A $35 Computer? In India of All Places?

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A tablet would be the better word, however the $35 price tag is legit.  "A contract between the Indian government and Canadian development partner DataWind, should put between 10 and 12 million devices in the hands of students across India by the end of 2012, according to Computer World."  How amazing and inspiring is this going to be to the students that will be receiving one of these new tablets?  If I had my guess, we should be should be expecting some pretty amazing things to start coming from India.  To me, this is a message from the Indian government to the students.  They are saying "We want to invest in you, and we want to invest in your future."   I feel like this message will be heard loud and clear.  Anytime a student is told that someone believes in them, they are more likely to succeed.  Although their are some obvious disadvantages such as slower speed, and toy like features, all of these things are relative.  To a student in the U.S., the act might not be so inspiring.  To these students (some of whom have never held or used a computer), this will be cutting edge technology.  This just goes to show when a government puts their minds to it, they can make huge strides in education.  If the United States does not do something soon, we will quickly fall further and further behind.