4 ms·

India's $35 tablet computer

19 points by yanw 16y ago

samratjp 16y ago
The R&D approach from the IIT's is a good one, but India, being India, I really wonder how much of that price tag is paying for the political "incentives."
- sks 16y ago
  I am a bit skeptical about the advertised price tag of $30. Last time when they released a $30 computing device(in 2009, see http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/indias-10-lapto/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/indias-10-lapto/ ) it was just a glorified box with 2GB memory. I wonder how they managed to put a touch screen and a functional OS without increasing the cost by even a single dollar. Anyways this is a big step towards lowering the cost of computing devices.
  - vishaldpatel 16y ago
    They're putting the reputation of India's best engineering schools on the line, so it can't be far from $30.
joubert 16y ago
First I thought, wow, in less than a day its price has already gone up from $30 to $35 (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1540120 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1540120). But then I realized the difference in number as reported by the two news outlets is probably just because of forex translation rates.
ck2 16y ago
It's funny how they think manufactures will reduce the price over time instead of adding features to maintain the price/profit point. At least how they do it here in the states, I mean my netbook was $170 last year and it's still the same price (or higher), just more things thrown in. Still, it would be neat to have a computing device with decent abilities that could be found for $10 on pegboards @ dollar stores and Walmart, etc. just like calculators. ps. the Tata Nano is $2000 in India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano but would be far more expensive here, so maybe the same goes for computers
- swolchok 16y ago
  $170 netbook? I haven't been able to find anything reputable-esque on Newegg or Amazon for under $250, so I've been holding out for ARM smartbooks and a price drop.
  - ck2 16y ago
    Hence my point I guess, prices only are going up, not down for some weird reason. This is an acer aspire one. I only use it like an hour a month tops but it's nice to have an emergency backup. I'd like to try it with Chrome OS someday.
    - swolchok 16y ago
      I conjecture that the problem is that cutting a $250 netbook to $200 drops the price by 20%, but drops margins by a much greater fraction. For now, it looks like the market will bear $300+ netbooks, so we'll have to wait until more competitors enter.

19 points by yanw 16y ago

The R&D approach from the IIT's is a good one, but India, being India, I really wonder how much of that price tag is paying for the political "incentives."

sks 16y ago
I am a bit skeptical about the advertised price tag of $30. Last time when they released a $30 computing device(in 2009, see http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/indias-10-lapto/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/indias-10-lapto/ ) it was just a glorified box with 2GB memory. I wonder how they managed to put a touch screen and a functional OS without increasing the cost by even a single dollar. Anyways this is a big step towards lowering the cost of computing devices.
- vishaldpatel 16y ago
  They're putting the reputation of India's best engineering schools on the line, so it can't be far from $30.

joubert 16y ago

First I thought, wow, in less than a day its price has already gone up from $30 to $35 (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1540120 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1540120). But then I realized the difference in number as reported by the two news outlets is probably just because of forex translation rates.

ck2 16y ago

It's funny how they think manufactures will reduce the price over time instead of adding features to maintain the price/profit point. At least how they do it here in the states, I mean my netbook was $170 last year and it's still the same price (or higher), just more things thrown in. Still, it would be neat to have a computing device with decent abilities that could be found for $10 on pegboards @ dollar stores and Walmart, etc. just like calculators. ps. the Tata Nano is $2000 in India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Nano but would be far more expensive here, so maybe the same goes for computers

swolchok 16y ago
$170 netbook? I haven't been able to find anything reputable-esque on Newegg or Amazon for under $250, so I've been holding out for ARM smartbooks and a price drop.
- ck2 16y ago
  Hence my point I guess, prices only are going up, not down for some weird reason. This is an acer aspire one. I only use it like an hour a month tops but it's nice to have an emergency backup. I'd like to try it with Chrome OS someday.
  - swolchok 16y ago
    I conjecture that the problem is that cutting a $250 netbook to $200 drops the price by 20%, but drops margins by a much greater fraction. For now, it looks like the market will bear $300+ netbooks, so we'll have to wait until more competitors enter.