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Another Internet Appliance Dies
pescatello writes "Here's a CNET story describing the disappearance of the internet appliances from the market. The latest is the AOL/Gateway/Transmeta Internet Appliance.
While it won Comdex's Best in Show in 2000, it hasn't been pushed by either AOL or Gateway, and is now unavailable anywhere.
" Meanwhile, my Audrey came in yesterday.
The grammar nazi has no real opinion on this issue.
Keeping
If it's any indication of failure, the Target near me has a few Cidco Mailstation's for $24.99. Even at that price they can't sell.
It's amazing how good the Audrey actually is, if you want simple internet access from a room like your kitchen. It takes up little space, has a usable browser, calender, address book and email capabilities. What makes the Audrey so nice is that you can integrate it seemlessly into your home LAN. It will talk to your mail and dns server and mount file systems using nfs or smb, no need for some bogus proprietay subscription service.
The reason the Audry failed is simple, it is a great little machine for $89 but it's not worth $499. For $89 you have lots of people buying them and playing. 3Com and other appliance would be smart to follow what is going on over a linux-hacker.net and audreyhacking.com and re-evalutate their market strategies when they see what happens when you make a kickass little toy like the Audrey available to the computer literate community at an accessible price.
The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
I just hope you don't have to feed your Audry blood to make it grow, like I did when I had one in my flower shop.
Mod point free since 2001
I think the average out of the loop American wants to buy a computer so they can learn about computers - that's a big deal to most people. Just because they only need internet doesn't mean they're interested in an appliance the none of their neighbors use.
Now if we could only spread the word that Windows isn't the most educational OS out there, we'd be set.
spacefem.com
$400 or less gets you a PC that can do everything you want on the internet, and has the advantage of a hard-disk. All of this internet appliance stuff seemed to miss that point. The idea that you had a $200 box that required a $40,000 box at the other end to act as its brain seemed to be... well brain dead.
The internet is just one reason that people buy a PC, playing games, editing documents, scanning in your photos are all common reasons that people get a PC. Internet appliances couldn't do these things as well as a PC and so deserved their fate. Bad business idea, bad tech idea. Remember X Servers ? They made sense when a Unix box was $20,000 and you could see the reduction in cost, but with internet appliances you would have to sell a huge number of boxes to cover the costs of the backend servers.
Then there are the really stupid ideas... an internet appliance which is basically just a browser, a standalone browser and email client. Something that is cheap and doesn't require a backend server, but does bugger all, and does it worse than a PC. BushTV in the UK is an example of that, and several of these other elements are good examples of abject failure of brains (I know I worked for a company that had such a stupid idea, I worked on abstract software for STBs, they decided to spend $3m on building a box... went bust).
Internet appliances will succeed... when they are appliances. A cooker which connects to food.com or whatever to get receipes, a fridge which connects to the supermarket to order replacement Red Bull, a phone which reads out your emails.
But not when it is a crap PC.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
this really must have been a wake up call to Gateway. People were not prepared to spend $599 for a Web-Surfing appliance, does this really surprise anyone?
He who defends everything, defends nothing. -- Fredrick The Great
I recently bought a "new internet computer" (NIC)to try putting some thin client theory into practice, and based on it I think a networkable small desktop has much greater utility than a dedicated internet appliance.
AC's cheerfully ignored
Yeah, okay, I know. These "internet appliances" were made for non-geek types. Still, I think my 70 some odd year old parents would rather have a full blown computer. In fact, the bigger the better. There is something about that "box" that gives them a warm fuzzy as opposed to some slick, whispy looking thing ... that probably does more ... but looks like it's less.
healyourchurchwebsite.com - WWJB?
The www.BBC.co.uk is reporting about this little device?
Nice little unit, as the iopener, audrey, AOL/Gateway Unit from this article and the rest - but *will* this ever come to market? I am doubtfull...
While it won Comdex's Best in Show in 2000, it hasn't been pushed by either AOL or Gateway...,
but I doubt weither pushing would have helped surviving. What people will accept as a sellable/buyable entity, a "product" or "component", is highly unpredictable.
When digital clocks commoditized, vendors did put them in just about anything: telephones, writingpens, watches (remember? I mean those with just digits in the display), chairs, beds.
The timercontrolled coffeemachine was never really a big hit, but the radio(-cd)-alarm stuck.
