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simPC - Your Grandparents' New Computer?
trs9000 writes "The Register has a blurb about simPC, an "idiot-proof" PC set to debut in May of this year. It seems like a step towards a thin-client world, though it is aimed primarily at the elderly. For about $400 for the box and a $13-per-month subscription, users get a box with a propietary OS and software preinstalled for online banking, spam filtering, virus detection and online storage. What users don't get is the ability to install software, burn CDs or download large files. Initial release is only for the Netherlands and Belgium."
You insenstive clod!
And isn't this the name of that Indian computer?
Nothing is idiot-proof to a sufficiently talented idiot... :)
and is expensive
How do they go again?
How soon we forget: webtv, iopener, audrey etc.
It's not easy selling computers to people who don't buy computers. WebTV was a lot cheaper than this, and sold very poorly, not because it wasn't a good value but because it was targeted
at people who don't buy this stuff! At $400 + $13/mo, you not only have the "I'm just not interested" factor, but also the "are you kidding, I can't afford that!" factor.
I just don't understand why people keep trying these "basically it's a crippled PC" business models. It's been proven so many times that even with a decent product and huge marketing budget, they just don't sell.
On related note, I'd like to share a little secret about the Philips Sonicare toothbrush. Now, anyone who's used the Sonicare knows that this thing really does a fantastic job on teeth and gums. It's got some seriously powerful, high frequency action. Well, it turns out that the slender angled neck is perfect not only for reaching those tricky back molars, but is also perfectly suited for navigating the details of the inner labia. WARNING: do not stampede for the clitoris! The Sonicare is just too powerful to go there without careful warming up. You should probably also steer clear of the bristly side at first. I strongly recommend enabling the 14-day EasyStart feature, which gradually ramps up
the power as she becomes comfortable with it. Good luck!
One problem with computers has been they have the initial price and support, but they aren't getting that lucrative monthly subscription fee. I think this is a great business plan if they actually can get this to work.
Why bother with anything else? Really.
..for the same reason I don't listen to today's music. It's a generation thing.
To me, this is hardly what my Grandparents need. What happens if the company goes under? Stuck with a useless pc? For roughly the same price, I would much rather them get a mac mini...would mean a whole lot less "Why can't I do this...?" type phone calls headed in my direction.
For $500 and $8.33 a month, you could get a Mac mini and do the same thing, with less viruses and spyware.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Hahahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Ad infinitum ad naseum.
is this because The Netherlands is the country whose prime minister, when told to click on the icon, physically picked up the mouse... and proceded to click on the icon? ;)
So it's basically a rebranded WebTV, right? Microsoft must still have 3 warehouses full of those things just waiting to be shipped.
...WebTV?
They will never stop until somebody makes the
Haven't we seen these before? iOpener anyone?
There is no gravity...the earth just sucks.
So you pay for something which can't do most the things we find useful in a PC? Then we have to pay by the month? Hey lets just install Windows starter edition too, that way we'll have a PC which can't do anything.
I bet this is dead within 6 months because it's so stupid.
I like muppets.
What's the point if you can't do anything useful? It's like XP Starter Edition.....
Old or not, once people realize it's useless, they won't like it.
-thewldisntenuff
My MythTV HowTo
"...boy, you can buy yourself one of them newfangledy calculatin' machines or you can sell a pig in a poke to a one-eyed man with a two-eyed mule. And if that don't set your pears to picklin' then I'm not worth a squirt of spit into an Alabama wind. Yep, that's what I'm sayin'."
Okay, so Granny drank a hell of a lot...
For $400 this computer goes directly to a level of worthlessness equal to the BSOD without any annoying intermediate steps.
This is genius.
I thought it was called WebTV? *shrug*
DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
Is either having VNC installed or Remote Desktop Connection enabled so I can help them when and wherever I am. Why in the world would I want them to spend a monthly subscription on a PC that they really can't do much with? I can build them a decent computer for around $300, and if they ever have a problem or a question, they always can come to me.
Besides, my grandparents utilise their CD-Burner, and they like to install new software, like Microsoft Word, Quicken, or some other such office program from time-to-time.
iMac Mini.
:)
That's the computer for parents and grandparents. I'm a windows weenie and I can see that.
Wiwi
"I trust in my abilities,
but I want more then they offer"
to run linux or whatever on it. It shouldn't be too long.
With a $200 to $300 wholesale cost, they can make their money back in a year on a unit, not counting what they make with targetted advertising on their captive audience.
Lock in grandma to a 2 year contract and you're set!
Bundle in a few Tivo-esque features... they are already set for VOIP... might be the killer app(s) for the grandparents!
Agile Artisans
Businesses in the market to sell PC's to the elderly better be prepared to fail. :D
Not to mention, most older folks probably won't think about buying a computer without talking to somebody who has one. And, of course, this bunny box will be universally unrecommended.
Any telco that offers DSL service would be unlikely to want to compete with themselves by offering a device with VOIP when they already provide POTS service. Many require a POTS line to even subscribe to DSL service. I'm also assuming the $12/month is on top of whatever you would be paying for the DSL service.
That was a waste of a mouse click.
:)
I think the slashdot description is longer than the linked article
The unit can't burn CD's or do video editing.
In my experience this is precisely what elderly people want to do with their PC's.
I think a configured Mac mini with it's stable, easy to use operating system hooked up to a DSL router (ie it holds the connection for you - not the computer) is probably just as easy to use and has more of the stuff that grandparents actually want to do.
As a side note, the proprietry OS scares me. What happens when the company goes under and there's something wrong that prevents the OS from loading (like hardware failure). Say bye-bye to the last 5 years of photos and letters from the grandkids.
"And then I visited Wikipedia
So you can't install software - but you get virus protection? From what?
Poor means hoping the toothache goes away.
Well doh, everyone knows iMacs are designed to be iDiot proof!
Karma: bad (mostly unaffected by funny mods)
Well, hopefully that this, like many of its predicesors, will be fun to hack and crack, and will hopefully end up being cheap so we can buy a bunch of them and do CRAZY anti-DMCA things to it.
It's not all that hackable. The whole thing is practically hermetically sealed. Both the charging base and the movement are driven by magnetic coupling (in order to waterproof it).
