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Wal-Mart to Offer Wal-Mart Notebooks
ducomputergeek writes "Cnet News.com is running an article that Wal-Mart plans to launch its own line of notebook computers. I wonder if these will run Lindows or XP. We've purchased a couple low cost boxes with no OS's for cheap file servers and they've worked pretty well."
There's a neat link at the bottom of the article to another article about $200 being the magic number for PCs.
I've always thought this would be a neat idea for corporations: Several fairly powerful servers, running everything from file sharing to groupware (on BSD or Linux, SMP, etc.). A bunch of cheap PCs with no hard drives and Knoppix-type CDs configured for the company's network. All files accessed via NFS, etc.
Talk about a) inexpensive solution and b) easy support. The computers are throwaways, and you don't have to move data from a broken one to a new one. It's all on the servers. But the computers are still powerful enough to do plenty of processing on their own.
Upgrades are a cinch - distribute new CDs to everyone.
With $200 computers (how much cheaper would they be without hard drives?) it's more than possible.
Hrm.
I claim first use of "Error No. 0B" - or "No. 0B error." It'll be the new ID 10T!
Arima, as pointed out in this article. It says here that Walmart has already placed an order for 100,000 notebooks for their test-run.
Gotta get me one of these!
Economies progress by making jobs more efficient so resources are freed for new jobs. You can't make new products unless some old product goes away or becomes more efficiently made.
It's hard to figure out who gets retrained in what way and how much. No system could be perfect. That Wal-Mart makes companies more efficient is not to be denied. That some companies don't adapt and go out of business, well, their workers and capital go into other businesses eventually, and the economy gradually becomes more efficient. If there were no unemployment benefits, the economy would become more efficient faster, but more people would suffer. If unemployment benefits were too easy to get and keep, the economy would progress more slowly. The trick is figuring out the best compromise. No one can ever know where that line is, and it keeps moving.
</LongWindedRamble>
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