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$250 Freescale-Based "Green" "Cloud" Computer

Posted by kdawson on from the fully-buzzword-compliant dept.

An anonymous reader sends word of the CherryPal, a tiny desktop computer that its maker says will consume just 2 watts. It uses a Freescale processor that runs Linux and has no moving parts. The CherryPal has integrated software and an embedded Linux (based on Debian) that has been stripped down to support Open Office, Firefox, iTunes, instant messaging, and multimedia access locally. More applications are available in the cloud, and 50 GB of cloud storage is included. It comes without keyboard or mouse but with ports for VGA, USB, Ethernet, and built-in Wi-Fi. It's claimed that the CherryPal will boot up in 20 seconds from 4 GB of flash. They've buried Linux so that the end user doesn't see it; the entire UI is presented through Firefox. The CherryPal site says: "There's no software or upgrades to install, no risk of viruses, and no operating system to deal with and free 24/7 support."

10 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. "green" vs "no upgrades" by thrillseeker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    so buying a throw-away brick is now considered green?

    1. Re:"green" vs "no upgrades" by 4D6963 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      so buying a throw-away brick is now considered green?

      Yeah, because the parts you replace when upgrading are notoriously biodegradable!

      --
      You just got troll'd!
    2. Re:"green" vs "no upgrades" by ePhil_One · · Score: 5, Funny

      And why exactly would you throw it away?

      Its just a matter of time until the release the CherryPal2...

      --
      You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
    3. Re:"green" vs "no upgrades" by Bishop+Rook · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'd imagine most of the "upgrades" to your computer-using experience are going to be on the server-side, since the computer itself is basically a thin client.

    4. Re:"green" vs "no upgrades" by pschmied · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I've never thrown a PC away. I've been upgrading my trusty Radio Shack TRS-80 CoCo2 all this time. . . component by component. I've even kept the circuit boards.

      Seriously, the ecologically worst parts of the computer are the circuit boards and the LCDs if I recall correctly. I don't see how swapping a big-ass motherboard in and out of your relatively benign metal case is that green.

      This, on the other hand, is small and does consume very little power. I bet its footprint isn't much bigger than the average video card. If you want to be green it probably means not buying a computer, or making due with old / slow shit.

      Reduce, reuse, recycle. IN THAT ORDER! How many geeks here follow the first and most ecologically beneficial part of that triad?

      --
      . Penguins Surely Ca
    5. Re:"green" vs "no upgrades" by sm62704 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Obviously he didn't invest that $100k in Enron

      This was some time in the early 1980s, Enron didn't exixt. However, if you had bought Enron early and fled before it crumbled you would have made a killing. That's the way of riches; you have to have it to get it. The insiders got rich while California had brownouts and small investors and employees lost everything.

      If you want to be scared shitless, read Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s by Frederick Lewis Allen. It was required reading in a required undergrad history class I took in the late 1970s, the University of Virginia has placed the entire text online (darn, back in the old days we had to BUY books!)

      The 1920s had many eerie similarities to now, especially finance. Their ultra-rich were as sociopathis as today's. We mey be heading for another depression.

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      mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  2. Has to be said... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So who is going to be the first to pop that cherry?

    Sorry, couldn't help it.

  3. What's missing: by Hoplite3 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Strange what small things they left off:
    * no microphone jack, so no voip
    * no extra usb jack, so no uploading pictures, printing, scanning, using a thumb drive, or loading your ipod

    Those things would have hardly added to the size or cost and would greatly increase the usability of this thing.

    Oh yeah, it'll be a pain to replace the "all firefox" interface with a more familiar linux desktop as you'll have to do the installation over the wire.

    But I think the small size and pared down power are not so bad. It could be cool ... one day.

    --
    Use the Firehose to mod down Second Life stories!
  4. iTunes? by MMC+Monster · · Score: 5, Funny

    They have a version of iTunes for a Debian system that never needs to be updated?

    I don't even think Apple has that yet!

    --
    Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
  5. OT: Asus B202 by drgould · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Isn't Asus suppose to be releasing their Asus Box B202 about now?

    • Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor
    • 1GB or 2GB of memory
    • 80-160GB hard drive
    • WiFi
    • Bluetooth
    • SD/MMC/MS memory card reader.
    • $269-$299
    • mid-July release date

    What's up with that?