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cHex · 10-05-2011, 07:41 PM

That tablet is better than nothing, and I'm guessing those are the two options many Indian students have.

Here in America we take our technology so much for granted, we lose perspective on what technological miracles by which we're surrounded. Our smart cellphones, our dedicated eBook readers--and yes, the Indian tablet under discussion--are all vastly more powerful than computers many of us ourselves owned 15-20 years ago, and smugly considered ourselves lucky to own at that.

I was in high school back in the '70's when digital calculators became consumer electronics. (Any one else trained in the proper use of a slide rule?) They were Serious Business. We couldn't have them with us while taking tests (my kids were advised to have programmable graphing calculators for their SAT's). Books were written about them (how do you do logarithmic math on a simple four-function calculator?). We even had cute little jokes where the punchline involved turning the calculator around and reading the upside-down number as a word (e.g. 710.77345). The only reason pocket calculators aren't a bigger deal is because of personal computers, the Internet, smart phones, PDA's, etc. etc. etc.

Did anybody see the Johnny Dep movie, The Tourist? I loved his line, "Attempted murder is not so serious when you compare it to murder, but it is quite serious when you compare it to room service." Well, I say to you: "That $35 tablet is not so neat when you compare it to an iPad, but it is amazing when you compare it to a spiral notebook and pencil."

I'm guessing one or two super global high-tech nerd genius billionaires in 2025 will have got their start off a simple $35 tablet.

10-05-2011, 07:41 PM	#8
cHex Zealot Posts: 127 Karma: 2843950 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: Kindle Keyboard (K3)	That tablet is better than nothing, and I'm guessing those are the two options many Indian students have. Here in America we take our technology so much for granted, we lose perspective on what technological miracles by which we're surrounded. Our smart cellphones, our dedicated eBook readers--and yes, the Indian tablet under discussion--are all vastly more powerful than computers many of us ourselves owned 15-20 years ago, and smugly considered ourselves lucky to own at that. I was in high school back in the '70's when digital calculators became consumer electronics. (Any one else trained in the proper use of a slide rule?) They were Serious Business. We couldn't have them with us while taking tests (my kids were advised to have programmable graphing calculators for their SAT's). Books were written about them (how do you do logarithmic math on a simple four-function calculator?). We even had cute little jokes where the punchline involved turning the calculator around and reading the upside-down number as a word (e.g. 710.77345). The only reason pocket calculators aren't a bigger deal is because of personal computers, the Internet, smart phones, PDA's, etc. etc. etc. Did anybody see the Johnny Dep movie, The Tourist? I loved his line, "Attempted murder is not so serious when you compare it to murder, but it is quite serious when you compare it to room service." Well, I say to you: "That $35 tablet is not so neat when you compare it to an iPad, but it is amazing when you compare it to a spiral notebook and pencil." I'm guessing one or two super global high-tech nerd genius billionaires in 2025 will have got their start off a simple $35 tablet.