Could this $20 device improve Education in SA?

In this handout photograph released by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Indian President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee (fourth from right), holds the new Aakash Version 2.0 tablet at the National Education Day 2012 function in New Delhi on Nov. 11, 2012. AFP PHOTO/PIB/SANJIV MISRA

India unveils new version of ‘world’s cheapest tablet’

NEW DELHI—India has launched a new version of its ultra-low-cost tablet computer with a quicker processor and an improved battery, on sale to students at the subsidized price of $20.


The Aakash tablet, dubbed the world’s cheapest computer, has been developed as a public-private partnership aimed at making computing technology available to students in a country where Internet usage is only at around 10 percent. Makers of the tablet, Britain-based Datawind, say the Aakash 2 is powered by a processor that runs three times faster than the original, has a bigger touchscreen and a battery with a life of three hours.  

“Technology-enabled learning is a very important aspect of education,” Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said at an official launch function.“This must be adapted to our specific needs and introduced expeditiously in all educational institutions across the country,” he added.

The first 100,000 devices will be sold to students at engineering colleges and universities at a subsidized price of $20 and subsequently Aakash 2 will be distributed to book stores in Indian universities.The commercial sale price without subsidies for Aakash 2 is $64. But the Aakash 2 isn’t just about replacing textbooks: It’s about bringing the full-fledged Internet to users who have never touched it before.

In India, competition for wireless connectivity is so cut-throat that it’s possible to get an unlimited prepaid mobile data plan for $2 a month. The basic Aakash has wifi, but an upgraded model, available for about $70, includes SIM cards and the radio required to communicate with a cellphone network. As costs fall the company will incorporate these features into the base model. There is little 3G wireless connectivity, and data speeds are slow, using on an older technology, GPRS. Normally, browsing the web over GPRS would be nearly impossible. So Datawind developed a compression and acceleration technology that, it says, makes web pages load in three seconds instead of 15 to 20.


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How would this $20 device improve Education in SA?