India, June 7 -- Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, conceived in 1822 and underwritten by the British Treasury, was never finished in his lifetime. It is a worthwhile exercise to know why. It was not for want of money. The Treasury eventually advanced him £17,000, a sum that could have built a small frigate. It was not for want of design. A working unit was assembled from his drawings in 1991. The project failed because Joseph Clement's workshop in Lambeth could not produce brass gears to the tolerance Babbage required, at the rate he demanded. A single precision-machining shop, staffed by a dozen craftsmen, defeated the world's first general-purpose computer. The wonder was beaten by the procurement queue.

India needs to really l...