Perhaps someone could invent a NEW standalone grammer-checking internet appliance for Hemos: While it won Comdex's Best in Show in 2000, it hasn't been pushed by either AOL or Gateway, and is now unavailable anywhere. should be While it won Comdex's Best in Show in 2000, it hasn't been pushed by either AOL or Gateway, and isn't available anywhere. or even While it won Comdex's Best in Show in 2000, it hasn't been pushed by either AOL or Gateway, and is now unavailable everywhere. In either case I can't say I'm going to cry myself to sleep over this, I think the idea is somewhat silly. Why spend so much for an appliance when PC's are THAT much better and are remarkably cheap these days? Just my two cents.....
Low end PCs are a cheap as appliances, because of economies of scale. All you need to do is to put a really simple start up interface on it in place of the MS-OS-from-hell. Could be Linux-based or something else.
But you know what internet appliances can do? They can be supplemental to your own PC. How about a device that allows me to check my mail from the TV by using my existing connection? Or remote control my PC to start printing something, so that I can go upstairs later and just pick it up? How about a touch screen device that I have right on the table in the front hallway that can rapidly pull up a traffic or weather channel before I head out the door on the way to work (something I plan to make my Audrey do)? I don't want to surf on my tv or my touch panel. I have specific types of information that I want, and if I can find a supplemental device that will deliver those things to me quickly wherever I happen to be, then I'm gonna be all over it.
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
$599? Are you kidding? The whole point of making something that's less than a computer is that it costs less. You can get computers for $599 that can do just about anything. Look at the audrey- didn't sell when it was $499, but now for $89 they're selling well (got mine!) and there're communities around hacking it and generally enhancing it. Of course the $89 doesn't cover what 3Com paid to make it, but $499 was still overpriced. On second hand... Maybe they should take a hint from the hacking communities around the I-Opener and the Audrey and have an open source internet appliance- they can sell it cheaply because all it'd cost is the hardware.
Reading some of the comments about the "obvious" failure of these internet appliances makes me think many slashdot readers have crystal balls. Many of these companies banked on broadband access to the internet to be commonplace within the time frame of their business plans.
If every house has a T1 line to it, an internet appliance makes a lot of sense for the average consumer. The extra network traffic wouldn't slowdown average applications since the bandwidth is there for it.
And it makes sense to have a central computer requiring zero administrative work by Joe Public. Their appliance would just work with the latest and greatest software. For the those wearing linux-colored glasses, imagine having your computer always running the latest and greatest distribution with no work or compatibility headaches on your end.
The real failure of the internet appliances can be blamed on communication companies that couldn't find a way to make broadband a reality fast enough. With the recent failures of DSL and wireless internet providers, it seems that not only has the crop withered, ie. the appliances, but the farm isn't worth keeping either!
Looking at my personal crystal ball, if the phone companies, cable companies, et al. get their act together and provide broadband access to substantially more customers at reasonable rates, internet appliances will be back.
Isn't there some sort of procuct release today? I'm sure I heard about it. Strange no one has posted it yet.
Shame, I could do with another flame war.
MS RULES!!!
Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated up.
Hmm. A crippled toy that's good for a couple things for $350 or a baseline computer that's good for those couple things and everything else for maybe $50 more? It's simple economics: you're going to fail if you don't give the customer what they don't want.
Make this same toy a $99 purchase and now you're looking at something that perhaps not consumers but VARs might be interested in: can it be hacked into a car easily? A train? A plane? If it sells cheaply enough that this desirable, functional piece of equipment can be integrated easily enough, it'll sell. If you're trying to sell a crippled computer for a few bucks less than a real one (even if real means "crappy Compaq" or "E-Machine" (no offense to those of you who own one)) then get ready to take a bath in your investment.
Easy does it!
This comment has been submitted already, 276865 hours , 59 minutes ago. No need to try again.
I'm sure that eventually internet appliances will be a good market item, but not today. ;) for a really cheap price in the same ballpark as a portable cd player or high-end calculator, then you have a chance in the market.
If you can provide a *hackable* mp3 storage device (or an encrypted porn archiver!
I think that soon though, appliances will become the norm, and the PC will fade somewhat. The home PC market is predominantly a first-world thing. That market is saturated and there is no killer app requiring 3GHZ monsters. I think that the powerful PDA's, instant messaging cellphones, PC-like gaming consoles, and Gigabit networked digital set-top boxes providing hi-def cable TV and internet access will be more in line with consumer needs and the consumer retail market.
Think about it. How many PC's have you gone through? How many (disposable?) boomboxes and walkmans have you gone through? That is the kind of semi-consistent market that I imagine doesn't suffer the same vagaries of the PC OEMs.
