On November 11th, Pranan Mukherjee, the President of India, will unveil the Akash 2 Tablet Computer to the world. This tablet, designed and built by Suneet Tuli, the 44 year old CEO of the Startup Datawind, will hopefully change the face of modern education, and bring opportunity and functionality to students everywhere.

 

Tuli skipped the stores, and went right to the government when he thought about distribution. His company is selling tablets to the government to distribute to over 100,000 students and professors, with an end goal of selling 5.86 million overall.

 

The reason that this tablet is so revolutionary is because after government subsidy, the tablet only costs $20. This tablet is about one quarter the cost of the cheapest tablet in India, and about half of the cost of the cheapest tablet in China because the government decided it should be.

 

Another reason that this tablet is so revolutionary, besides the amazing cost, is the fact that so few Indians have computing devices. In India, there are 900 million cell phone subscriptions, but very few smart phones, meaning that 95% of India has no means of using any sort of computing power. This device could be the main source of computing for not only India, but developing countries in general too.

 

In addition, this piece of technology is not some gimmick. It has a processer that equals that of the first iPad, with twice it’s RAM memory. Also, it uses Google’s Android operating system, has a touch screen, built in wi-fi connectivity, and easily hooks up to a keyboard for typing ease.

Hopefully, with technology like this, the face of education and poverty can change.