When small is big

IT'S NOT a palmtop, and definitely not as powerful. But it comes with an interactive graphic interphase, an LCD touchscreen, stylus, an inbuilt modem, MP3 player, customisable smart cards, infrared connectivity, a voice synthesiser, and works on AAA batteries. Stylish, it fits snugly into your palm and pocket.

The gadget is for the illiterate.

Developed as a community tool, the Simputer, scientists expect, will revolutionalise the way rural India works.

``It's the first step in providing solutions to the evolution of IT,'' says Dr.Swami Manohar, scientist and member of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) team that developed the device along with Encore Software.

The Simputer, he says, is going to help developing countries leap from the industrial age to the information age. ``Just like cattle was to the hunter gatherer when he shifted to agriculture.''

Less than two million people in India use computers. Perhaps others don't need it. Perhaps they do. ``They will use computers if it can contribute to their quality of life. Bits of data at the right time means an enormous use of information.''

A farmer has to travel 50 km for his agri needs. It will take him all day. So he logs on to the Internet via Simputer to check if the bus will be on time, if the products he needs are available, and even book them online. If the bus will be delayed, he can do some other work. A whole day's efforts saved.

That's a basic function. Now he wants specifics on a farming technique. He does not know English, but a graphic display on the Simputer shows him what he's looking for. Using a stylus, he clicks for details and the Simputer reads out the information, in Tamil.

The Simputer comes with a phonetics based text-to- speech software that can read in Hindu, Kannada and Tamil. ``Maybe Kamal Hassan will someday do a movie with a Simputer accent,'' says Manohar.

The illiterate is now a tech-savvy operator working corporate style. ``If 10 per cent more farmers can take the right decision, say on whether to harvest today, based on the immediately available information, it's going to have a widespread impact on the economy.''

But then, the aim is also to help a large percentage of India's farm worker population quit agriculture. Besides, Manohar insists, ``We don't know in what ways people are going to use the Simputer.''

It works on Linux so anyone can modify its functioning. They can profit from their innovation for a year, then yield the know-how to the Simputer Trust to allow open access to the new method.

Besides, there's the community device angle that's so suited to the country. With individual password protected smart cards, many can use the same Simputer. Just like in a browsing centre.

No wonder the developers have already had enquiries pouring in from ``all countries except Japan.'' And that includes Australia, New Zealand and China.

The first workable Simputer will be ready by August for field trials and should be available in the retail market by March 2002.

And it doesn't really matter if you are already literate - you can still have fun with the Simputer.

By Feroze Ahmed

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Section  : Science & Tech