India is planning to produce a laptop computer for the knockdown price of about $20, they called Sakshat laptop. The project would considerably undercut the XO or “$100 laptop” , that was designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of the US. XO, which received a cool reception in India, is the centrepiece of the One Laptop Per Child charity initiative launched by Nicholas Negroponte, the computer scientist and former director of MIT’s Media Lab. Intel launched a similar product too, called Classmate. India’s $20 laptop would also undercut the EeePC, made by Taiwan’s Asustek. The EeePC was the first ultra-cheap (netbook) launched worldwide through commercial channels. It does not have a hard drive and sells for $200-$400. India’s “Sakshat” laptop is intended to boost distance learning to help India fulfil its overwhelming educational needs. It forms part of a broader plan to improve e-learning at more than 18,000 colleges and 400 universities. However, some analysts are sce...
