It’s big, bright and white with doodles all over — and it’s on wheels. Friendly lettering on its shiny body invites you to “Explore the world of the Internet.” Inside, the bus is stocked with the essentials — computers, a broadband connection and a grandfather telling you how easy clicking ‘send’ is.
The ‘Internet Bus,’ launched here on Tuesday, is Google India’s initiative to demystify the Internet. “Five billion users are not on the Internet,” said Prasad Ram, head of Google R&D, India. “Only 50 per cent of the world will be online by 2030.”
Seeking to attract more people on to the information superhighway, the bus will travel through 15 towns in Tamil Nadu for around six weeks, telling students, teachers, government and businesses of how they could use the Internet.
Why Tamil Nadu? “There is a deep interest among Tamilians to use the Net and access content,” he says. The extent of Net usage in Tamil is as high as in Hindi, despite the latter having a larger potential user base, he added, citing data from third-party sources.
The bus has four booths focussing on different uses of the Internet: information, communication, education and entertainment. There are also videos providing simple explanations on how to use the Internet.
Hopping through Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities will help Google India get a pulse on what products are of interest to non-metro users. Apart from limited awareness, Dr. Ram cited “lack of relevance and a failure to engage,” as reasons for many people choosing to remain offline. He hoped that the feedback would help the company create more meaningful products.
Updates of the bus trip are at www.google.co.in/
Ref : The Hindu
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