I dunno - maybe there's some anti-dmca thing you could do but I can't think of what.
If the appliance (I have a hard time calling a specially-built and locked down machine by the term "computer") were very, very cheap or free, or if it came with a year's free service, or if the service were very inexpensive I could see how this could work.
$400? And I don't get to do with it what I want? And everything is proprietary?
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
My (aged) mother has an iMac which she loves and which she bought herself after she got fed up with the mac I gave her. Then she decided she needed another 'puter so she bought a low-end Dell because it was cheap. Result, misery. The reason is not because she's stupid, not because she can't transfer from OS X to XP (she had no problem) but because she really can't work out where all this spyware and virus shit is coming from or what to do about it. Try fixing that over the Atlantic. She would never buy something like this.
She will, however, buy a mini mac in a heartbeat. Or I will buy it for her.
I'm not wrong. You haven't thought about it hard enough.
Mac mini + simple Finder.
I dunno about updates, though. I know you could use Apple Remote Desktop/VNC, but it'd be nice if I could patch Granny's Mac over SSH.
...users get a box with a propietary OS and software preinstalled for online banking, spam filtering, virus detection...
Damn! Until I read that, I was thinking about writing a virus for the proprietary OS that will be used by a handful of old people in Belgium. Seriously, what viruses could they be guarding against? Maybe I'm missing something; I usually am.
-William Brendel
I'd buy my parents a MiniMac before this... at least the Mac has decent amount of software, at least Mac Office, a few games and such (not as wide as the PC, but thats vulnerable enough as-is).
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
It runs on a proprietary OS; and to prevent problems, users won't be able to install software, download big files, burn CDs or DVDs or edit videos.
I just purchased an old Pentium Pro, MS-DOS box for $10 and it has all these features. Looks like my system was just ahead of its time.
If SimPC is somewhat successful, it may validate that there is a market for managed PCs. Sun Ray now supports regular DSL/cable modem bandwith, so there is basically readily-available technology for companies to set up a completely hosted smart-card based service. I'll be really interested to see how SimPC does over the next couple of years.
It's kind of amusing, given the plethora of "well, duh, I'd get a Mac Mini" comments, to speculate what the response would have been like two days ago or, more importantly, what the people involved with this product were saying yesterday when Jobs unveiled it. Poor schmucks.
Is anyone thinking this is a window onto the future? Proprietary os, monthly charge and the inability to change what's installed on your computer. Welcome to trusted computing. Where do you want [us to force you] to go today? For less money, we could set up Linux boxes with restricted accounts for basic actions. No monthly fees, no problems.
I didn't just do this post, I also did Yomomma!
Which are apparently the same demographic.
Solves problems by removing all of that annoying functionality.
Buy this for grandma and teach her how to open e-mails. You'll never have to visit her again.
It runs on a proprietary OS; and to prevent problems, users won't be able to install software, download big files, burn CDs or DVDs or edit videos.
Heck, they may as well be selling Commodore 64s.
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
Just look at this "device" (no, I won't call it a computer) and ask yourself how the makers think about old people. I am close to forty, and the idea of being stuck with one of these boxes thirty years from now sickens me. Give me a Mac any day, but not THAT!
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof was to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Mostly Harmless
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
When will they learn? The people they're trying to sell this thing to have no use for computers. Not that they aren't smart enough to use them, they simply do not. Even today, life can be lived pretty well without ever touching a computer or sending a single email. My grandparent's generation is never going to use computers, so if I want to send them mail, it's time to get out the stamps! For electronic communications I just (gasp) pick up the phone and call them.
Most people tend to stick with whatever technologies were prevalent when they reached adulthood. God! I hope that doesn't happen to me!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Easy to use if you speak dutch.
In Netherlands and Belgium, only old people buy stupid computers.
Monitor extra. Keyboard extra. Mouse extra. That's another $200 or so. Much more if you buy an Apple display. The Apple Mini comes in somewhere around $700.
Why on earth would somebody building something like this use a proprietary OS? Linux is free, it'll almost certainly work on the hardware already, it already supports all the different types of software you want...
They even recieved a VCR and answering machine as gifts... still in the boxes.
It's histerical when they call and we aren't home. They don't understand the concept of talking to a robot who takes your message... it's silly to them. Making for some comical messages.
So I don't think my grandparents will be hopping on this product.
would rather they get a cell phone. But no... invisible wires are scairy... might trip on them.
But... for just 100 dollars more and without any fees attached, people can get a the new MacMini instead, which should be at least as easy to use for novices and elderly people and which doesn't limit what you can do with it artificially. So why would anyone want this? I can imagine people falling for it because they don't know better, but that's about it.
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
Why not just give people an X-box with a custom version of Linux? It would be more then $200 cheaper on the hardware side. All you would need to add is a keyboard and mouse. It should be able to do all the things that this box can do, and as long as the distro was set up correctly, should be as easy to operate and not have to really worry about virii. I understand there are legal problems with reselling hacked X-Boxes, this is all theoretical.
2) Do not eat simPC.
Simple interface. Mail program filters out most all the spam you get. No need for worrying about getting a virus.
Why would I want a PC if the Mac mini is available?
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
Better watch out, MS has infiltrated the ranks of the slashdot mods. Flamebait indeed....
a propietary OS and software preinstalled for online banking, spam filtering, virus detection and online storage
Bank account numbers and personal information going through a new, closed operating system targeted towards old people?
Who's going to scam them out of their money first, the usual scammers or the company itself? Or both working together?
is a PC which has the ability to do exactly NOTHING.
Knopixx and recover everything.
No Windows tax. And it runs Linux beautifully.
you had me at #!
If it has a proprietary OS, why does it need a virus scanner? Sounds more like it's running a modified version of windows to me.
This is the same thing, but repackaged, as the "i-opener" offered by NetPliance. But the i-opener was cheaper, I think $99.
Fight Spammers!
That is the perfect machine for anybody's non-it-talented parents/grandparents.
You know why they "aren't getting that lucrative monthly subscription fee?" Because there's nothing to subscribe to!
Chair manufacturers aren't getting one either, and there's a reason.
All well and good unless there is no way to get the system to boot from CD. I'd say they would have the BIOS on this thing locked up nice and tight.
