Last week a Tablet PC like device has launched by Kapil Sibal. The news has rocked the internet. Most of us have still some doubt about the device. I have featured some of the feature in my earlier post.
Although the device seems very economical and now it is known as “$35 Tablet”. I had some positive thinking about the gadget but now i am neutral. I also have some confusion regarding the tab. The device govt selected to provide have some good feature but it is surprising to see why they have not chosen to subsidize the GSM enabled device. GSM services has wide coverage than Wi-Fi.
On the other side most of people surprised, how they are providing such a cheap device! Some said, if their is subsidy than price does not matters. Some body have commented that in business prospective it is not a good deal for Datawind. Some are so passionate that he acquired at least 26 domains containing the keywords Aakash, Tab, Datawind, or Slate e.g. akashslate.com {beware about this and similar domain}.
On 6th Oct. Business Standard published an article saying the cost of the device is less than $35 and Government is buying at $50. Than i think it is a good deal for Datawind. Datawind is a Canadian company and have no presence in India. It could be golden opportunity to establish their business at such a large scale.
It has been also announced that Datawind will sell an upgraded version of Aakash in open market at Rs.2999. It is also interesting to see how govt is providing subsidy to a Wi-Fi tablet, But Wi-Fi is itself not available. How many places are wi-fi enabled? And if we talk about some good colleges (seems govt have targeted to distribute in college going students) then please tell me, how many students do not have a Laptop and mobile phone?
If we see the gadget, whatever the feature it has, is not a miracle as govt is claiming to roll out a revolution in education sector. Just tell me how many people are their in graduation college which have no mobile phone or do not have reach to a computer or internet if he or she wishes?
If you liked the gadget it would be better to buy Datawind’s Ubislate in Rs 3000, rather than buying Govt’s subsidized Aakash at Rs. 1750. The feature of Aakash will not be sufficient for a user. According to me Aakash is waste of money. A small feature in the tab can change the whole user experience.
