Technology Offers Computer Tablet for $35 and a New Car for $2040

The U.S. should take a page from the book of India's government when it comes to finding ways to help their poverty stricken citizens. With the recession not going anywhere soon, the U.S. will only see more and more people falling under the government's guidelines for poverty. India is finding ways to scale down the cost of things for those who cannot afford the high price living of today, so why can't the greatest and most prosperous country in the world do the same?

India introduced a cheap tablet computer today that will sell for $35 and it will help bring modern technology to the people who ordinarily would not be able to afford this. According to the Washington Post, the computer is called "Aakash" or interpreted into Hindi, "Sky." This is just one of the latest "world's cheapest innovations" that India has created for the people that live in that country.

While the computer tablets will cost the government $45 each from the developer, Datawind, subsidies from the government will kick in to bring the price down to the $35 that it will cost the consumers. In comparison to what is offered in the US, the cheapest Apple iPad tablet will set you back $499. A new Kindle Fire will be offered in the U.S. for $199, but still this is nowhere near the $35 offering that India can offer to its citizens.

The education value this will provide to kids, who would otherwise never see a computer, is one of the many reasons why a move like this is necessary. The research in India started five years ago to find a way to offer a computer tablet for $10 and while that proved to be impossible, this newest offering of technology still comes in at a more than reasonable price.

Datawind will manufacture 100,000 of the Sky tablets a year and the government's goal is to put one in the hands of each of the millions of school children in that country. The launch for the tablet was attended by hundreds of school children today, with some selected to train other children back in their home towns. This effort will bridge the country's vast digital divide and even the playing field of education from around the world just a little bit more for India's children.

One of the most amazing products that India sought out was a car that people could afford. The compact Nano car sells for $2,040.00 and while this is still costly for people who don't have much money to start with, why couldn't some of this technology be made by American technology and offered in the U.S.? This is just a fraction of what a new car costs in the States. Some of the other price cuts that India has accomplished on a grand scale were a water filter that is sold for $15 and they are able to offer open-heart surgery for $2000.

While these products could not be made and sold in the U.S for these prices, due to the pay scale of the workers, insurance, along with the other extra's tacked on in the U.S., if the technology exists to build a car for around $2000 dollars, why isn't this country utilizing this? Even if the price needs to be doubled, or even tripled to fit in with the cost of pay and manufacturing in this country, this would still be an outrageous savings.

Reference: Washington Post