Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the nifty-hardware dept.
Cpt_Kirks writes "The creator of the Sinclair[?] computers
in the UK is now working on a cheap, portable Linux
box." Nifty seeing this on wired with some comments about
the inventor himself.
My guess is that the best indicator for what this machine is likely to be like is another one of his computers - the Z88. This was an A4 slab with a decent sized keyboard and a teeny LCD (4 lines of 40 characters I think).
I bet it won't come with a modem, but it may have a PCMCIA slot so people can plug in their own. Or he might go the same route as the dreaded WinModem (ie do it in software) to keep down component costs.
I don't think we can make many guesses about clock speed or RAM size, but given how things move in this business I suppose you'd be looking at what is low to mid-range now, so maybe 64Mb RAM and something equivalent to a 300MHz Intel CPU (although obviously not an actual Intel CPU).
I also reckon we'll be looking at an embedded system where the OS and applications are in ROM - there may not even *be* a HD (damned big ROM, of course, which might make it too expensive). I'm thinking as much from a robustness and ease of use perspective as anything else (not that robustness has ever been a big feature of Sinclair kit).
Anyway... I'd have thought the OS will be a minimum install to keep footprint down.
Don't count on being able to do your own kernel upgrades - I doubt this is going to be a hackers' machine.
Windowing system? I'd assume so, but I wouldn't expect to be able to configure it much or to be able to install a window managaer or UI of your own choice.
If all this sounds a bit cynical then I apologise, but Sir Clive is a populariser of technologies rather than a run of the mill hardware vendor.
I'm still glad I bought an Acorn Atom rather than a Spectrum, though.
The guy who introduced the UK to personal computing is going to make a Linux box? I'll buy one:-)
Note to Sinclair fans: in my final year at university, I wrote an essay about Sinclair computers as part of my History of Computing course. It's on the Web at http://www.nysa.u-net.com/essay.html. The ending's a bit rubbish, 'coz I exceeded my word count, but you might want to give it a read anyway (shameless plug mode off).
Nice to see someone going the other direction
by
GauteL
·
· Score: 2
It all seems to be about power these days, but when you think about it, even a P2-300 is totally overkill for some tasks like word- processing, mail, etc... Now, there has always been sort of a minimum price of a computer.. So if you wanted to buy a lower spec computer, you had to buy second hand. Now, an incredible low cost computer running linux and incredibly cheap chips, could actually break this minimum amount, and offer simple tasks for the price of let's say a playstation. For some people, one machine for one task (writing), and another one for another (games) makes sense, because they are very specialized. I'm anxious to see what they can make of this.
Slashdot Mirror
Does anyone want to buy my Microdrive?
Ade_
/
Big Bubbles (no troubles) - what sucks, who sucks and you suck
He's a caution, that Sir Clive.
My guess is that the best indicator for what this machine is likely to be like is another one of his computers - the Z88. This was an A4 slab with a decent sized keyboard and a teeny LCD (4 lines of 40 characters I think).
I bet it won't come with a modem, but it may have a PCMCIA slot so people can plug in their own. Or he might go the same route as the dreaded WinModem (ie do it in software) to keep down component costs.
I don't think we can make many guesses about clock speed or RAM size, but given how things move in this business I suppose you'd be looking at what is low to mid-range now, so maybe 64Mb RAM and something equivalent to a 300MHz Intel CPU (although obviously not an actual Intel CPU).
I also reckon we'll be looking at an embedded system where the OS and applications are in ROM - there may not even *be* a HD (damned big ROM, of course, which might make it too expensive). I'm thinking as much from a robustness and ease of use perspective as anything else (not that robustness has ever been a big feature of Sinclair kit).
Anyway... I'd have thought the OS will be a minimum install to keep footprint down.
Don't count on being able to do your own kernel upgrades - I doubt this is going to be a hackers' machine.
Windowing system? I'd assume so, but I wouldn't expect to be able to configure it much or to be able to install a window managaer or UI of your own choice.
If all this sounds a bit cynical then I apologise, but Sir Clive is a populariser of technologies rather than a run of the mill hardware vendor.
I'm still glad I bought an Acorn Atom rather than a Spectrum, though.
Dunx
Converting caffeine into code since 1982
The guy who introduced the UK to personal computing is going to make a Linux box? I'll buy one :-)
Note to Sinclair fans: in my final year at university, I wrote an essay about Sinclair computers as part of my History of Computing course. It's on the Web at http://www.nysa.u-net.com/essay.html. The ending's a bit rubbish, 'coz I exceeded my word count, but you might want to give it a read anyway (shameless plug mode off).
It all seems to be about power these days, but
when you think about it, even a P2-300 is
totally overkill for some tasks like word-
processing, mail, etc...
Now, there has always been sort of a minimum
price of a computer.. So if you wanted to
buy a lower spec computer, you had to buy
second hand.
Now, an incredible low cost computer running linux
and incredibly cheap chips, could actually break
this minimum amount, and offer simple tasks for
the price of let's say a playstation.
For some people, one machine for one task (writing), and another one for another (games)
makes sense, because they are very specialized.
I'm anxious to see what they can make of this.