I know that if you've got boot you've got root, I'm just saying that it will be a royal pain in the ass recovering info from such a custom system.
"And then I visited Wikipedia
"A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams
It runs BSD.
What are the % of geeks that had to go consult Wiki to find out what a clitoris of labia are?
C'mon, guys. Learn from the mistakes of others that came before you and stop trying to market this crap. My gramma wouldn't even get a WebTV (which had a pretty decent-sized marketing push) because she can spot crap a mile away.
I listened to many meetings on this crap and as a consultant pointed out that besides the Intel POS that they were using with a proprietary Linux that we couldn't modify w/o Intel's approval, they just wouldn't accept the reality that the retirement centers and elderly at home with 2/3rds of the US money don't give a rats ass about the IT World. TiVo is cool to them because they can record their shows. That's about it.
A year later and out of angel funds they sold it to Bsquare who quickly took something I can't figure out what from it and then buried it.
Instead of creating a fool proof computer, why dont we make a fool proof documentation method. Computer manufacturers bundle their computers with updated software actually allowing people to do what they originally intended. This allows all the advanced features. Then incorperate an active documentation system that you are forced to at least skim over, or when you click a button a new message or side bar or warning or whatever pops-up giving you tip/rules/information. mass documentation = mass knowledge. we all know how to perform addition because it was hammered into our heads from childhood. If we hammer documentation for applications into the user's head, maybe computers will no longer need to be fool proof. This could be misconstruded as a facist documentation system, but we haven't tried it. Who knows, maybe it'll work.
What about web-related messages such as, "Do you want to run/download content from Foobar-server-zapspace-marble-xml-fiddles.com?"
Table-ized A.I.
Hello fellow time traveller!
Have you metaroderated recently?
mini Mac. No viruses. No spyware. Higher security. Let them download everything they want and enjoy the full multimedia experience with no restrictions.
Easier to use. As close to trouble-free as a computer can be, for the user and the tech support (you, their son or grandson).
Grandma still has spam and phishing to worry about, but what platform doesn't?
I've been on the "Buy Grandma a Macintosh" campaign for years. And now it makes more sense than ever.
About when we got the damned thing we didn't use it for anything fancy just watching the normal tv (DishNetwork users can vouch for this) and trying to use the handy dandy search feature(no really!), I used a * in the search pattern for shows and hung the box(I "felt" it hang and not come back..) so I hit the three fingers rebooting the box and freezing everything... I felt like my MSCE came in very handy!
They had to send me a new descramble box because I killed the firmware somehow...
A FAILURE HAIKU!
You fucking fail it
First post is just not for you
Death is the answer
M$ tried to make everything simple with bob, remember that? I think that makes sense, perhaps the world wasn't ready for it, but it could work. You still get a PC that everyone can use, but when your grandparents (excuse me) logs in, everything becomes simplified and restricted. Hmmm... I am convinced that everything is in the software.
The hardware should be standard though. I expect that with the right screwdriver you could open it up and pull the hard disk in a few minutes, attach it to your PC/Mac. I'd lay money it's running Linux; in any case there's no reason to encrypt the disk (unoless they're paranoid about modders) so some standard driver should be able to read it.
Hot on the heels of the overwhelming success of the I-Opener, I see.
+1 Damn Skippy to everybody that says that if you have a old fogy in your life that really wants to try out that Internet thing, get them a Mac.
Actually they're only buying a computer because you never write to them. Plus they would like to keep in touch with all their friends who haven't died yet.
So what would a computer designed for the elderly with money be like?
Do you think that they went out and actually asked anyone over 70 years old what they would want in a computer? Not likely. Probably just had a few focus groups of five or six 20-somethings with coffee and doughnuts throwing stupid suggestions at each other. Like "Let's make it real easy to use!" (meaning: "Let's make it real easy to buy!").
If I were really old then my body would be not functioning well, and I would not be happy about it. So what would I want in a computer?
Well, since no young people like to live the old and the middle aged people are too busy and have enough money to get away from them, the elderly tend to live alone and lonely. They have fragile bones and if they fall down they tend to stay down a lot longer than they would forty years ago.
So how about a PC with a microphone that will dial (the number that connects any telephone line to the authorities in the USA) and pre-recorded message requesting help to come to their address when they yell a specific phrase from the floor? A phrase like "Help! I've fallen and I can't move!". Or, "Help! I'm having a heart attack".
How about if the PC could interface with the medical equipment that they have bought with your inheritance money? So they could just buy the sensor part and have this $400 PC do all the digital work that all expensive microprocessors inside each piece of expensive home medical equipment is now doing?
How about an autodialer for the phone so that they can just say "Mildred? Are you home?" at the PC and have the PC dial Mildred and act like a telephone instead of having painful arthritic fingers trying to stab at little buttons that they can't see anyway on a cheap plastic phone that doesn't work well because it's been dropped so many times because it's so hard for an old person to hold?
How about a good fast flatbed scanner interface so that they can put a paper or letter on the scanner surface and actually be able to read it on PC screen in big, big letters that can be seen with eighty-year-old eyes?
If you are seriously trying to make a PC that old people will buy, then make a PC that is seriously helpful to older people.
In the glory days of the dotcom boom, FreePC gave away 10,000 computers, free, nada, goose-egg. No shipping, no contracts, no obligations EXCEPT you had to run their advertising overlay when you were browsing the Web.
I know because I got one. I still couldn't believe it when the UPS man showed up with the boxes. It may be that there are VERY FEW things in life that are free, but this was one of them.
They were cheapie little Compaqs with a Cyrix M-II CPU but at least you could brag that the price/performance ratio was extraordinarily high. Actually, they ran fine, certainly good enough for browsing...especially after you wiped off the disk and put a fresh install of Windows on it. (My mom still uses that machine to this day.)
Idiot proof? For old people? yeah, ha ha... I know some grandpas that would school any of us; they've been using PCs a decade more than I. How about some of those idiot proof PCs for dumbass high school kids?
I just finished setting my wife's grandmother up with a Mac. We all chipped in and found her a 600Mhz Snow iMac (summer 2001 model). I got it used for $395, and the CRT monitor will let us move to an easier resolution as her eyes wind down.
