The Indian $10 Laptop is vapourware (for now)
The idea of a big calculator type of product using a cheap and simple embedded ARM processor, something like a 6″ 480×360 monochrome display (perhaps even smaller) and WiFi perhaps even some built-in way to use a SIM card slot for subsidized cellular data access, that type of super cheap Laptop project could be fine for reading ebooks, writing documents and searching for text based stuff on the Internet. That type of cheap monochrome screen and cheap embedded processor could display very basic HTML text-only pages from the Internet. And I could imagine that a whole mobile-web type of alternate Internet could be made that would suit to be viewed on this type of super cheap embedded laptop. Google or some other online service can even process the whole web other than AJAC and Flash content to reformat it to be displayed on such a supposed low resolution monochrome display.
Imagine basically a display that could be some type of mobile phone like monochrome LCD display but large enough to be usable in a Laptop form factor. And with enough resolution to be used for ebooks, writing documents and surfing a basic type of web.
Though, even though about 500 blogs around the Internet according to Google Blog Search had been announcing this as an OLPC alternative, I’d rather call it a complete redifinition of the PC/Laptop industry. They all talked about a February 3rd release event happening somewhere in India. Though that date has no passed and there are no pictures to be found on the Internet. No detailed specifications, no real concrete proof that this project exists. So far, this Indian project is vapourware.
Although I agree with the principal that we need to build it cheaper than the XO-1, it needs to be based on cheaper embedded processors, it needs to use the cheapest displays that we can get. Even if those displays are low resolution and monochrome. Color displays, the next PIxel Qi and all that is fascinating and we all cannot wait for the XO-2 touchscreens. Though until Pixel Qi launches their first commercial screens hopefully within a few months, until then, then why not use cheap monochrome ones if somehow they can be made to display the kind of text that is needed.