The term as it is was coined by legendary (albeit criticized in the mainstream) economist E.F Schumacher in his book ‘Small is Beautiful’. The fundamental idea is simple: Any technology can have both intended and unintended consequences of its use by humankind, for the technology does not exist in a void but within a social, economic, and cultural context. It is this context that makes the technology successful or unsuccessful and therefore should be carefully considered before introducing a new technology, like a laptop. Only by ensuring that technology is “appropriate” to its context can one maximize its intended benefits and minimize unintended repercussions. Despite the so called ongoing “progress”, India as a population and society is at a different stage of socio-economic evolution than the societies in the West. Any technology oriented solutions will have to keep this idea into consideration if they are to solve a problem rather than introduce new ones. Not to say that computers are bad, but they have to introduced in a “controlled” manner in order for them to be successful. One such successful example is the eChaupal project launched by ITC – that provides technology to farmers in a way that is carefully controlled. OLPC is a good example of an “inappropriate” technology. While we mark the 25th anniversary of the PC, it will be several decades before mankind fully understands the effects of staring at a CRT on the development of a human mind.