We also have her grandson across the street, and by buying her an Airport Base Station, we were able to connect her to his hi-speed internet.
I think Simple Finder could work, but in her case I just made a little AppleScript that opens Mail, Safari, iPhoto, iTunes, and iChat (She has 640MB RAM so there's no problem). I just want to let her launch everything with one touch, let her sort using Expose, and then quit when she wants.
No virus worries. Simple machine w/40GB drive. Damn cute looking. No noise (convection cooled). We may even add an iSight (600Mhz G3 is the minimum spec for this). This really is the perfect grandparent machine.
I need to get these for my roommates. I'm repairing one machine that got compromised by hijacking malware that I'll probably have to wipe the hard drive clean. I'm building a machine for another roommate that will probably get hijacked as well. The P2P clients are ruining everything.
simPC!
-only $14.95-
* Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to simPC.
* Caution: simPC may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
* simPC Contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
* Do not use simPC on concrete.
Discontinue use of simPC if any of the following occurs:
* Itching
* Vertigo
* Dizziness
* Tingling in extremities
* Loss of balance or coordination
* Slurred speech
* Temporary blindness
* Profuse sweating
* Heart palpitations
If simPC begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
simPC may stick to certain types of skin.
When not in use, simPC should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration...
Failure to do so relieves the makers of simPC, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.
Ingredients of simPC include an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
simPC has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is also being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.
Do not taunt simPC.
simPC comes with a lifetime guarantee.
simPC
ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
Remember the minitel?, of course not is french so what would we care.
Requiem for this product too....
Give with the times internet is here like it or not.
Thanks Slashdot for making the return key submit, so one mistyped key sends the comment off before I am done editing it.
:)
Anyway, I just took this from http://www.happyfunball.com/hfb.html
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
it was only old people in Korea? Now they have then in the Netherlands and Belgium, too?!
Everything I need to know about copyrights I learned from Slashdot.
When I hear "new proprietary operating system", I think "Linux, but they're violating the license."
...idiot proof. If there is one thing we all learn fairly early on, it is that nature is always one step ahead. Design for the current idiot and nature usually produces a better one.
Resistance is futile. Reactance buggers it up.
$400 for an idiot proof proprietary computer? Didn't Apple Computer just announce the same thing for $100 more?
I smell competition!
Wasn't there a story or three a year or so ago talking about a SimPC for distribution in India? The idea was to deploy inexpensive PCs with limited functionality (or something like that...)
Hey, did anyone else think that the photo of their "simPC basis model" looked suspiciously like the setup of the first Beatrix Linux box? Hmmm...
A PC with a Live CD (Knoppix, Ubuntu, Gnoppix, etc.) gives you something similar without being tied to a single vendor. You even get regular upgrades (subscribe to a CD burning service or have the kids burn the new CD every few months). It also comes with lots more applications out of the box.
Well, I'm a grand-parent and Gentoo GNU/Linux on my ThinkPad R40 does me just fine! The suggestion that just because one is over 60, one suddenly becomes unable to interface to modern technology is just a total insult! I have installed Linux on a '486 for a 72 y.o. Granny & she loved WordPerfect on it. Yes, it was a few years ago. I'd quite like one of those Apple 'Ice-Cream Box' style machines though. No, make it two, my 30 y.o. daughter could do with one too.
Why on earth would anybody use GPLed software for a box like this? It'll be based on a BSD, that way they can keep their implementation a secret.
Chernobyl 'not a wildlife haven' - BBC News
Why can't we just admit to ourselves that out of the 98% of people who use computers in some form, the remaining 2% just isn't interested? The elderly in the next 20 years will shift away from computer illiteracy with the passing of the previous generations of the old, so why bother? I can understand if Grandpa wants to learn to use the PC, then fine - but if he doesn't, who really cares? These kinds of products have always struck me as somehow an attempt to make an easy buck from people who need a firmer root in computers for them to know any better. Nothing more.
As a matter of fact, why don't they have it just hook up directly to a TV? It would look a lot like a video game system, except with a keyboard and mouse instead of controllers. And yeah, I don't see why it shouldn't be able to burn CDs, as I agree that old folks are probably plenty interested in keeping and editing photos.
I don't exactly see this product making a killing in the market, but it might find a niche.
Real Numbers - writing with a quantita
booyeah, bestest song evar
My parents are roughly retirement age; my father retired at the end of last year; my mom turns 65 in about a year. Although my father did work with IBM System 3 gear back in the 1960s, I am the "techie" in my branch of the family tree. (Strangely, my cousin Jon, born within a week of me, is also a techie, working for NeuStar or whatever their name is now. Must have been a solar flare around then...)
When I was a teen, they had Commodores. I went to college, got into the x86 architecture (though not into Windows) and after some years, my parents made the move to PC's as well. Most of my computer-owning relatives have PC's as well - my sister and her husband, aunts on both sides.
Now, I've had Macs for the last few years. I still have a Linux PC as well, but I've been making it clear to them that Windows is bad mojo, and - perhaps more importantly - that I am only going to offer them limited help with their Windows PC's. (I support Windows PC's for a living, and don't like doing it for free.) They've seen my Macs. They know I'm happy with them. And they know my Macs do nifty stuff and don't have the security problems Windows has.
My sister and her husband have a bad case of Mac envy right now, and are saving up for one. They had been saving for an $800 eMac, but boy, does that $500 Mac mini look appealing.
My parents just made a "things to buy" list, and there's an Apple logo on it. Again, I think the Mac mini will appeal to them, since they've already got a monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc.
Where I'm going with this is: some grandparents and other people may buy a Simputer or whatever if they see Ed McMahon flogging it on an infomercial, but these days, a lot of folks have descendants or friends who are "tech-savvy," and they look to them for advice. And if those "tech-savvy" folks don't have, or don't like, a Simthingy, they'll be recommending something else, whether it's a PC or a Mac.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
What users don't get is the ability to install software, burn CDs or download large files
Yup, that's a c64!
...won't like this because of The Sims.
I know when I first read the name, the game sprung to mind.
You simply work from the open Darwin source and re-create the Aqua/Quartz layers from scratch.
