From: Marshall Clow <mclow@owl.csusm.edu>
Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995 16:33:19 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Internet Terminals
Message-ID: <v03003d01ace034532775@[204.250.84.3]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Jim Choate sez:
>Forwarded message:
>
>> Subject: Re: The future will be easy to use
>> From: dlv@bwalk.dm.com (Dr. Dimitri Vulis)
>> Date: Mon, 27 Nov 95 21:28:05 EST
>>
>> One thing that David didn't mention is security add-ons to the "network
>> computers" that are supposed to be rolled out within the next few months --
>> the successors to X terminals, $500 boxes with a good screen/sound,
>> cheap cpu, and a few megs of ram and flash memory to hold a web browser.
>> I expect some folks to make a good living by writing add-ons (including
>> crypto add-ons) to these gizmos.
>>
>
>Don't hold your breath. The current market surveys say that there is no
>market for them. Check out this weeks PC Week or Mac Week, as they both
>have several articles discussing this. Bottem line is that the under $1000
>computer seems to have no future either in industry or the home.
>
I agree and disagree. ;-)

The "internet terminal", or "internet appliance", as it is sometimes called,
is IMHO, worthless. Would you write and send e-mail if you had no way of
archiving it? Would you use "net-quicken", if it required all your data to
be stored on a shared disk at Intuit? (There was an interview on NPR 11/17
where this was touted as "the next big thing"!)

On the other hand, I believe that a <$1000 computer would be a big seller.
>From a marketing point of view, there's just something about a price tag
with three digits left of the decimal point, even if they're all nines :-)
The tough part is making it usable, and making some money on it.
[ I've got this 386-40, with 1 MB RAM and a 40MB hd, see... ]


>Realisticaly, who in their right mind would buy a diskless workstation to
>connect to Internet?
>
No one.

>You certainly wouldn't do crypto on it because it has
>to boot from somewhere else and this leaves all kinds of security holes.
>
Actually, I think the plan is to boot from ROM.

>Anyone who bases their business on this technology won't have a business.
>
I agree.


-- Marshall

Marshall Clow	              Aladdin Systems
mclow@mailhost2.csusm.edu

"Eternal vigilance is the price of PostScript"
-- MacUser Jan 96 DTP and Graphics column