Is it too late for a refund?
India's $35 laptop makes iPad owners feel like idiots
It's one small step for India, one giant slap in the face to Applekind.
Touted as an iPad for 1/14th the cost, India has unveiled a monumental prototype — a $35 touchscreen tablet that will handle such functions as word processing, web browsing, PDF reading, and video conferencing. A few bucks more will score the owner a solar-powered option as well.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal turned to India's premier technical universities to develop the device, after polling the private sector for takers. "This is our answer to MIT's $100 computer," Sibal told the Economic Times.
And just like that, the $100 computer became a coaster. Maybe your iPad did, too.
If you're feeling cuckolded for shelling out $500 for your iPad a few months ago, never fear. The Indian government must still find a manufacturer for the Linux-based phenom, which has a hopeful production date of Someday, 2011.
Of course, your injured pride might cause you to root against India. But with a goal of providing connectivity to students and teachers at affordable prices, there's no need for that tall glass of greedy American haterade.
Do you think this invention will light a fire under the motherboards of any big manufacturers in this country? 'Cause if India can do it, so can Apple.
But the question is, who will?
