Lindows Webstation

dr.karl.b writes "Lindows.com has announced the WebStation, a hard-disk-less pc that boots from a CD, similar to the now dead ThinkNIC, for $169 (no monitor). Different versions are available from 2 vendors, TigerDirect and iDOTpc.com. The TigerDirect version has a 1.1GHz Duron, 256MB PC2100 DDR, 56X CD-ROM, 10/100Mbps NIC, floppy, modem, keyboard and mouse. The iDOTpc.com version has a 800MHz C3, 256MB PC133 SDRAM, 56X CD-ROM, 10/100Mbps NIC, but without a floppy, modem, keyboard or mouse. The TigerDirect looks like a better deal, at least now ($169 = $189 - $20 rebate). The 2 different versions seem to have confused the authors at C/Net and The Register, who only report the specs of the iDOTpc.com version."

Comments

Huh??

[Anonymous Coward]

How exactly does this work?

I've ran CD based distros before but I've had a hard drive also..

How do you play games on it (as the feature list says), or download MP3s, or read email, etc if there is no where to save the data?

Ok so maybe it uses a virtual drive..what happens when you reboot?

I'm confused, am I missing something??

Re:Huh??

[Stonent1]

If they can swing a deal with a cable/DSL provider for those people who don't own or want a "computer", they might have a killer item. Cable/DSL providers can lease or sell the units to people and then upsell their service with online storage and app-serving (ASP).

That's a good idea, considering if you don't have a hard drive to save things on, you won't be wasting your isp's bandwidth downloading stuff.

it seems silly not to include a hard drive

[snooo53]

Why not stick a 2gb drive or something small in there just for the OS? That way the CD drive would be free for people to play music CDs, etc.

Re:it seems silly not to include a hard drive

[EvilTwinSkippy]

Speaking as a network admin at a museum, you never want to let folks install thier own stuff. You've seen that lab computer that hasn't been locked down. It has 98 re-installed, 8 copies of DOOM, a keyboard sniffing program, and the desktop is so full of icons from crap that it needs a scrollbar.

Besides, you know that the machine is just going to get stuffed with pr0n. Better to limit them to what tmpfs will hold.

Re:it seems silly not to include a hard drive

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you RTFA?

This machine is to be use AS A KIOSK in public places.

Re:it seems silly not to include a hard drive

[chill]

You seem to be forgetting the target audience DOES NOT ALREADY HAVE A COMPUTER, thus does not own 35 Gb of MP3s.

As for what happens if the business fails and it all gets auctioned off? Well, the only thing the end user would have lost would be some time. You DO own all the CDs you'd be ripping, right? Thus, you have backups.

Re:it seems silly not to include a hard drive

[NanoGator]

"Why not stick a 2gb drive or something small in there just for the OS? That way the CD drive would be free for people to play music CDs, etc. "

Cost + the concept that something could go corrupt? At least with a Read-Only media for the OS, a virus is wiped out with a reboot.

This would be good for Libraries and Colleges.

[HanzoSan]

I think college campuses and libraries could really use this, its a good idea it just needs some marketing.

This is not a "thin client,"

[johnny0101]

it's a fat, thin client. They are just offloading some of the server work.

usage.

[blanks]

I think people are confusing these machines with systems you would have at your house. The main benefit would be to companys that do not want workers using their machines for non work related issues.

A good example would be a telemarketing center, where only data is passed to the system, a little input from the end-user, and then stored on another system.

This would work well with a POS system as well.

Or, an MP3 player in your house where the system just pulls music off your file server.

Get the idea now?

Re:usage.

[firewood]

I think people are confusing these machines with systems you would have at your house.

On the contrary...

This is a perfect machine for Grandma if you are worried about her clicking on some chain-mailed trojan, or spyware, or otherwise fsck'ing up some setting and then calling you up in the middle of the night to ask for help fixing it. Just tell her the machine needs to "rest" at night; every morning she'll get a squeeky clean reboot.

Re:usage.

[Mr_Icon]

I think people are confusing these machines with systems you would have at your house. The main benefit would be to companys that do not want workers using their machines for non work related issues.

I would sincerely hope that they use something other than a CD-ROM.

