Tab! You’re It: The World’s Cheapest Tablet

Hey, college kids, how much would you spend on a tablet? $500? $400? Less? How about twenty-five bucks?

Tablets have revitalized the education process. With students able to quickly access latest editions of their textbooks or engage in an in-depth learning process with some quirky application, tablets might just be one of the most cost-efficient edtech investments an education system can make right about now. Tablets integrate with education IT trends and incorporate education software such as Blackboard to make for a more synced and mobile education experience.

But education systems can get deterred – $400-$500 price tags seem exuberant when you are buying just one, not to mention enough for the student population of your school, state or country.

Enter Tablet Korma.

The Indian government, earlier this month, unveiled the hotly anticipated, irresistibly affordable Android tablet. The “Aakash,” Hindi for sky, was designed and created by two entrepreneurial brothers, Raja and Suneet Tuji, out of the Montreal-based company Datawind Ltd. CEO Tuli expects the Aakash to sell fast.

The first 100,000 Aakash tablets were quickly picked up by the Indian government, for about $48 each. The plan remains that the tablets will be resold, after subsidization, to university students for $25 a piece.

In late November though, $60 could ensure you a piece of the tablet pie.

The Aakash may not have the slick design interface of its costlier cousin, but aesthetics and glam have been exchanged for economic and academic efficiency for the greater social good. To read a full interview with Datawind’s CEO, check out the Indian Times, here.

Aakash holds the title of “world’s cheapest tablet,” but the Beetel Magiq, Reliance 3G Tab and the Amazon Kindle Fire are also making waves in the realm of cost-efficient tablets.  All three run at about $200-$300 a pad.

Honestly, nothing has excited me more. My expectations for the world of education have now grown. No longer can it be argued that technology is for the rich. Students can feel the flow of information circuit right through their fingertips. Now that’s something our world can be proud of.

Keep Calm and Learn On,

Nora

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Image Available Under CC Licensure by kevin dooley