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India Planning Homegrown Operating System to Rival iOS and Android
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There is a certain Western hubris in responses to this thread. If the government of India's intention is to create spyware on a massive scale, then of course this will fail. However, if they support an open source, secure operating system that is adapted to what people in India want, then more power to them.
As for the snarky comments about government projects, I agree totally. It is not as though government projects led to the internet and WWW we are all using now. Oh wait.
As for the snarky comments about government projects, I agree totally. It is not as though government projects led to the internet and WWW we are all using now. Oh wait.
You do understand the difference between % and absolute numbers?
For Apple 10% of 1B is still interesting to sell to. At the same time 90% of 1B is interesting for the Indian governemtn to sell to and control (esp. w.r.t. banking - none of them have computers)
In a very recent article Netflix was having a tough go of setting their pricing to Indian subscribers because only 5% of the population can afford to use the premium OTT service. So in that context the marketplace is half that. So about 65 million out of the 1.3 billion.
That a government should focus efforts and funding on providing something that is arguably rapidly developing and advancing in the private sector - as if they are filling a void. It's the opposite of making sense.
You are being kind, and hopeful, and optimist, all great things.
But, to my mind, this is how this seems to likely pan out:
Considering this is being done at government level, and how the government in the country is, the next step would be to necessitate that OS on all devices. I do not think they are going to keep the option of Android and iOS open anymore then. It will likely be iOS and that OS the government wants. That OS will most likely serve to fulfil government agendas. This would absolutely not be how you are seeing it, I fear. Although, I pray that for the good of the people of that country, it is exactly how you are saying it to be.
Yes. That is the likely intention from what the current dispensation seems to be like.
I don't care which government it is, if they're developing software it better be open source. I wouldn't trust any software from a government that isn't. And if I'm going to use it I will build it myself. I barely trust iOS and Android as it is. The core of each is open at least so we know that those are safe at some level. Seriously, governments building software let alone an OS is just scary to me. Anyone remember Red Star OS?
Also, something more important to the dispensation, is that the next big elections in the country are 2 years away. This could serve two things - one, to keep the mindless ones hooked onto the dream the pied piper plays for them, and two, the propaganda/ spying OS that it would most likely be.
The tax structure in the US geared towards incentivizing investment in businesses. And there’s a few world-leading software companies there. At least a few I think.
you should really check out india reddit and wion, they really like to prop themselves up and talk up how they will take over china and the us as the number 1 in everything.
All the first iteration needs to be able to do is be cheap, work well enough (make calls), and run WhatsApp. They can iterate after that. I think a lot of people just need to look at what WhatsApp enables to understand how the world outside of the US works.
Outside of the US, the most important App is WhatsApp. If this phone is subsidized by the government and has a version of WhatsApp, it’ll have broad acceptance from day one. While a lot of developers like nice well defined SDK’s, there are those that LOVE the challenge of writing code in a difficult environment (iPhone year one) and I have no doubt that they’ll jump in to fill the near term gaps.
When you think about it, iOS is essentially the US’s home grown OS. 
The marketshare it has in the US is not matched anywhere else.
The marketshare it has in the US is not matched anywhere else.This will be as popular and successful as the Windows phone.
Nearly choked on my food, thank you.
LOL, anytime an article is published on 'India', out come the arm chair experts, Mr know.it.alls, and of course, the infamous Neolithic rice paddies! It's the same predictable rodeo every time!
Not sure if it's just their insecurity, or projection of personal failures on the internet, as if it matters
Not sure if it's just their insecurity, or projection of personal failures on the internet, as if it matters
Look at the percentage of middle class in India which has increased in past two decades and only 20% of the Indian population is under poverty line which is a big number when we look at the population size, but what on earth is this 90% poor population?