On chilly Saturday, I was sipping coffee with my friend and suddenly, I overheard somebody shouting “Will Aakash be the game changer it promises to be?” As I looked into the direction of shout, I found a bunch of college going guys having animated discussion.
Confused about exact topic of discussion, I started to pay a little more attention to what they were discussing. (I know eavesdropping is considered unethical, but come on…. I was in public place and forget me almost everybody heard it. As an old adage goes.. "eavesdroppers seldom hear anything good of themselves...eavesdroppers always try to listen to matters that concern them”. On hindsight, I can just say how apt!!)
Cowabunga! I soon realized they were discussing about the latest offering in the Tablet PC category, Aakash. I was super excited to learn that target customers have actually started to take notice of Aakash.
For the uninitiated, Aakash, is the world’s cheapest tablet, costing about INR 3,000/- (billed as $ 35 Tablet PC). The product is not only completely ‘Made in India’, but is also certainly ‘Made for India’, on a specific request from, surprise, surprise, Government of India. As Government of India initiative, it was decided to circulate it to school and college students across India. Datawind has supplied about 10,000 tablets to the government's National Mission for Education. The devices are being used by students from colleges such as the IITs, RECs, BITS Pilani, Teri University and others.
It is already causing a buzz, sales bookings for Aakash, have soared to 14,00,000 units just two weeks after it was put up for sale online and with interest evinced by UNESCO and World Bank, Aakash has the potential to ‘become viral’.
As per the latest data (as of Jan 03, 2012)
1. Aakash Tablet’s Upgraded Version, Ubislate 7 (http://www.ubislate.com/) has already been sold out till February, and pre-bookings are open for March.
2. Datawind, which produces Aakash Tablet, is planning to set up two more factories in Cochin and Noida to meet the demand.
The real test however begins now. It has created the buzz and the unfeigned questions that need to be answered henceforth are-
- Will Aakash be the game changer that it promises to be (Read: will it be able to loosen the stranglehold of Apple and others in Tablet PC market)
- Will it really reach the target customer i.e. School/ College students (Will government lend further support to help it reach the intended user
- Having managed to reach the customer(s), will Aakash really change the contours of noosphere
- Will Aakash live upto it’s name (Aakash is the Sanskrit word meaning "aether" in both its elemental and metaphysical sense. In Sanskrit Aakash means "space", the very first element in creation.)
Well, we will have to wait a little to get the answers; I hope the wait is not too long!!
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