Ok...suddenly the impulse buyer in me is saying, "I want one" and I need to quell that hunger. Can anyone who's purchased (and hacked) an Audrey provide us with more info. Is it worth it?
Wooden armaments to battle your imaginary foes!
- With PDA's, Handheld PC's, and Workpads there is forever a craving need for more software in a small space. While thoughts and persuits in holography storage are still underway, A step towards constant online availability to the software you want when you want it a very attractive alternative. On many of the OS platforms for these mobile devices, "TOOL" images can be downloaded from anylocation online and the respective data files and be stored local or uploaded to an account storage area. And for $0.01 a day, not too bad. Too bad this is not implemented off some site somewhere. Oh, and being able to exchange, and make public some of your data (not programs, unless personally made) would make accessing infomation just gravy. It would bring new life the these devices and also items like internet appliances (where one would have to worry about buying a big harddrive to use and run what the want. Also software updates would be seemless and choice basis. -
abstraction is 2 keep the weak from knowing the truth. show your source code && always seek the knowledge within
I looked at this awhile ago, and saw that hideous price tag. Have any geeks out there thought of using this as a gift for mom who doesn't have email and just want to play solitaire?
Bullshit, it works quite well. I have it on my OSX , OS9 and YDL box. It is my primary browser. I got rid of IE because it would automatically decompress and execute applications, and there was no way to keep it from doing it other than no use it.
.9.5 can do.
If you have trouble with Mozilla, try the newest version, it is quite good.
As much as I love OmniWeb and Opera, neither one can do what Mozilla
It hasn't crashed once on me since I installed it.
photosMy Photostream
If you made one of these out of a PlayStation it would sell like hotcakes:
It's just what Sony and AOL both need to fight Microsoft. I wouldn't use it myself, but I'd definately buy one for my mother so we could finally communicate by e-mail instead of running up phone bills.
It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail. - Abraham Maslow
Lets see,
You can sell an internet "appliance" and make money if you (a) subsidize the cost with internet service or (b) charge an arm & leg. We all know that the former doesn't seem to work too well (*cough* iOpener *cough*) and charging an arm/leg doesn't work well because laptops can replace the devices with more functionality and practicality.
As I've said before, we need an open "disposable" PC form factor standard. Get rid of the ZIF socket, dimms and expansion slots and go with an embedded (as in soldered on the board) processor, ram, video, etc type of solution. Hell, with RAM going as cheap as it is, I don't see why the cheap end of the PC spectrum hasn't gone to this already. You could probably do 1Ghz, 256Mb, video, TV-out, audio, ethernet & 56K for under $150 in quantity.
What happens when nForce and its variants is small enough to sell to CPU manufacturers as an on-chip option? This is probably happening already. Didja ever wonder why nVidia and AMD are so buddy/buddy when the Xbox is Intel-based? Expect to see an AMD system-on-a-chip soon...
What I am getting at is that the open PC architecture is one of the things that made the damn thing so popular. However, its also the very thing that makes it large (ever priced a latop motherboard?). BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE. The market could obviously bring the economies of scale to a small PC solution. This could be used in anything from the appliance to a laptop (or TVs and radios).
All in a cheap, open standard...
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
These little boxes are marketed as "cheap" PC alternatives. In which case they are looking at a segment of society that typically doesn't have computers and isn't too interested in them. These are people who probably grow up with little exposure to computers and don't use them at work. Without a printer, they don't make a good word processor, so they lack an important PC functuality.
Now the real question is whether there is a use for the internet with people that don't want a real PC. Seems to me the answer is no. Email and internet access are useful to the tech savvy and those of us who are used to them, but people can still survive in blissful ignorance without them. Seems to me that there is just no market where these things are targetted, especially at several hundred dollars plus monthly subscription charges.
Why would anyone who is ignorant of PCs want to get online in the first place? The only thing that comes to mind is to chase the fad, but people that buy purely for those reasons, rarely go for cheap crippleware. Seems to me you'd have better luck selling a $300, bare bones word processing system.
Maybe, one of the reasons is that, as long as they keep adding more complicated stuff to web sites, it's never viable to produce a cheap (ie, all in hardware) web browsing device. (I did rant on this subject before.)
/. and Need To Know.
First it was frames (which fucked the Web TVs), then all this layers, DHTML crap. What next?
If the stuff is cheap and in hardware then upgrading your browser or downloading this week's plugin is not really an option.
