As part of Apple's tour of India, the company's environment and government affairs chief Lisa Jackson visited a school in Rajasthan this week to meet with so-called "solar mamas," or women trained in the manufacture and assembly of solar lamps build solar powered lanterns.
On Wednesday, Jackson traveled to Tilonia in the Ajmer district of Rajasthan, a small village best known as the home to The Barefoot College. The non-profit organization was founded by social activist Sanjit "Bunker" Roy and serves as both a school and community outreach center, reports Indio-Asian News Service via Yahoo.
Despite its remote location and limited funds, Barefoot College uses iPads to train students in a variety of advanced technology disciplines including photovoltaic engineering projects. Apple India donated 20 iPads and 10 Macs to the school this year, reports The Better India.
"Powerful: Visiting amazing solar mamas in Rajasthan and visiting a school using iPads to teach." Jackson said in a tweet.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the school was founded in 1972. Since the 1990s, students, mostly older semi-literate or illiterate women from developing countries, learn the ins and outs of sophisticated technological systems.
In particular, the "solar mamas" Jackson visited are trained to handle PV systems and batteries, build solar lanterns and establish local electronic workshops in their home town to conduct repairs. The effort has helped to significantly improve living conditions in hundreds of villages across the region.
Jackson embarked on her Barefoot College detour as Apple CEO Tim Cook and other top executives like COO Jeff Williams conducted business meetings in Mumbai. The visit coincides with the announcement of two major Apple initiatives in the country. Tuesday brought news of an upcoming iOS design and development center in Bengaluru set to open next year, while Apple today announced it will hire up to 4,000 workers to further Maps products at a dedicated development center in Hyderabad.
15 Comments
This is all great but I wonder if Tim Cook really realizes how much negativity there is around Apple right now? I was just reading a couple articles on the new San Francisco store and they were full of negativity and snark, with one saying 'the new Apple Store, same as the old Apple Store except for trees'. Another had quotes from "analysts" saying Apple is in decline and new stores won't help blah blah blah. The former COO of Microsoft was on TV saying Apple isn't innovating anymore. My Twitter feed is full of tech analysts (some normally pro-Apple) talking up Google I/O and sounding warning signs for Apple. John Gruber recently had Ben Thompson on his podcast and it was basically 2 hours of bearish Apple sentiment (I've also noticed that Gruber is linking to a lot more negative pieces lately).
Whether all this D&G is justified or not doesn't matter. Eventually perception becomes reality. This seems a lot like 2013 when Samsung and the Galaxy S3 were the hottest thing and people were calling for the board to replace Tim Cook. Only difference is we still had large screen phones and China Mobile coming in 2014. What do we have now to offset this negative perception and the meme that everyone is killing it except Apple?
I thought Tim Cook was by himself on his trip to India. It is really good to hear that he has taken his wider team to India. It is really great to see what he is doing. He is actually taking wholistic approach. He is working the software angle with setting up two different development shop there (Pick Me! Pick Me). I believe he is working the hardware angle too. There is no doubt we will see Designed in California and Make in India (India's PM moto) on Apple products soon. He has certainly worked out the retail angle - 3 Apple stores to start out with. And, I am sure he will work out the sales angle (especially the refurb products) soon.
Maybe India will work out and take care of sale loss in China.