The announcement by the Indian government's project to produce a digital tablet estimated at $ 35 (" Low Cost access-Cum-Computing Device Unveiled by Shri Kapil Sibal ", The Hindu, 23/07/2010) has attracted much comment, sometimes skeptical of the advertised cost and feasibility of the project, especially since it follows the sad story of the PC to $ 10 .

This tablet is associated with the educational program " Sakshat ", the" National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology "(NMEICT), and the project" National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning "(NPTEL) for creation of digital content for education .

In addition, other projects tablets are emerging in India, like the one that was developed by the company allgo Embedded Systems , based in Bangalore (India), talent pool and the birthplace of Simputer , his legendary predecessor. This tablet was presented at the "Freescale Technology Forum" (June 21-24, 2010, Orlando, United States), as shown in this video:

The figure of $ 35, often highlighted by the media, refers to the nomenclature of the product (the "Bill Of Materials"). Following statements tinged with controversy Indian Minister who asks this new tablet competitor in the OLPC project, several comments were published, including the independent news website OLPCNews:

• " How would you Accelerate the adoption of OLPC in India? "
• " MHRD India Should Stop Attacking One Laptop Per Child "
• " The Real Tablet $ 35 from India: an OLPC Complement, not Competitor "
• " Needed: Reality Check on India's $ 35 Tablet Computer "

In India, the press puts the ad in context, as can be seen in the article " Low-cost PCs fail to boot up fast in India ", which recalls the challenge of industrialization of a research project and development in a country like India.

Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the OLPC project, meanwhile published on the OLPC blog an open letter (" Welcome: $ 35 tablet for education ") calling for reconciliation between the two educational projects. We are reproducing below the entire contents, exclusively:

"Welcome: A tablet to 35 dollars for education"

One Laptop per Child (OLPC) commends the Minister Kapil Sibal to promote a tablet to 35 dollars. Education is the first solutions to eradicate poverty, protect the environment and create peace in the world. Access to a laptop or a tablet is connected to the fastest way to enable universal learning. We fully agree with you and ask you to consider this open letter as a commitment to OLPC to allow India to free access to all our technology and our experience based on 2 million laptops we have deployed in over 40 countries and in over 25 languages. The goal pursued by humanitarian and charitable our organization is the opposite of any desire to compete. Instead, we focus on collaboration and we invite you to act in the same spirit.

Meanwhile, let me share with you the six following suggestions:

1. The importance of targeting children aged 6 to 12 years. It is they who are the most precious natural resource of your nation. For primary students, a tablet is not about computer science or school, it's about hope. Thus, the passion becomes the first tool for learning.

2. Your tablet should mark the end of learning "by heart" instead of being an instrument which would help. A creative society is not built on memorization of facts but on learning to learn. Repetition and practice are mechanisms inherited from the industrial age to an age where repetition and consistency were systematic. The digital age is itself one of the personalization, collaboration and ownership. The didactic approach of OLPC is known of constructionism. We hope that you will pass also.

3. The tablets are the future. OLPC announced his eight months ago that. It should however be alert to any aspect of the tablets, that learning is not confined to media consumption. The challenge is to make a creative tool. By design, the iPad is a medium devoted to consumption. OLPC urge you not to make that mistake.

4. The material aspect is simpler. However, robust equipment, a sunlight readable display and low power consumption characteristics are less obvious. Our computer is correctly supplied by solar energy because it is by far the most portable energy efficient. Despite this, we must not neglect the human production of electricity - through a dynamo where other methods that children can use at night or during rain. It would be wrong to bet everything on solar. In addition, a robust hardware must be capable of supporting water or a fall from a height of 3 meters on a stone floor.

5. The software aspect is more difficult. The choice of Linux is the obvious, but whatever you do, do not make the mistake of making a dedicated system with a small number of functions. It is important that this is a general computer, allowing anyone to develop software, invent applications and programming. We know that when children programmed, they practice an ideal activity for "thinking about thinking." Similarly, when they correct their programs, they learn to learn. Here is the key.

6. Also, notice the most important and probably the easiest one to neglect the advice I take the liberty to share with you is that of an industrial design firm. Make an affordable tablet not a tablet but the cheap. Make it very attractive, that everyone has the desire to have fun and love to possess. Get inspiration from Apple on the subject, and also, why not OLPC. Paint it the best team of designers who are in India.

India is so huge that you're likely to satisfy you in your market. But do not stop there because the world needs your leadership and your achievement! Your tablet is not an "answer" to the OLPC XO computer or "competitor". It belongs to a family dedicated to peace and prosperity through the transformation through education. To conclude, I reiterate my invitation to offer free and full access to all our technology. I urge you to send a team at MIT and OLPC at the time that suits you, so allow us to share our findings with you.

Nicholas Negroponte
Founder and President
One Laptop per Child Foundation
Cambridge, Massachusetts
USA

[N Traductio by "OLPC France" to " Welcome: $ 35 tablet for education "]

This open letter from Nicholas Negroponte prefigures she reconciles the tablet project announced by the Indian government and the OLPC project? Time will tell. But we can not help anyway to read this letter the "specifications" of what should be a tablet-like "XO-3":

• A tool for ages 6 to 12,
• A tool for learning to learn,
• A tool to produce content not only to consume,
• A hardened tool with a sunlight readable display and low power consumption,
• A tool based on a free and open
• A tool with a nice and neat design.

No doubt the OLPC foundation is ambitious!