4th Jan 2012
Last updated on: January 4, 2012 16:38 IST
Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf's excitement knew no bounds when he laid his hands on the 'poor man's iPad'. But the supposedly 'revolutionary' and 'game-changing' piece of technology that sells at Rs 2,500 a piece went kaput in 30 minutes flat. Yes, we are talking about the Aakash Tablet PC.
Firdaus pours his heart out.
When I first saw an iPad in my friend's hand I was very impressed. He told me it would bring a revolution in the digital world and soon people will dump their keyboards and move to touch screens.
The friend went on to say: If you don't adapt to it you will feel like a dinosaur.
His prophecy was frightening. I was turning 40 and didn't want to become outdated so soon. But the cost of an iPad was way beyond my reach: Steve Jobs' magical, sophisticated, smooth-running slate would set me back by Rs 30,000, minimum.
Disappointed, I wished that some day the iPad's cost would come down to affordable levels. Just like the drop in the prices of LCD and LED TVs. I decided to wait till such a moment dawns.
But then Steve Jobs (may his soul rest in peace) works only for the rich. He was always an innovator for rich people, wasn't he?
He never thought about lesser mortals like us. The iPad 2 (Note: Aakash's souped up avatar UbiSlate 7+ is on the way as you read this) launched later was even more expensive with added bells and whistles.
However, not everybody thinks about the rich. Technology, I thought, is a great leveller. Just when I was lost in my own thoughts about Steve Jobs's discrimination for the have-nots of this world and how only the rich were enjoying the (so-called) benefits of digital revolution and how lesser mortals like me were completely knocked out of the digital race, came my Eureka moment.
