Well, this time the joke's on the author as the $35 tablets were manufactured and released, in fact given for free to a lot of students. This was all over CNN and major news sites. The only drawback with the tablet is that it's no ipad and it's slow, an OK design, but it works, hopefully they will make it better in the future with the new ice cream sandwhich android OS. And for a kid from rural india, having this tablet is like his dad buying their first tv/computer, you cannot describe the excitement. I wish the best to the HRD ministry for keeping up their promise.

The big difference I see between the earlier OLPC and the current one is OLPC was looking for a product that is more close to the laptop and achieve the $100 mark. This one takes a different thought with just couple of keys and primitive touch screen and uses the connectivity for content access. HRD ministry should be congratulated for getting up the first proto on the table to prove what this product can do. Today this cost can be higher than $35, but with large scale manufacturing we can bring the cost do in stages. The original PC was at 1L+ but crashed to 40K and now at 17K range.
There are couple things that this product can do apart from the basic Educational purpose for which it was created
1) Broadband access device – With wireless networking in places, any ISP / Teleco provider can take this forward
2) Last mile automation - EB meter reading/billing, Ration shop, Hotel menu ordering, Stock broking
3) Display Platform – News, Advertisement, Information kiosk, banking

All these need some good investment in the IT infrastructure that is going to distribute / manage the content. Soon this should get to stage similar to how Mobile phone spread the Telecom infrastructure.

But for these things to happen, the HRD ministry should do two major things
1) Provide a reference platform for developers to start working on content creation
2) Move the manufacturing and design details to open source and facilitate healthy completion among vendors (like create a website in which vendors can quote for components in volume, manufacturers can quote for production)
With these help, designer can allow faster information flow, to make this a reality.

Dear Walrence Falit,

His name is Sibal, not Sabil.

As an Indian technologist, I know that we cannot build a $35 laptop unless Indian manufacturing technology jumps by more than an order of magnitude to bring costs down, simultaneous with the Indian currency being devalued relative to the $. The problem is that I see both as remote possibilities, and the combination is all but impossible. So, that seals it, I think. I just hope politicians are restricted from making idiots of all the smart people who have struggled in the last 30 years to make India the technology powerhouse that the world regards. I thank you for acknowdging that as well.

As an Indian technologist, I know that we cannot build a $35 laptop unless Indian manufacturing technology jumps by more than an order of magnitude to bring costs down, simultaneous with the Indian currency being devalued relative to the $. The problem is that I see both as remote possibilities, and the combination is all but impossible. So, that seals it, I think. I just hope politicians are restricted from making idiots of all the smart people who have struggled in the last 30 years to make India the technology powerhouse that the world regards. I thank you for acknowdging that as well.

Come on guys, when are we going to understand INDIAN way of working especially GOI.

$50 for corruption is never mentioned that should be understood by default.....look what a mess is surfacing on INDIAs pride CWG corruption scandal.

NEW DELHI: The never-ending reports of corruption in the Commonwealth Games are now threatening to sully the country’s image outside its shores as well. A British media report has said that the British Queen is in “cold fury” over allegations of financial irregularities involving a British firm and the Commonwealth Games baton relay.
...............
If you take up past corruption archive in iNDIA you can GIVE INDIA DIAMOND MEDAL forget about GOLD MEDAL.
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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cwg-corruption-ive-opened-a-can-of-worms-says-aiyer/655043/

Good Article. My point on the topic is that authors like you bring out the gaps and the good points in any initiative.The current project is executed by people from IISC and Sibal+his bureaucrats display what they get from these folks. It appears that the makers reputation is on the line now given the open questions & criticism and I am sure they will come out with a response soon as they know your post and similar ones are first on the google results.

We in India know how the politicians behave here. We also know that it is not possible at this particular time to build a $35 laptop. I tend to agree with the author of this article that India should take up the offer from Negroponte to bring its Laptop to masses.

Maybe they could make use of the all the technology us in the west throw away.

Although I am not saying that this is one of those cases.

Politician makes a grand statement of a vision of the future, the people like it.

The politician says that it will be cheap for all, but to get there we will need to fund some experts to come up with a plan, do some testing, prototyping etc.

Queue the friends who got him into power, their new company "The 35 dollar laptop design company".

They bill him $20mil for design, consultancy, expenses, building a factory (later converted to a call center), prototypes, marketing, travel etc etc.

Everyone gets fat and happy except for the taxpayer. But that doesn't matter ;-)

When I see those "Consumer Investigation" tv shows, I am never surprised that they never investigate governments, councils, etc. They should, then they would get credibility and ratings.

There's a typo in one instance where Sibal is spelled as Sabil in this article. Please fix it. :)

Good article Lawrence.

Governments (especially the socialist kind) have a long history of making grandiose promises, which don't work out in the implied timeframe of the promise. However, at least sometimes these promises were later realized by private industry.

For example, a nutcase in Germany with a funny mustache promised a cheap car for everyone. 20 years later, once the nutcase was out of the way, Germany delivered on that promise with cheap cars not just in Germany, but world wide.

In the case of the $35 laptop, it probably won't take long to determine if it's a politician's promise, or a real deal. If they pursue every opportunity, e.g. involving Negroponte, then it's likely real. If they insist on NIH, then it'll remain just one more piece of hot air exhaled by another politician.

Over time, though, I'm sure that either way there will be a $35 computing alternative. The markets are drooling for one, so someone will eventually deliver.