I bet that lots of companies could produce a cheap, simple browsing device - providing all you wanted to browse was
Does anyone else want to join a Keep Websites Simple/Kill All Graphic Designers movement?
This sig made only from recycled ASCII
Presumably Internet Appliances will one day be in the majority, since there is little cost-justification for todays $1000 general purpose PC.
This is what VIA are doing - their C3 processor can be mounted directly on a motherboard. The PM133/PM266 chipset is cheap and provides enough facilities for a device you describe. It just requires a manufacturer to go out there and do it, and make it available to consumers.
I haven't seen this posted in the discussion yet... One can purchase an Audrey for $89, brand new in a sealed-by-3Com box, at Tiger Direct. I have two of them, and they're quite fun to play with. :-)
- Eric
Don't feed the trolls. :p
:)
Moz hasn't crashed on me in months, and I've been using the nightlies as my only browser. It's quite responsive.
Startup times are fine even without -turbo. IE would give me a window to look at pretty quickly, but it always chugged away doing its thing for a bit afterwards before I could start to use it (It would also go off grabbing and executing things without my permission, which really irks me, but that's another discussion entirely). Mozilla's splash screen would display for about that long before giving me an immediately-usable browser window.
I use the browser so much and have so much ram now that I just use -turbo. Load time is damn well instantaneous. Now if only I could get IE to stop loading itself into memory on startup when I never use it.
The new popup blocking feature rocks as well, btw.
"Where shall the word be found, where will the word resound? Not here, there is not enough silence." -T.S. Eliot
Does anyone know what happened to Nokia's internet appliance? It should be on the market now...
...bad implementation. I personally like the NIC because you aren't bound to a specific ISP and the box sells by itself. However the thing is still $199 sans monitor. For the whole appliance thing to take off I think there has to be two things: boxes priced at $150 or lower, and 802.11 (a,b or g - I don't care) compatibility so the thing can be moved. Then I'll use one in the kitchen and maybe the garage or basement just for reference (recipes in the kitchen, instructions for a project, etc.). Screw a sound card - I don't want it to play MP3s, I don't care about streaming videoI love the fact that the NIC has VGA out so you can do whatever - buy a monitor, use an old one, whatever. Like I said: good idea, bad implementation.
I want one. www.tigerdirect.com have no way to put a non US address in their site.
And they are selling returned machines for spares (sorry, I am a cynical person, I see one of those for spares making it all the way here masquerading as a helthy machine).
And anyway, I can get old machines for about the same price (even laptops) that can do as much with a little tweaking. The only think I would kill for is a cheap touchscreen to have it connected to a run of the mill machine....
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
O.K., Then why hasn't someone created the obvious (IMNSHO) appliance? Namely one that:
1. has an 10/100 (or even GigE) Ethernet interface;
2. can receive streamed audio and video and decode it to the appropriate outputs: analog stereo audio, S/P-DIF digital audio, Dolby AC-3 5.1 digital (possibly analog as well), composite video, S/Video, RGBHV and or SD/HD component video, 1394 transport of audio and video, as well as the ubiquitous CH3/4 RF modulater A/V; [obvously not all of these are required on all versions of the product, but some A/V streaming support is essential];
3. Provide a Web-like control interface for such remote sources, and possibly a complete browser.
Options might include multiple A/V inputs for existing local components (and the ubiquitous IR controller), along with local (or remote) HTML "interface pages" for providing a UI to control them; or even an embedded 10/100 Mb/s switch.
The idea is to try to (a) allow for A/V data to be retrieved from an existing home server, and (b) tie in all the other legacy devices you have (perhaps via some kind of outboard adapter). Current attempts at "universal controls" are clumsy at best.
I just got a new Sony 32" HDTV ready set, and HDTV satellite/terrestrial receiver. The set has multiple inputs, and the receiver can provide different resolution material on multiple outputs, but switching resolutions requires controlling BOTH the receiver output AND the set input. Alas, the only remote which does this is the receiver remote which lacks the fancy split picture and other TV controls. Yes, I could program a "universal remote", but it would lack the necesary buttons. Things like a Pronto help, but are a hack at best: I should just plug things together, maybe download a "driver" or "plug-in" of some kind to the device I described above, and it should "just work".
Now, you're all thinking, "1. Use a PC. 2. Do it under [GNU/]Linux. 3. GPL the code and release it". Well, fine, except: (a) PCs are ugly, (b) PCs are noisy. I haven't found one quiet enough to do the job in a living/family room setting.
You could've hired me.
