We don't expect someone to browse the Net with this for two hours. Since open source software based on Linux was used, a whole host of people would be able to create suitable software for it, he said. One problem still remaining was that nobody was prepared to give them the technology to create Smart Card readers, which would be openly available to future developers. We cater to four languages as of now, including English, Hindi and Kannada. He disagreed with the suggestion that the Simputer would be difficult to maintain in rural India.
Transistor radios are a great analogue.
He added that the durability too would be high, since there are no large moving parts in the Simputer and it did not have to cope with power-surges from the mains. Some 10 to 12 people, on average, have been working on this project since December 1999. He said this computing device could also have implications in fighting illiteracy in a country like India. The Divide Can astrologers correctly predict earthquakes. T.K. Dutta and Ajai Bhambi argue it out.