Aakash: A Historical Mistake By Indian Govt?

After reviewing the world’s cheapest tablet PC, Aakash, Syed Firdaus Ashraf of Rediff.com wrote, “Here’s my advice: (excuse me the scream but) DON’T BUY AKASH TABLET. Period.” A similar verdict was given by Jaimon Joseph of CNN-IBN, who said, “For the price it is being offered at, the Aakash is probably great value for money. But the question is, is it the best our students deserve. I think not.” Prasanto K Roy echoed similar emotions on BBC, “Probably the biggest challenge for the Aakash will be to keep up with the times. That’s what killed the Simputer – other than apps, by the time they tweak it and test it, portable computers will have jumped a generation.”

Despite much fanfare, the device earned enough criticism from all quarters. And it also needs to be noted that it was not written off just like that. Experts feel that instead of focusing on the price and compromising on quality, it would have been better to create a feature-rich device and then work on bringing down its price.

Commenting on the failure of the device, Satish Jha, head of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) India Foundation, said, “I think MHRD (ministry of human resource development) should not have gone for something like Aakash for two reasons. First, the best technology in PC is available in America and the cheapest components are available in China. So a tablet PC can be imagined only if America and China come together. Hence, there is no way to make a cheap and good device without America and China coming together.”

He added, “This is also the reason for disbelief in the product. People who have tested the device are shocked with the Government’s decision to invest in the project. In principle, I also support the desire to make cheaper computers, but it should be able to deliver what it has promised. It’s not just about creating a device but also about education of the students in India. If you ask a wrong question, you get a wrong answer. India asked a wrong question of making a good computing device at $35 and it got a wrong answer in terms of Aakash.” Jha said that it’s not possible to create a meaningful computer in less than $300. Anything less than that is a mere compromise.

An overhyped device?

Aakash was expected to be the game changer. Media gave it extraordinary hype, which was well deserved for the value it was expected to bring to the Indian education system. An affordable computing device is still a dream for many students in India, where Aakash surely stood apart. But who would want to invest in a device, which is quoted as a ‘punishment for the students’ by experts.

Also, Aakash was supposed to enable millions of Indian students with a $35 solar-powered touch tablet, which turned out to be a false claim. As soon as Datawind started delivering Aakash, the reality of the device surfaced. A Zambotimes report rightly calls the project as ‘political pandering to nationalism’ which has its own set of apologists and defenders. But one thing which was criticised from all quarters was the fact that it was a bad ‘technological compromise’.

It is worth mentioning here that the government has plans to dump Aakash because of the contractual and non-performance issues. In an attempt to save the opportunity, Datawind has promised that the remaining 70,000 devices (which will be delivered by the month’s end), will be Aakash 2, the upgraded version of the device. That’s not all. The government has this time ensured that students do not get faulty devices.

The new devices will have to undergo a new quality protocol, which has been prepared on basis of responses received from over 600 students of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other engineering colleges. Over a million people have booked Aakash because it was backed by the government. Yet, there is nothing much to lose as the booking pattern involved no booking amount, which was a unique format, and is also working well for the people, considering the flak that the device has received from all corners.