. There is little point in having the computer so cheap if you have to spend many times it worth to pay for the internet connection.
 
I’d like to see what kind of performance $35 will bring.
 
Bill gates doesn't give a rats ass about an Indian 10 dollar computer. Infact he would make more with these companies and customers buying licenses of windows.

That being said I can already tell you these computers will be highly unmodifiable in the sense of hardware. Everything will be integrated. Thus meaning they will be crap. But if you want a computer for document based purposes. Then this is the computer for you. I woulden't save anything important on it though. You'll be going through these things like hotcakes.
 
Bill gates doesn't give a rats ass about an Indian 10 dollar computer. Infact he would make more with these companies and customers buying licenses of windows.
Click to expand...

The article says it runs linux. There is no reason to waste money on an operating system licesne when trying to build the device so cheap.


Does your magic crystal ball tell you the hardware specs for this device? While the price point is going to severely limit performance, cheapness and reliability are not mutually exclusive goals. At this point, we don't have enough information to determine its capabilities.
 
Ah i didn't see the linux part. My apologies.

As for hardware, I can already assume that this device will be fully integrated and unmodifiable. As for specifications, I can probably make a rough estimate, but minus integration I don't claim to or have claimed to know them. As for reliability, It all depends. One can only assume. My assumption based on the idea of cheap product, mixed with integration and mass production, is negative. But you are right, we don't have enough information. I'm just using my knowledge to make my guess.
 
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