I think the reason for AOL and Gateway not pushing the sales is because of the GPL violations, which they will not admit. They're hoping everyone will just forget about the device. BTW, I'm still waiting for the source code AOL. Cheers. :D
As much as I love OmniWeb and Opera, neither one can do what Mozilla .9.5 can do.
And Mozilla can't do a lot of the things OmniWeb and Opera can do. So basically, your comment is pointless.
Hi All,
Quick question - does anybody have a source of Audreys in the UK? I can't seem to find anybody still selling them. (The US web sites are not that keen on shipping them internationally....)
Thanks!
If you had an iopener (like I do) you'd know that they fall far short of being a "networkable small desktop." After you hack it, you're left with a underpowered x terminal with a crappy screen. Mine mostly collects dust, unless somebody comes by who says "what's that computer thing with the hard drive duct-taped to the back". I suspect most people's io's and similar just collect dust, as io-linux and resources for similar devices tend to die quickly.
Why don't you concentrate on trying to get first posts, you'll get one someday.
AC's cheerfully ignored
So what do you expect from a "networkable small desktop" that neither your Iopener nor an eMachine, or even an Apple Cube provide?
Plus just to remind you, one and two. The former being my first ever post, and the latter being my only other attempt. So there.
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
...and I'll show you a Web Pad.
The crap released thus far as IA's are not. End of story.
"And like that
This thing is too much like all those other "hackable" things, i-o's in particular. You waste time and effort on a cheap piece of garbage, and for what? A crummy web browser you can use with an unstable NIC? An oversized, hacked up MP3 player? I'd take a stock Palm III any day over a hacked Audrey.
AC's cheerfully ignored
People did not switch to Japanese cars because they were simply better (they were a bit better, but not by much in the 70's), or cheaper (just a bit). They switched because the Honda Civic got 35 miles to the gallon compared to the 10 of a Chevy Impala. Waiting for hours to get gas, IF you could find a station that had any gas... it was a HUGE exteral force upon the market. There is no such force on the PC / NetApp market.
It wasn't until the 80s that the Japanese auto industry really shined and started taking market share away from the American industry. And note that the American auto industry did disappear into a minority, and the PC market is not likely to do so either.
There's no comparison to the PC / NetApp to the Auto industry. Japanese cars and American cars were both cars, fully capable of doing the same things. An analogy might be the American Cars were IBMs and Japanese e-machines. Both computers, fully capable of computing.
To make a car/internet appliance analogy work, you would need a car that had had no interior but a single seat for the driver, no trunk, and an electric engine that only ran when plugged into an outlet. You could drive it down the driveway to your streetside mailbox and back, but not much else.
Those of us who drive, simply stop at the mailbox on our way out somewhere or on the way back. Those who don't drive aren't going to buy a crippled car that costs 80% the price of a full car just to get to the mailbox and back. They'd just as soon buy a full car or just walk.
When the price drops, those of us with full cars may buy a crippled car for the 'hack' of it, maybe to run to the mailbox on weekends so as not to create wear and tear on our full car, or maybe for the kids to play with. But no, until the price drops significantly to "toy" status, they're not going to sell.
-- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
Why in Hell's name would I want a toaster that lets me download pr0n when I have a real computer that lets me do the same thing and so much more besides?
--
Lady Xiombarg of Chaos
>>Now if only I could get IE to stop loading itself into memory on startup when I never use it.
http://www.98lite.net/ieradicator.html
Maybe those things would also be much cheaper and more immune to upgrade issues...
Take the I-pod - Who needs another MP3 player? "But it's small, you can store other files on it and it's firewire". Only when you start adding features do some of these consumer electronics start attracting interest.
Rather than sell a dedicated internet appliance, add a capability to an established platform, such as PS2. Sony would be able to market the hell out of it. They could sell controllers that have LEDs and hotbuttons for e-mail. Everybody would run out to buy keyboards and mice for the PS2. You just need some storage, OS & software, and preferably a high-bandwidth connection. Now would be a good time for that Linux distro to come out in America. Sony could smack the X-box.
You need a compact flash reader to get the image from your computer to the flash card. SanDisk has one for about $20 that works flawlessly with Linux. I make backups of my Audrey to flash (it has a built in flash reader/writer) and then dump them to my hard drive on my Linux box. So if I ever totally hose Audrey hacking, I can backtrack to a working image.
Audrey is kind of useless, but it is a LOT of fun to hack! I've almost got bottlerocket working on it for X10 control, which would make it a little more useful.
