Mobilizing for Mobilis

The old dream finally seems to be becoming a reality. Actually, India has

been dreaming of and talking about a Rs 10,000 PC from the time when the machine

used to cost about Rs 1 lakh. In the next three months you will finally get one,

most probably.

So what is this dream machine all about. Called Mobilis, it is a laptop that

costs as much as a mid-range mobile phone, and weighs less than a kilo. In India

where there are frequent power cuts, and often an AC environment is needed,

Mobilis is claimed to be best suited for such conditions. This PC does not need

a UPS, is less prone to viruses and has a six-hour battery life. To begin with,

this machine is available in Hindi, Kannada and Marathi versions, but later will

be available in most other Indian languages too. At the launch function Kapil

Sibal, minister for science and technology said that this computer has been

built with the Indian market in mind.

IBRAHIM AHMAD

Even though this low cost PC has been announced, I will still call it a dream-unless,

it can be mass-produced, and can reach every nook and corner of the country. We

have seen several instances in the past which were supposed to change computer

prices and usage. But they never really took off-Simputer being the most

recent example.

I would strongly recommend that private and maybe even MNC computer

companies, should be involved for supporting this. They might not want to sell

this machine, but might be okay to the idea of lending some of their

intellectual property for like applications and interfaces.

While the Government will tom-tom Mobilis, my suggestion will be to give this

machine to a few neutral experts for their review of the product, and also put

this to test under real-life conditions-just in case this has not been done

rigorously earlier. If it comes up to the mark, I would recommend that the

Government should go out of its way to promote and support it, because it will

need a big network to sell and provide service. And, with such big numbers, I am

sure everything else will start falling into place.

Who will really drive its usage, and who will really benefit from it? A safe

answer will be "the entire country", but my bet is on the next

generation-the school and college children would greatly benefit from a low

cost PC. If this machine is able to penetrate the hundreds and thousands of

schools and colleges across the country, we will have an army of students ready

for IT and IT related jobs and career.

But that is just one part. The Rs 10,000 PC revolution will also have a big

impact in places beyond the 100 large cities and towns of India. The

opportunities for the small businesses, in smaller locations, would completely

turnaround. Mobilis would be a big boost for entrepreneurs who were limited by

IT availability. I also have great hopes from the innovative and imaginative

Indian minds that would really take off with a low cost PC. E-Governance, where

price is a major bottleneck, should get fully unleashed with the arrival of a

cheaper option.

Finally, if the Rs 10,000 PC does take off, the results will be big and

far-reaching. Not just India but the entire world would be the beneficiary. For

one, India would just not be a BPO destination of the world, it would quickly

move up the value chain, and be the Knowledge Process Outsourcing destination

for the world-with the availability of a young generation, which would have

grown with IT right from the childhood days, in schools and at homes. Beyond BPO

and KPO, India would even become one of the biggest suppliers of high value IT

manpower to the world. Remember the days when civil engineers and other

professionals got so many petro-dollars into the country that it completely

changed the landscape of so many small towns and places in UP, Punjab, and

Kerala?

The author is Editor of Dataquest IBRAHIM

AHMAD