India to unveil £7 laptop

That's a great idea, hopefully it will bridge the gap between the country's rich and poor; and be used for educational purposes etc

almost 80% of the cost of a laptop is in marketing/advertising and distrobution... buy in bulk do drive down the cost of distrobution, and cut out marketing/advertising and BAM! a $1000 laptop is only $200 bucks... a $400 laptop is now $80... it's not hard to see how this works.

chech out the Nicholas Negroponte(sp?) video on TED... he explains it all.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/nicholas_negroponte_on_one_laptop_per_child.h...

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/nicholas_negroponte_takes_olpc_to_colombia.ht...

It will be interesting to see how this affects the XO computer market. Particularly now that Google and Microsoft are even more invested in solving lapses in information communication technology access.

Also, £7 is still a LOT more than many folks make on a monthly basis.

I can't wait to see these when they come out.

its probably as powerful as a graphing calculator.

been waiting for this for two years! why won't it happen here?

Already Indian politicians came out with PC for $150, which never stayed in the market as its a recyled one by Pentium. There was one Ramar Pillai who did magic making Petrol from Lemon juice and even BBC reported on it, then it was discovered that he was fooling all, making BBC to appologize for giving false info! Don't believe such rumours

hmm.. Skeptical.. prolly a scam

If the quality is good I would buy one. Maybe the competition will bring the price down in other countries. Once the first computer is designed and produced it's manufacturing cost becomes cheaper with every sale. It involves assembly line construction with inexpensive plastic and mental materials. Add that to the fact that almost every one in the world wants one and you've got one heck of a profit per unit. Computers could and should be less expensive than they currently are so India is leading the way to a fair price.

More than any other government, india is investing in connecting its people to the world by giving them access to the interet. Knowledge is empowerment, an India knows that it is the best way to move into the future.

Very good news to hear about India, I like the way their government is trying to do things!

I had also heard that some companies had invested money into building community computers for children in rural villages. They would place a computer behind a glass in the wall so that the children could use it and share. For many of them it was the only access to the world that they had.

Again, good news =)

Why do I have the feeling this is going to be like one of those Leap Frog "computers" for toddlers?

Indias technological progress is unparalleled. I think as americans were spoiled. Not sure if we have the drive to keep up with India or China.

They must be subsidized or operating at a loss, because there is NO WAY you can make a laptop for 14 bucks.

The screen alone, slashed 50% in price, is more than 14 bucks. Not including labor or any of the other parts.

its cheap because its most likely built by cheap workers and possibly even trafficked workers

Two concerns- 1. the workers literally cannot be paid more than a dollar an hour if the product is THAT cheap 2. a 7 pound laptop doesn't give me the best reassurance about the quality of it

The Indian community and economy is I think one of the fastest growing economies in the world right now. Its very obvious and clear that they are making leaps and bounds in training their general public in the ways of technology this is more evidence of that.

Is it no wonder that the majority of programmers, designers and developers in the states are Indian or from Pakistan?

They have such a good work ethic too! Maybe us Americans and the Obama administration will catch on soon and do something similar. We need to get out of the mindset of profit, profit and more profit and evolve to the mindset of technology and education for everyone.

~ Mind Control

7 pounds? What is that, like Pesos?

No but great post, this should be good.

That's crazy... I definitely want one!

Ya but for about $14 USD?? You can barely buy a jump drive for that much, let alone a fully functional laptop.

I think this is totally achievable. I mean look at the Asus EeePC. They started at $299 and by the time they were end of life they could be had for about $100 US.

There is a $162 Linux based Netbook that has no flash, 800x600, and less than 2GB storage. However for research, it's adequate.

It's possible.

How soon can I buy one

I read a book that said developing counties need the latest technology to become prosperous. However, I don't see how this could hurt.

For 7 pounds I'm sure it will look much less like the Dell in the picture and a lot more like that Superman one!

I mean, you saw the $100 laptops right?? What do you get for less than 1/5th that much?

I hope they recycle easy...

Built by workers making 3 cents an hour...

Incredible...

We pay too much for everything. Geez

Good stuff. Knowledge is power.