Or I guess if you're some kind of cheater you could load YellowDog, or even just keep running it as is... but that's crazy talk.
Who wants to bet though this other "proprietary" OS is really Linux without any respect for the GPL?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Not so different than this 'new idea', and a whole lot cheaper. Pop in DSL or another lightweight Linux distro, or **heaven forbid** the original ThinkNIC software, and do much the same thing for a lot less money.
He wanted to make sure he got it down pat.
A perpetual service based model that still requires you to pay for net access. It's a win/win for corporations. Adding to, instead of intergrating services is what they want. It avoids that annoying competition factor.
Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
Please do the math...
Let's say you use your computer for about 3 years.
Take into account that the SimPC 10 EUR subscription fee is OBLIGATORY. (And the user has to provide its own ADSL Internet Access).
Costs after 3 years (Benelux pricing):
SimPC: 299 EUR + (36 * 10) EUR = 659 EUR
Mac mini: 520 EUR (no obligatory subscriptions apply)
Its not clear form the SimPC web site (in Dutch) if keyboard and mouse are supplied:
Mac mini + keyboard and mouse: 577 EUR
All things considered, I think Apple is the winner here.
Ok this means we (I'm from Belgium) are considered the perfect 'idiots'. ;-)
Nice!
...I foresee the second hand simPC market to be huge
Btw, the Mini makes a great cheap fast fanless and headless server, not everyone has figured that out yet. And of course it runs Linux.
you had me at #!
I'd lay money it's running Linux
Yes, but can it run linux?
Would something like removing all other icons from the dock, then setting Mail, Safari, iPhoto, iTunes and iChat as startup items work? If she is comfortable with using icons(dock, rather than expose seeing the whole window), you can have the as startup items that are hidden.
Ofcourse, there is always Chicken of the VNC for troubleshooting:)
But as a loving grandchild, I'd never put anything else in the hands of my grandparents other than a Mac.
Those hands wiped my poo and loved it, for pete's sake!
On the other hand, that means they won't see much of a difference between that and a PC...
I thought this was called WebTV? ;)
No virus worries.
Why not? Mac get 'em, too. A hell of a lot less, but time will change that, don't you think? (With Linux bringing up the rear.)
this article in Dutch makes it clear that simPC uses Linux.
you still want to know when she's uvulating..
A PC cowboyneal can use ;)
dumpster bait Pentium / K5 / K6 / Athlon / Duron: $50 tops (check your closet)
knoppix iso: free
speakers, printer , keyboard, laser mouse + NICE 17" monitor: $100 tops at pc swap meet or write it off as an excuse to buy yourself someting new
afternoon spent setting it all up: clear conscience
total cost: less than $200
ZERO virus / registry problems, ssh / VLC for config/support issues, ability to say "granny runs linux": priceless!!!
*this type config is also handy if your significant other isn't a geek.
Just give me any computer, and a sledgehammer.
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
Most people have TV's, I'll bet people that the "Simp" is aimed at would probably be OK with using a TV and nice large fonts as a display.
And a lot of people might have spare monitors sitting around they can donate to family. I know I've done that in the past.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The Netherlands and Belgium?
C'mon, if it's supposed to be a PC for grandparents, Korea was the obvious choice...
p
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
Okay so I'm 21.
But alot of people that read Slashdot aren't 21. They're 41. Or 71.
So don't presume that we all have grandparents.
Shouldn't they try releasing this in Thailand?
Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
Even before the Mac mini, I would probably have said "never buy a computer called "the Simp".
Apart from the awful name the proprietary OS and monthly fee are a huge, massive turn off - what happens to your data when the monthly fee runs out? I am assuming that since they are meaning this for the simplest of folk that all data is held remotely and they own it, and it's in some wonky format they will be reluctant to free it from. Heck, even if the data is local to the box you may still have the data format issue.
And what about the aspect of accessing your bank through some unknown system? This thing could easily be a sham to spend a year gathering account numbers. It gives me the willies.
Just all around it screams to be avoided, existance of Mac mini excluded.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Just to be nitpicky, but you have to run the command line softwareupdate sudo - right?
I guess anyone using the command line would know enough to know they need sudo, but I thought I might as well make it perfectly clear in case anyone did not know... I've not used the command line update myself yet since my mom seems happy enough installing them on her own.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
...I can say with some confidence that this concept is doomed to fail. Most homes here already have a computer, and those that don't, don't want a computer. Furthermore, the reason people do not want a computer, is not that they are too expensive (in general, the elderly are quite rich). It is because (a) they have no real use for a computer, and (b) computers are too difficult to use. The second point is NOT solved by disallowing the computer to burn CDs. It is caused by delivering it with a mightily complex operating system. My dad needed about a year to get familiar enough with Windows and Word to write a text without phoning me. The only reason I can think of people desiring a computer, is that they want to browse the web. They can buy an iMac to do that.
Why would a proprietary OS need a virus scanner?
Security through promiscuity is no better than security through obscurity.
Because you have to be an idiot to pay $400 for a crippled computer and then pay $13/month for the privilege of using it.
Get your Unix fortune now!
Mod parent up for reminding us of a decade during which Saturday Night Live was occasionally very funny: the 70s.
Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
What older people need is more action, not less. Buying a crippled PC is good only for those that control the platform. A real PC, although difficult to use at first, will make the older people use their mind more. Mental activity is what keeps old people from getting Alzcheimer's or senile. Doctors suggest more action when you are old for keeping mental stability and health. Furthermore, a game of CounterStrike would really do wonders to their reflexes.
Here is another proposition for that company: bring back the magic of Home Computer(TM)! just like the Amigas/STs/C64s/Spectrums of yesteryear, bring to us a mini beige box, armed with a RISC O/S, good custom chips, a lightweight O/S that we can tinker with, with intergrated joystick/DVD/floppy/MIDI etc!
No software instalation?
/home partition, and then contents of the CD installed on the / partition. Updates: easy, just take a new version of LiveCD and do a complete reinstall.
No configuration?
Well, this seems a perfect application for linux: well-thought linux installation, perfectly in a form of LiveCD, separate
I have always thought, that old grandma' is one of two kinds of perfect linux users: having no need to tinker. The other one being a geek of course - regular users are the worst, they want to tweak a bit, but in linux they often screw up completely.
