Simple, Inexpensive, Multilingual Computer: The

Simple, Inexpensive, Multilingual Computer: The "Simputer"

This device was created to match the needs of local Indian conditions. Its most distinguishing factor is that it is based entirely on free software and thus sells at a market price of $200.

For the average Indian, however, this device is still beyond affordability . This problem is addressed through the Simputer's smart card feature, which enables it to be shared by communities such as village schools and panchayats (village systems of democratic self-governance). Local representatives like shopkeepers and schoolteachers can thus loan the device to individuals in the community for specific periods of time, much like library books.

In addition, its voice feedback system ensures that illiteracy is no longer a barrier to computer exposure. Potential uses for this device include Internet access, large volume data collection, and providing critical information to farmers on important agricultural issues, as well as innovative uses devised by the user , further applying the creative implications of "pure" technologies.

Fledgling innovations bridging the digital divide through innovative uses of technology are laying the groundwork for India's reach to provide the stated goal of IT to the masses. A supportive financial infrastructure for the development of technological innovations could well make the difference for India's shift from the status of a developing to developed nation. In the next segment, we take a look at how India's budding VC industry is one of the fastest -growing sectors of the Indian economy.