As long a cheap general purpose PC is in the same neighborhood with respect to cost the second two criteria will outweigh the Simple criteria. As long as the Simple criteria is not met, additional people will NOT be attracted to buying the devices. As long as additional people don't buy these devices they will continue to fail. Futhermore a device with no local storage will never succeed since it will effectively be limited to web browsing and games only.
What we really need is a Tivo with ethernet, web browsing, email, word processing, spreadsheet, and usb ports (for floppies etc) for $199. Enhanced applications (like home finance and games) should run off of a DVD drive which can be inserted into the device, and only user specific data should ever be installed onto the local storage and OS installation.
It's just a matter of time before someone with money funds this and takes over the next generation of the computing revolution.
--Jonathan--
have been delyaed by moizlla not being what was promised. A lot of IA makers planned to use mozilla, but no way is that possible now. With mozilla requiring 128MB+ and a p3 class cpu.
I have never seen a tv ad for one of these devices. I have only heard about them through industry specific or geek outlets. How can a device like this take off when very few people even know about them. Marketing is the key to it all. The demographics for a web appliance would be people who don't want a complex computer and just want a functional device. These people by definition are not going to be getting the info unless you blitz them with ads during Friends. There is only so much of a market in geeks who want one so they can trick it out to do things it was never intended to do.
This isn't a big deal since it was a bad idea in the first place and just shows that the Comdex judging needs to improve.
-BxT
This product violated the GPL and got pulled off the shelves REAL quick.
Bah, the whole idea of the "internet appliance" is flawed. Like marketing an "electricity appliance".
Features: TV, videoconferencing. No inventory.
Price tag: About $10,000.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is just yet another example of why Internet appliances are failing. For that price, I can get a sub-zero fridge, and several high end computers, and still have money left to renovate the rest of my kitchen. No wonder these things don't catch on...
Ceci n'est pas une sig
As many people know, Intel unveiled it's own web tablet at CES last year. They're not going to release it, though. Check it out here.
This one really sounded promising, offering a wireless experience, utilizing existing Internet connection, printing support, and audio.
I worked as a developer for this product, and am quite disappointed to see Intel decide not to ship. I've had one of these tablets at home for about a year now, and it is surprising how useful it is despite slower-than-pc performance. What I've seen (through usability studies, beta testing, etc.) is that people expect a wireless web tablet to have the same performance as a PC, at half the cost. Something that a device running on a 206Mhz StrongARM will never achieve.
Thin client tablet PC's have a shot at offering PC performance, but are people willing to pay over a thousand dollars for a laptop without a keyboard? A person can buy a laptop for under a thousand bucks, throw in a wireless network card, and accomplish everything (and more) that an internet appliance can at a lower cost.
The real benefit of a web tablet is sexy hardware. The cool factor makes up for slow performance and limited resolution displays. When people see the tablet, their reaction is always "I want one". The problem is, most people aren't willing to shell out the bucks to get one.
Someone should sell hardware like this, but market it as a remote workstation.
"Place this gizmo anywhere in your house, and it can access all the MP3's, recipies, etc on your main home computer, _and_ it can access the internet by routing through the main home computer."
A small amount of software to install on the main home computer (mainly to make the routing and filesharing easy for average user), and there is no limit to what you could do with the thing.
You can get a full-featured browser running with very little effort, and the NIC is not unstable. Right now the software to mount remote shares has buffering problems, but there have already been many proposed solutions to this problem. The NIC itself is rock solid. Stupid fucks like you should check their facts first.
Can anyone report on whether these things run fanless ? The multia I had next to the stereo is a bit loud for the living room.
Hot damn. Last time I checked with 98lite, I couldn't get rid of IE without having a win95 CD around for the shell.
I'd mod this post up if I could.
"Where shall the word be found, where will the word resound? Not here, there is not enough silence." -T.S. Eliot
Has anyone ever USED one of these for it's intended purpose?
They didn't push it because AOL screwed over the free software community. Running a Linux operating system, then encrypting the file system and not allowing the user access to it, or even accrediting the programmers who wrote all of the software that that piece of crap relies on, caused its demise.
After Gamera was ripped from its insides, you couldn't even find one being sold ANYWHERE on the Gateway website...store...or for that matter...on AOL.
Let's see...what have we learned here? 1) Internet appliances simply aren't worth the money. 2) Internet appliances 9 times out of 10 screw over the people who had to write the software that runs the piece of crap and 3) If you can't build a computer for under $600, you have issues.
Jacob
Observers.net