Cheers
Raf
In an earlier thread someone mentioned about "us" 40 year olds who had to fix their teenagers computers,.. There was actually a company years ago(early 90's) called Simware that had products called simpc, simpc master, and If I can remeber a MAC version as well. For connecting your pc to a mainframe and transfering files back and forth,..
Add in the costs of keyboard/mouse/screen and your well up to EUR 1000,- before you have something that you can actually use.
The simPC and Mac mini are two different beasts, targetted at different audiences.
Okay... I'll do the stupid things first, then you shy people follow.
[Zappa]
But then why do they imclude anti virus software??
Sounds like some MS product to me...
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
In Korea, simPCs are only for young people.
In Soviet Russia, simPCs run you!
But the real question is, does it run Linux?
Imagine a beowolf cluster of these!
Article: It's a cheap, crippled PC.
/. : Buy a Mac Mini(TM)!
/. owned by apple computers now?
Is
Plus, there's already a service that presents the internet in a more understandable way to old/clueless people. They call it AOL. Why buy into the new evil attempt to separate people from their money using their ignorance when the old one's already so well established?
...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
You can get a mini mac, (proprietary hardware), and it comes with OSX (proprietary OS), and it even has bundled applications (proprietary iLife05), and even better at least people have heard of your proprietary box....
So what you're saying is that they should buy htis thing because they'll know ahead of time it doesn't work, because it's been broken?
This thing doesn't let you install ANYTHING. Everything's preloaded. What's the point? Just give them a Mac and say "Nothing will work with this" and you'll get the same effect, but you'll have a better computer, and things actually WILL work with it if they need to.
"A simPC is an easy and safe computer with a low price".
(Unelegant, word-for-word translation.)
JP
From the picture it appears to be a Lex mini-ITX ("book PC") machine with a VIA processor.
A substandard PC for people who don't know how to use PCs?
The demographic of people who don't know how to use PCs is falling off the top of the chart. if every elderly person got one of these, then won't we end up with mountains of useless old-person PCs (costing $13/mo per PC) when the old people pop their clogs?
~~Every few years or so I'm accidentally fashionable!
Why not spend $100 more and get one of those new Mac Mini units? All the gooey OSX goodness without the $3000 price tag.
According to WINmagazine.nl it uses Linux, not a proprietary OS
And not only that, but I'm thinking that there's an inherent flaw in treating users like idiots and designing a product "for idiots".
This arrogance in the computer industry is getting on my nerves already, and I _am_ a programmer. The whole "if you get bitten by our bugs or piss-poor design, you're an idiot luser" attitude.
The fact is, since everyone just has to compare computers to cars, computers and especially software nowadays are at the point where cars were in 1900. They were a fragile, shoddy contraption that needed you to be an experienced mechanic just to keep it working. (Or rich enough to afford getting a mechanic to keep repairing it for you.)
That's exactly the point where computers are today. Each time grandma calls that her computer crawls to a halt, imagine her with a rickety 1900 car that broke down again. On flat ground. For no obvious reason, other than piss-poor primitive construction.
Yes, there probably is some invisible reason, such as that on the PC she clicked on the wrong link, or with the 1900 car she took a too tight curve. Guess what? In both cases the user shouldn't have to deal with that crap.
Except that wereas the car industry went and improved their product, the computer industry is content to call everyone an idiot. Cars eventually stopped breaking down each time you pushed the gas pedal too hard or drove over a small stone you didn't see, but computers didn't. The computers still break down for as little as a malformed packet. (See the buffer overflows.)
And instead of fixing their own damn deffective product, the computer industry keeps blaming the user. "Noo, our product is perfect. It's those idiots who broke it. Let's give them a crippled locked-down PC they can't break." It's an idiocy of the calibre of "let's give them a car which only goes in a straight line, so they don't break it by taking tight curves."
And IMHO those are the _real_ idiots. Not the users.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
There already is an idiot proof PC... it's called the TV. And yes I am being serious.
Granted I'm not suggesting that TV is an actual PC but it provides just about the level of interaction that the average user seems to comprehend from a computing device.
Personally I think that what should really be happening is not that manufacturers start making cruddy underpowered computers but that "the evil doers (tm)" should create a really, really nasty and destructive IE exploit/virus/piece of malware.
That way the totally cluesless users would get their machines completely well and truly borked which would hopefully put them off going back on the internet until Microsoft fix their rotten browser and O/S. And I do believe a catastrophoic virus is the only thing that will cause them to actually do something.
I for one would welcome the increased leisure time that I would have from people not ceaselessly pestering me about their ceaseless spyware/adware infections.
The problem is not the computer, it's not the internet, it's not even the viruses. It's Windows and it's hopeless security model.
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
"If you're going to waste their money on a mac mini, why not just go for the el cheapo special from dell or someone and then install Linux on it?"
Because you can get
a) MS Office for the Mac
b) It comes with iLife, which is a very nice tool for digital photography.
c) You can go to CompUSA and get software for it
d) With OS X, you do get a BSD Unix with arguably one of the best GUI's on the market.
e) Recommended by Consumer Reports!
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
they tried to take over my windoze completely in order make my online life more simple and secure. Going from AOL 4 to 5 to...I got off the merry-go-round at 7, I found AOL insinuated itself into all the functions it could, supplanted or ignored whatever windows features it could...
so here comes a product that, by going it alone, succeeds completely at what AOL had attempted. And guess what? Its going to be so lame and limited even grandma is going to say "WTF!?" Besides, the usual deal with AOL was a big box retailer selling a cheapo PC and saying "we'll knock the price down to $400 IF YOU SIGN UP TO TAKE AOL FOR 2 YEARS" How is this a better deal? That way at least I got a PC with a widely supported [and targeted] if mediocre OS.
I don't think grandma is goin to use a computer until it dawns on her that there is something she really wants and it can be done on the computer. Grandma is 60 years old and long ago decided she knows what she wants...I'm not stupid, arrogant or hopeful enough to think I could change her mind.
Having tried to set my aged mother up with a PC that would not help theives to her bank account, I know elderly newbies deal poorly with passwords and generally regard even the most common security steps for computer use as an impediment and an affront. Does this $400 box come with surreptitious biometric lock-outs? If not, sales will be as lame as the product.
SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
I can get a Wally-world PC w/Linux pre-installed for under $300, and monitors for less than $100. Add dialup service for 8/month, and that offer is not all that great.
The car industry never relied only on those. You'd be surprised at the kind of intensive testing that goes into everything.
E.g., the bucket seats in sports models. You'd think they'd just make a chair with raised edges and call it a bucket seat, right? That's what the software industry does.
Someone was telling me about the extensive kind of testing that goes even into a tiny aspect of it: that when you sit down into or get out of one of those, you'll have a leg over the raised edge. So they have a machine which does just that to the seat, millions of times: a simulation of putting a leg over that edge. (In his own words: "the Sharon Stone machine.";)
I'm choosing that as an example because it's not something that can be dismissed as just "yeah, well, they only do that because cars can kill people." No, that bucket seat's raised edge has no influence on road safety. They just don't want it to end up all worn up and deformed by normal use.
And IMHO maybe it's about time that software was tested just as thoroughly, instead of whining about idiot users who ruin our perfect seat by putting a leg over its edge.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Its a brand new technology, it has wooden sides, stands only about 18 inches tall, and is about 2 inches deep, and has these cool horizontal metal rods, with some amazing wooden balls on all the bars. And is completely immune to any and all spyware and viruses. And believe it or not, the OS NEVER crashes, and retails for under $50 bucks.
Wow I didn't know they needed a special computer. Maybe one that makes sure con artists don't take their life savings to cut down a tree.....because they're fucking old.
Anyway, there is no such thing as idiotproof and someone, probably you will become tech support. So ya better start larnin that goldarn thing.
It's the worst waste of money since the Bill Gates scat porn special edition DVD!
This is something that would work great as a 50 dollar network appliance, but priced in the eMachines reigon, it's a waste of money, even for people who DO hurt their machines a lot. For ten bucks a month, you could get the local twelve year old to clean up your machine every once in a while, and at the same time you can burn CDs and actually use the machine for stuff they don't want you to use it for!
Seriously, I think someone needs to give their business model a solid look once more before they start shipping. "So...We're going to sell a sub PC....at PC prices? And charge per month? It's BRILLIANT! We TOTALLY won't be kicked to the curb by Dell!"
It's been a long time.
No matter how dumbed down it is, if your grandparents do not have a computer, don't push one on them. You will only make what are supposed to be their golden years a confusing ordeal, or blow your money on something they will never use. You may even deliver them into the hands of con men who will steal their life's savings, and maybe even swindle them out of their home. The internet is a jungle. Don't lead those who don't belong there into it.
How ya like dat?
Wow, so you know elvish?
Old people wouldn't want to do any of those things anyway :)
The Truth About Slashdot
The comparison _is_ a bit unfair in that aspect, but I'm also hoping that hyperbole will serve as a reminder of where we are. And more importantly that no, it's not the end of the road, and giving up is not the way to go.
Because basically that's how I see it. Sure, computers have always been buggy, and we've always blamed the victims. (I.e., the users.) But, I don't know, there's a certain kind of both cynicism and fatalism in throwing a two-hands-up salute and locking down an OS so "idiots" can't break it. It tells me, "it won't get any better, folks".
That's basically what irks me about all these attempts to produce a dumbed-down locked-down crippled "idiot-proof" PC. It's entirely the wrong attitude and entirely the wrong way to go. If that's the road we take, and that's the best we even try to do for the users, then in 2104 we'll still having software that needs constant babysitting just to keep running. And we'll still blame the users for it.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
And there was others, WebTV's still sorta around, but only because it's another Microsoft boondoggle.
Each and every one of the players in question went down in flames. Why? The pricepoint to get in killed them. When Netpliance was offering the iOpener for $99 to buy, it might have worked had their software been better (That'll kill it no matter what...). But when they raised the price to nearly $400 to cover the costs and to "discourage" the modders converting them into little flat-panel PCs, it pretty much doomed them from that point on.
When you can get a full-tilt PC for a hundred dollars more and consignment/refurbed machines in the class of machine like these IADs for $99-199, there's no market potential on these devices.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
The biggest problem for "normals" who get first computers is tech support. Most of these "simPC" approaches minimize the tech support requirements by minimizing the complexity of the supportable computer. But support is asymptotic - there will always be at least one user who needs to call to ask "why do I have a computer?" or somesuch. Inherently networkable, community-based OS'es like Linux have a better option. Add a "HELP!" email client keyed to a red button that emails the request to a server configured by the helpful person who got the normal the computer. The server is in a Usenet like network of "help" servers; even Usenet itself would be appropriate. The computer comes with maybe 50-100 request credits, and the helpful person who gave it to the normal is then obligated to answer that number of help requests (debits). But it's just a ratio: the requests are tossed into a pool, and anyone with debits can answer any question for credit, which is repaid on acceptance by the requester. Every helper has maybe 1000 debits max before their new installs' requests won't be answered by the system. A multiplier for promptly helping, like 1.5x for same-day, and .5x for >1week, would encourage prompt replies by every indebted helper. Help requests >2weeks old might be attached directly to the installing helper, who would be motivated to research the reply. When the requesters get to within, say, 20% of running out of credits, they can be warned; they can "recharge" credits by answering requests themselves, now that they've learned something (after 80% of their own, usually redundant, requests have been answered). At 5%, their system can automatically request their helpful installing person to get deeper into "help debt" by transferring credits to the installed computer. Add credits for sending requests to a FAQ-search before sending to the "live pool", like 0.1, and the system traffic can be lowered.
This system could work just as well on any OS, not just Linux. But, Linux people have a community willing to examine source code to answer their own questions, and so much more a mesh of people who "got them into it" rather than a salesperson or office IT. So the social organization is much better suited to this P2P help network than say, Windows, or even Apple users. The software to support the social model is very simple, and uses existing (email, Usenet) networks and techniques. Someone get coding!
--
make install -not war
So, who wants to lay odds on how long they can stay in business once hackers start buying all of their hardware and not using the proprietary services?
