The information technology revolution will now go into the fast forward mode in India and the momentum will not come from metropolitan cities alone, according to Ravi Swaminathan, director of Compaq's Access Business Group and head of its India operations.
Compaq has realised that metropolitan cities alone will not drive the IT sector forward, he said.
"The future of the personal computer is in smaller cities as the IT revolution has proved to be a great leveller bringing equal opportunities on the doorsteps of somebody based at Delhi or Mumbai and at Raipur or Nagpur," he said.
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Swaminathan said: "The best of resources are now available and all that is required is to make best use of them." He said the world has already acknowledged India as an IT powerhouse, but the realisation that such endeavours will start from places such as Gurgaon or Nagpur, and not necessarily from Delhi, was being accepted only now.
Addressing a customer meet organised by Compaq's Vidarbha channel partner here, he said handheld personal computers are becoming more common than mobile phones. "You can use them as a mobile phone, communicate, surf the Net and work while on the move." Swaminathan said the product had been launched six months ago and has already taken the world by storm.
Compaq has also launched MP 3 players changing the way the world listens to music. Swaminathan said Compaq saw the Internet becoming more and more significant as the ability to transact business through the Net increases and e-commerce comes of its own. "Those who are able to embrace this technology will be able to start with an edge over competitors," he said.
On digitally connected homes in which refrigerators, air conditioners, television and room lights were networked and could communicate with a handheld personal computer, he said: "Life will be more complicated, but this is a different world that we are heading to." He said there would be no more islands of functionality as virtually everything and everyone will be accessible.