Times Of India Calls $10 Laptop a Damp Squib

The $10 laptop venture of the Indian government culminates into a damp squib according to the Times of India daily. The week began with the hype created by the Indian government sources who let out the news that a $10 laptop was in the making in their factories, following the announcement of the cheapest car in the world. The cheapest laptop offer in the world was expected to bring cheap computing to the masses. However, the technology world has been left in utter disappointment finally when this laptop turned out to be a no such thing.

The $10 laptop that would had cost around GBP7 in the UK if realised, nevertheless has been released in India with a great amount of obscurity regarding the category it belonged to. For, it looks neither a notebook nor a PDA, instead appeared to be a dubious device that has to be connected to a PC to function as a network storage hub. This red herring turn out called Sakshat that comes with a meagre 2GB memory, would be priced around $30 at launch.

The other parts obscure here are the doubts whether the portrayal of this contraption as a full fledged laptop was a publicity stunt, or if it was something evolved from details lost in translation. However, the news have definitely given a breather to the various netbook manufacturers around the world who apparently would have had a sleepless night or two, pondering over the overwhelming offer.