[*] This is slashdot, interpert accordingly ;-)
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Yeah, but it's much less embaressing when the TSA screener at the airport pulls it out of your bag and asks you quite loudly if it belongs to you.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
OS X has a zoom feature using Command+Option+[+-] to zoom in and out on the screen. Furthermore, Cocoa (and Carbon's CoreGraphics) use all floating point coordinates and affine transformations so it's only a matter of time before Apple brings back perfect scaling instead of the fixed 72 dpi interface they have now.
This would allow you to continue to use high resolution but scale things up (text and images) using a sytem preference. If done right this would likely be preferrable to just kicking the resolution down as the text would be both larger and more clear using this method.
I used to work for a group that made something like this. We even sold more that 200K to an ISP in a foreign country. No US ISPs would buy into it. After attending a negotiation meeting between management and an ISP, I blame the arrogant management for killing possible deals with US ISPs, and the failure of the business.
Ours was a sealed system with no CD, floppy etc. USB was there though. We had a way to remotely upgrade them, they were not prone to the typical adware and viruses as they were NOT Microsoft based. The idea is a good one, I know that my parents would benefit greatly from a system like this. It would reduce support costs as they can't screw up the system. This business could have taken off, maybe these new guys will succeed.
The ISP worked with a bank and gave them to people for opening an account. Or you could buy one for about the price these guys are quoting. The problem is the ISP didn't know how to run a network. They had a lot of down time, and they could hardly keep their office network running.
Needless to say, the whole business went down the tubes and I work in a different group now.
Last time I saw one was for sale on E-bay for $25.
You can lose something that is loose, so tighten the loose item so you don't lose it.
...just use my old PowerBook. It runs OS9 but they don't care. All they want is to e-mail their photos to everyone. My other grandfather had WebTV until his provider discontinued it. He just used that so he could receive and reply to e-mails. We've offered to buy him a PC since but he's now content going over to his neighbour's house once or twice a week to use theirs to check his e-mail.
This product could be good for the elderly, I guess. But I know that none of my older relatives have enough faith in the internet to even think of banking online.
I guess it has now been long enough that all the venture capitalists have washed their .com losses out of their mouths. All of a sudden .com this and .com that are showing up in tv commercials. This is the EXACT same thing that happened before. Even google's share price has basically doubled in the last 6 months... are we headed for another .com bust? I don't know, but I say we all get in early, sell high and become rich... RICHER THAN ASTRONAUTS!
And it certainly doesn't help with each of the following human interventions into natural selection process:
Medicines and related machines that allow people to live who should have naturally been terminated. Too many idiots who ran red lights are alive today....breeding....
The criminal justice system and anti-gun laws. Those who are criminally inclined mixed with a suitable level of stupid gene should have been terminated during the crime by a victim long ago.
Nowadays we artificially remove both good and bad genetic material through the use of abortion. We also allow our prejudices to determine which lives match our standard of living and capabilities. There is a fairly strong chance we have destroyed some genetic improvments by terminating lives didn't meet our standard of normal, yet would have introduced improvments into the human race.
Sounds like the UN needs to assemble and discuss the next big crisis.
Let's hope this thing doesn't suck as royally as the Myturn.com GlobalPC...
Nothing is foolproof to the sufficiently talented fool.
And what happens when the grandkids come to visit? They cant even install aim, cant download large files (whats the cutoff?) and basicilly CANT use the machine at all! So its a 500$ paperweight you can check your emails with? $13/month? Whats that the extra 'haha i cant belive thier buying it' fee?
Like the saying goes, never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes. -Pyrotic
You forgot the obvious first rule:
1) Don't talk about simPC
Holland is the land of elves?
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. There is no way to make a computer totally idiot proof.
I do telephone tech support for consumers with desktop pc's. I say "Press F8", and the caller says nothing is happening. Turns out they are pressing F and 8. I say "Move your mouse cursor." and they say "What's a cursor?". They think the tower is either a modem or a hard drive. I'll ask what version of windows their computer is running. They often respond Dell or Compaq. They don't have a clue. I often say I can't make this any dumber. There comes a point when it is impossible to translate basic instructions into terms they can understand.
Most of the time I punish them by making them do a destructive recovery for things like spyware, page cannot be displayed, or their CDRW stopped writing. You'll lose everything, bwah, ha, ha!
One word of advice. If you should be stuck doing such a miserable job as this, and customers complain that they get tired of calling 3 or 4 different people to resolve a problem, use the following analogy: Computers are more like houses. You call a plumber to fix the plumbing. You call an electrician to fix the wiring. You call a carpenter to fix a wall, etc. You call your ISP if you have problems with the internet, your antivirus company if you have a problem with a virus, etc. It's not like a car where you can take it to one person. It may not be true, but it seems to satisfy most of them and gets them off the phone.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
Sure can't see what's new about this -- unless it's someone getting the bright idea that kiosks are now practical as personal computers. They might indeed be, for older people. I've been thinking about something like this too.
Like the old saying: " If architects designed buildings in the same way that programmers built software, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. "
it's a female! *stares intensely*
wanna come over to my mom's house and hang out?
Computer usage is closing in on a critical mass, though. Most middle- and upper-class households have computers, and many of them more than one. The only way to continue the phenomenal growth of the past is to reach out to new demographics.
My aunt has an Internet only appliance that my grandmother refuses to touch. Then again, as recently as eight years ago, she claimed that microwave ovens caused sterility ...
In any case, in order for the computer industry to continue to expand to seniors and the technologically deficient. If they're able to eliminate stability problems (which they probably will since there won't be any external conflicts) it'll be a big step towards drawing in new customers. If the price keeps dropping, it can close up the digital divide.
In the long run, though, the simPC has limited usefulness. Tons of middle-aged (40-50 and up) people use computers. As the population ages, they won't STOP using their computers. Eventually computers will become as ubiquitous as televisions once technophobic seniors pass away and technophilic youngsters take their place.
"You kids are lucky to have keyboards and mice and such. Back in my day all we had was eight little bulbs and eight switches with a push button on the register clock."
I guess people see stick of gum next to ipod & think 'tasty!'.
You can trick out your ride.
"hey, could you pass me a paper towel? er.. I mean... DEPLOY ABSORBTION PANEL!"