4 ms·

I don't know, I'm trying not to be negative here but the company mentioned and the numerous under $x (where x= 200, 100, 20) Indian computer stories that have t

by blndcat 14y ago

I don't know, I'm trying not to be negative here but the company mentioned and the numerous under $x (where x= 200, 100, 20) Indian computer stories that have the potential to change Indian education have mostly been vapourware and/or failures. Contrast this (and here I try to redeem myself in terms of positiveness) to the Raspberry Pi project which not only delivered but over delivered, even though there were delays.

DanBC 14y ago
The first version of this product was criticised; the second version is better. (http://www.akashtablet.com/aakash/index.html http://www.akashtablet.com/aakash/index.html) There's a commercial version that anyone can buy. This is more than $20! But it's still cheap and reasonably specc'd. (http://www.akashtablet.com/ubislate/index.html http://www.akashtablet.com/ubislate/index.html) Some comments yesterday (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4769265 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4769265) suggested that they're already building 100,000 units, which is pretty good.
- GFischer 14y ago
  The linked articles have some interesting information as well. http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/15/hardware-is-dead/ http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/15/hardware-is-dead/ Decently spec'd tablets are already selling U$ 35 in China (though, from personal experience, the real cost is higher due to lack of quality control). Edit: the same thing happened with the 1st gen Aakash: "Hundreds of Aakashes arrive at IIT Rajasthan for testing; a third of the devices don't start at all." I'm also excited about the potential of tablets as enablers of new business models :) . It's a nice time to be an entrepreneur :)
  - DanBC 14y ago
    Someone tried shipping Kindles to Africa. It wasn't a great experience. And they've tried using the big Kindle DX in US colleges, but that was also not a great success. It's a shame, because it is exciting tech. US Colleges - (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e185bce2-b76a-11df-839a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2C0wNaK5Z http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e185bce2-b76a-11df-839a-00144feabd...) WSJ calls Kindles "rugged" (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303768104577462683090312766.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230376810457746...) Gigohm says nearly half the Kindles sent to Ghana broke (http://gigaom.com/2012/04/27/worldreader-kids-e-readers-kindles/ http://gigaom.com/2012/04/27/worldreader-kids-e-readers-kind...) But Worldreader have turned this into an opportunity, by launching an independent repair centre (http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/06/13/worldreader-launches-first-independent-kindle-repair-center/#.UKD4r-OTtR4 http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/06/13/worldreader-lau...) Recycling electronics could be valuable for developing nations. It's such a shame that unscrupulous people ignored any semblance of safe and ethical working conditions, and now it's not legal to send electronics from the UK to developing nations to get recycled.
    - GFischer 14y ago
      I agree that the current Kindle is not the best format for college - I have one, and I'm doing a business degree (technology MBA). In my experience, both paper and traditional tablets (such as the iPad) are much better suited for case studies and reference material - the refresh rate and lack of touchscreen of the older Kindles are both dealbreakers, and it would need a tablet-like UX to be more usable. I actually use my Android cell phone for classes, download the PDFs of the case studies and all that. I still prefer paper (I'm used to spreading multiple pages around, something you can't do with a tablet. Maybe with a Microsoft "Surface".. err Microsoft PixelSense).
j45 14y ago
Doesn't HN still usually applaud initiative for "so I built it". In this case it's not vapourware and it's a step forward, in an area where there's few options and a continuing need. I agree this could just be a PR/storytelling issue.

by blndcat 14y ago

DanBC 14y ago

The first version of this product was criticised; the second version is better. (http://www.akashtablet.com/aakash/index.html http://www.akashtablet.com/aakash/index.html) There's a commercial version that anyone can buy. This is more than $20! But it's still cheap and reasonably specc'd. (http://www.akashtablet.com/ubislate/index.html http://www.akashtablet.com/ubislate/index.html) Some comments yesterday (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4769265 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4769265) suggested that they're already building 100,000 units, which is pretty good.

GFischer 14y ago
The linked articles have some interesting information as well. http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/15/hardware-is-dead/ http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/15/hardware-is-dead/ Decently spec'd tablets are already selling U$ 35 in China (though, from personal experience, the real cost is higher due to lack of quality control). Edit: the same thing happened with the 1st gen Aakash: "Hundreds of Aakashes arrive at IIT Rajasthan for testing; a third of the devices don't start at all." I'm also excited about the potential of tablets as enablers of new business models :) . It's a nice time to be an entrepreneur :)
- DanBC 14y ago
  Someone tried shipping Kindles to Africa. It wasn't a great experience. And they've tried using the big Kindle DX in US colleges, but that was also not a great success. It's a shame, because it is exciting tech. US Colleges - (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e185bce2-b76a-11df-839a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2C0wNaK5Z http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e185bce2-b76a-11df-839a-00144feabd...) WSJ calls Kindles "rugged" (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303768104577462683090312766.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230376810457746...) Gigohm says nearly half the Kindles sent to Ghana broke (http://gigaom.com/2012/04/27/worldreader-kids-e-readers-kindles/ http://gigaom.com/2012/04/27/worldreader-kids-e-readers-kind...) But Worldreader have turned this into an opportunity, by launching an independent repair centre (http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/06/13/worldreader-launches-first-independent-kindle-repair-center/#.UKD4r-OTtR4 http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/06/13/worldreader-lau...) Recycling electronics could be valuable for developing nations. It's such a shame that unscrupulous people ignored any semblance of safe and ethical working conditions, and now it's not legal to send electronics from the UK to developing nations to get recycled.
  - GFischer 14y ago
    I agree that the current Kindle is not the best format for college - I have one, and I'm doing a business degree (technology MBA). In my experience, both paper and traditional tablets (such as the iPad) are much better suited for case studies and reference material - the refresh rate and lack of touchscreen of the older Kindles are both dealbreakers, and it would need a tablet-like UX to be more usable. I actually use my Android cell phone for classes, download the PDFs of the case studies and all that. I still prefer paper (I'm used to spreading multiple pages around, something you can't do with a tablet. Maybe with a Microsoft "Surface".. err Microsoft PixelSense).

j45 14y ago

Doesn't HN still usually applaud initiative for "so I built it". In this case it's not vapourware and it's a step forward, in an area where there's few options and a continuing need. I agree this could just be a PR/storytelling issue.