Published by Robert Pogson December 25th, 2012
in technology.
“Do you know that the Government is planning to provide the next generation Aakash devices at a cost not exceeding Rs. 1,138 to the students? The details of this proposal are summarised in this letter. This letter has been sent to all Heads of Educational Institutions in India. Please ask the Head of your Institution to respond to this letter.”
see Home | spoken-tutorial.org.
Wow! Indians can play videos on many FLOSS topics in their own languages. India is bridging the Digital Divide, promoting Free Software and providing low cost IT to Indians all at once. Amazing. World, WAKE UP!
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson December 25th, 2012
in technology.
“There were 1.104 billion subscribers to mobile communication services in China as of the end of November 2012″
see China market: November mobile phone users grow to 1.104 billion, says MIIT.
That’s 80% of the population, folks. No longer is China a follower in IT. They are a trend-setter. The desktop/notebook/server universes are changing too. China is the single largest potential market for all of these and the whole world is seeking to supply the need for IT in China. With so many having experienced the joy of FLOSS on mobile devices, there is a huge potential for FLOSS on desktops and notebooks to grow in China. That’s where the new OEMs will go when the smartphone and tablet markets flatten out. Expect 2013 to be the year of the GNU/Linux desktop in China.
I recommend Debian GNU/Linux but Red Flag and Linpus already have a good hold in China. It’s all good.
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson December 25th, 2012
in technology.
“Asustek’s new 7-inch tablet will focus on emerging markets including India and China, while Lenovo and Samsung Electronics are also preparing products with similar specifications and price levels, but will first observe Acer and Asustek’s competition before releasing their products.”
see Acer, Asustek to start up low price tablet competition.
Isn’t competition grand? Instead of a few monopolists charging what the market will bear, many OEMs, working for a living, provide the lowest cost solutions to many millions of consumers globally using FLOSS and ARM as means of cutting the costs of the product. The whole world benefits. FLOSS is the right way to do IT.
- Robert Pogson
Published by Robert Pogson December 25th, 2012
in technology.
Joinup has a couple of articles linked below which describe positive and negative forces affecting adoption of FLOSS in four European countries: UK, France, Spain and Germany. A major driver is cost, “There are administrations that are saving 65 percent on maintenance and software development. Furthermore, every euro we invest in the software community returns three euros to the local IT sector.”. Major hindrances are inertia, having the right people in the right places at the right time, and matching the scale of governments to the small size of FLOSS project organizations. The IT of European governments is adjusting quickly in the face of huge outlays being wasted on non-Free software and friction between closed and open standards. The solution to most problems seems to be to have government actually contribute to FLOSS projects rather than merely to use FLOSS products.
Inertia hindering governments to profit from open source benefits | Joinup.
- Robert Pogson
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