From
human messengers to carrier pigeons, from hand delivered mail
to a computer enabled e-mail - the world has seen it all. Till
now in India, only the educated, upper classes had access to
computers and the common man found them way beyond his budget.
Besides most people had little or no knowledge of how to operate
a computer. This meant that computer illiterates found themselves
on the wrong side of the digital divide. So, will they have
to forego the benefits of the IT revolution?
No, not necessarily, articulate the staff of the city-based
company iNablers, who have come out with an answer that
bridges that digital divide. That too, without the use of computers!
True to its name, the company iNablers, headed by the legendary
B V Jagadeesh, is going in for information enabling product
labeled i-Station.This path breaking technology will
bring the common man closer to the IT world. The majority of
people make use of the Internet for transacting only e-mails
and this requires a computer. Jagadeesh thought of coming out
with a device that enables the common man to transact e-mails
in a language he is most familiar without the use of an expensive
computer. This product will be a great help to rural communities
where the knowledge of English is lacking. Though it can be
used in English, Kannada and Hindi, the company is planning
to introduce the services in Tamil and Telugu shortly.
Explaining
the technical details of i-Station, the company's Chief Technical
Officer Narasimha Prabhu says that the new concept provides
for multiple user option. While up to 5 members can share an
i-Station with individual personal e-mail IDs, the subscribers
can have up to 250 addresses per individual ID. He said the
new-technology would also help in e-commerce and e-banking.
At present, this laptop sized i-Station is able to send only
text messages. Later, it will also serve for voice mailing,
the company officials say. S M Krishna, the Chief Minister
of Karnataka, was all praise for this innovative product. Inaugurating
the concept in the city recently, he said, "Only such innovative
technologies could bring IT closer to the common man and not
mere software exports."
The company is planning to introduce this concept in December
2000 and expecting to take it to villages in January 2001. The
company hopes to spread this concept all over India by the end
of 2001.
8:08:08 AM 
From
human messengers to carrier pigeons, from hand delivered mail
to a computer enabled e-mail - the world has seen it all. Till
now in India, only the educated, upper classes had access to
computers and the common man found them way beyond his budget.
Besides most people had little or no knowledge of how to operate
a computer. This meant that computer illiterates found themselves
on the wrong side of the digital divide. So, will they have
to forego the benefits of the IT revolution? 
Explaining
the technical details of i-Station, the company's Chief Technical
Officer Narasimha Prabhu says that the new concept provides
for multiple user option. While up to 5 members can share an
i-Station with individual personal e-mail IDs, the subscribers
can have up to 250 addresses per individual ID. He said the
new-technology would also help in e-commerce and e-banking.
