Two reputable technology-focused universities from India, the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science decided to work together in creating a 10$ laptop, one that anyone would afford to use for educational purposes. The government is also involved, trying to at least come up with a cheap low-powered Internet device that would cut some of the notebook’s price.

Meanwhile, officials from Gartner, Inc. declared that a laptop priced lower than $100 would be an unrealistic target for the next three years. Also, Annette Jump, research director at Gartner, stated that the manufacturers that are too busy trying to reach the $100 barrier will most likely miss other important aspects of their products.

Such aspects include the hardware components they’ll use, power availability and costs of the Internet connection. Ms. Jump also believes that the need for more and more devices could reduce their prices by 15% tops over the next few years, but the assembling and packaging costs will not change.

India has a population of 1.13 billion, from which only 4.38 million have an active Internet connection. If the $10 laptop program succeeds, it will surely have a huge impact not only on India’s educational system, but on the number of broadband subscribers as well. Hopefully, the Gartner staff are wrong, and children from India will benefit from the laptops sooner than three years.

Via