Ring.
"Molly hey, can you send me that data from accounting?"
"Sure, Pete, hold on a sec... Hang on, my CD-ROM is spinning up. Almost there... Ok."
"Great, can you take a look at the spreadsheet with me so we can go over the numbers?"
"Sure... Hold on..."
"..."
"Hello? You still there?"
"Yeah, hold on, it's still trying to start the app..."

Random seeks on CD-ROMs are pretty abysmal, not to mention that they generate a lot of noise when running at 52x, and constant spinning up, when the interface freezes mid-sentence, and then spinning down in a second or two will drive you up the wall after a day's work.

No, for a decent ROM-station you need something other than conventional CDs -- something that doesn't have moveable parts and that has fast random access.

Re:Add a hard disk?

[SeanTobin]

My bet is that you can, but there is a very good reason for being cd only. Its much more difficult to screw up a os on a cd than it is to screw up an os on a hdd. When a 12 year old skript kiddie hax0rz your library machine and inverts the mouse buttons, the techno-challenged librarians just need to know how to hit the reset button. No worries about fscks/scandisks, or actually having to undo the switch.

Yes, the above can all be accomplished with some weird write protection on the hdd, but compare costs here. A cheap cdrom can cost under $20. Try and find a hdd in the same price bracket. Then add the cost of all the magic necessary to make it kiddie-proof*.

[*] does not include said kiddies removing cdrom and coating with strawberry jam. But that's what backups are for.

Apple Pro Mouse

[Graymalkin]

The perfect slashdot geek system. Impress your friends with your new ugly web terminal, complete with crappy looking keyboard and no monitor! Only $169 after mail-in *cough*ripoff*cough* rebate!

In short this is only useful to people running NFS or SMB servers in their basement/home office/garage to allow the thing to be useful. No hard drive means no long term cache. You can't save files off of it meaning either run to your normal PC to download the file or connect to previously mentioned network share to save.

It certainly seems like these web terminals are destined to the same fate as the ThinkNIC and various other web terminals. Useful to ten whole people.

E-mail?

[FrostedWheat]

just plug it into a broadband Internet connection and you're ready to surf the Internet, send and receive email

If this thing has no hard-drive, wouldn't that make email a little difficult? Unless they mean web-based email or an IMAP client then people are gonna lose a lot of there email.

Downloading files would be a little tricky to...

Re:E-mail?

[Anonymous Coward]

"If this thing has no hard-drive, wouldn't that make email a little difficult?"

From the official site:
Use it for:

* Web browsing and online research
* Web-based email

It seems that the tiger-direct site has felt the need to add their own features like:
- Send And Receive E-mail (POP, IMAP)

I don't think too many people are going to want to enter addresses for mail servers everytime to check their pop-mail.

Re:Use without a hard disk.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you are missing the big picture here. They have also started selling the disk that does this at the lindows site. It comes with BIG hooks to get people to use the full blown lindows version. They can try it like knoppix wthout harm to thier current system and load the full version if they like it and want to pay for click & run.This is another way to get people past the fear of trying something new. And I think it has merrit. My brother tried lindows without even talking to the family linux nut (me) and likes it.Who knew?

We have also ordered 2 of them where I work to see if they make good diskless terminals (K12LTSP) at that price it is cheaper than building them by hand. And you get a CD and floppy thrown in for good measure! Nice.

Re:Use without a hard disk.

[dirty]

I'd guess a 1GB hdd would be damn hard to come by. A 20gig cost $43 acourding to pricewatch. $43 is a lot of money when you're talking about a $169 computer.

Re:Hard drives are inherently expensive

[victorvodka]

when they start selling those guys for $10 then I agree - we have a changed world. just think what that technology will do to the RIAA - i'll start carrying my MP3s everywhere i go and sharing them with random people on the subway.

Re:Why a case?

[whiteranger99x]

Am I the only person that thinks this computer totally resembles a Commodore 64? :P

USB Pen Drives (again . . .)

[Idou]

I tried the LindowsCD 0S with a USB pen drive, and it finds it automatically and mounts it in /disks/dos. It doesn't make an icon on the Desktop like Knoppix, but that is still very straight forward.

You can get 64mb USB Flash drive for about $10. That is good enough to save a moderate amount of personal files. Don't think "only web" here, though. It comes with Open Office (or just use a knoppix flavor for whatever software you are into), which will, say, let kids write a word document, save it on the USB drive, and print at school. Definitely has potential as an "offline" tool(think "lower income").