Comments on: The $100 box? It's already here

While Gates and Negroponte fire off at each other, CNET News.com's Charles Cooper finds a no-name upstart that's beaten both to market.

[happy62780]

Thin clients wont work!

The biggest flaw in this new system is the lack of wireless/satellite link-ups. That is the biggest advantage of the systems coming out later this year. We can't have 3rd worlders relying on each other to be able to hard-line into one another. nComputing doesnt stand a chance, they know it too, they are just getting a few bucks before the real competition starts.

[gthurman]

Thin clients won't work?

My check book size thin client has been working well for a year at highway speeds up to 80mph. A popular priced thin client will become the infrastructure, not the client, for a host of add-ons, much like the industry created by the iPod. 2/3 of the planet does not have cellular, but many could be advantaged by the Internet.

[happy62780]

Thin clients wont work!

The biggest flaw in this new system is the lack of wireless/satellite link-ups. That is the biggest advantage of the systems coming out later this year. We can't have 3rd worlders relying on each other to be able to hard-line into one another. nComputing doesnt stand a chance, they know it too, they are just getting a few bucks before the real competition starts.

[gthurman]

Thin clients won't work?

My check book size thin client has been working well for a year at highway speeds up to 80mph. A popular priced thin client will become the infrastructure, not the client, for a host of add-ons, much like the industry created by the iPod. 2/3 of the planet does not have cellular, but many could be advantaged by the Internet.

[jabbotts]

Let's hope for nCom if not the One Laptop Per project

Billy Gates continues to be a meglomaniac bent on convincing the world that his over priced and buggy products are what we all can't live without. He continues to be disgruntled by not being able to turn a profit getting third world countries hooked on winblows. These are facts anyone with more than a month of IT knowledge knows. Computer folk hate him, business folk think he's the second coming and IT service providers are just happy that his products mean repeat service calls to customers.

I say hope for nComputing of not the One Laptop per child. Basing an affordable computer on linux means giving kids the equivalent to a billion peices of lego to build what they will. They can play with the software set installed or mix and match programming code to build new things. If we can't provide opensource systems to them then at least get them understanding information with nComputing thin clients.

At least they can be free to learn without being limited by Redmond's bloated code designed to require major hardware overhauls with every version.

[jabbotts]

Let's hope for nCom if not the One Laptop Per project

Billy Gates continues to be a meglomaniac bent on convincing the world that his over priced and buggy products are what we all can't live without. He continues to be disgruntled by not being able to turn a profit getting third world countries hooked on winblows. These are facts anyone with more than a month of IT knowledge knows. Computer folk hate him, business folk think he's the second coming and IT service providers are just happy that his products mean repeat service calls to customers.

I say hope for nComputing of not the One Laptop per child. Basing an affordable computer on linux means giving kids the equivalent to a billion peices of lego to build what they will. They can play with the software set installed or mix and match programming code to build new things. If we can't provide opensource systems to them then at least get them understanding information with nComputing thin clients.

At least they can be free to learn without being limited by Redmond's bloated code designed to require major hardware overhauls with every version.

[strobhen]

Where's the monitor?

Where's the monitor?
The portability?
The ability to read in direct sunlight?
The ability to charge it in areas sans electricity?
What if the internet connection fails?
How do you set up a mesh network with it?
Does it even have wireless support?
If not, how will it support that village in the middle of Africa?
How will children carry it back and forth to school (one of the main points being reducing the cost & giving children access to higher quality textbooks)
Am I missing something? All I see are thin clients you can hook a monitor up to.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice that someone finally got the idea of what a thin client is supposed to be (rather than trying to sell a 3-500 dollar "thin" client)

But I don't see it as a replacement for a small hermetically sealed laptop designed to run just about anywhere, sans interent and electricity if necessary.

[irlandes]

Good point!

yeah, I thought that was pretty lame comparing that machine with one that will work where there is no electricity available.

It could be, however, the beginning of another view of computing, and in the long run, that could achieve the same result.

[strobhen]

Where's the monitor?

Where's the monitor?
The portability?
The ability to read in direct sunlight?
The ability to charge it in areas sans electricity?
What if the internet connection fails?
How do you set up a mesh network with it?
Does it even have wireless support?
If not, how will it support that village in the middle of Africa?
How will children carry it back and forth to school (one of the main points being reducing the cost & giving children access to higher quality textbooks)
Am I missing something? All I see are thin clients you can hook a monitor up to.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice that someone finally got the idea of what a thin client is supposed to be (rather than trying to sell a 3-500 dollar "thin" client)

But I don't see it as a replacement for a small hermetically sealed laptop designed to run just about anywhere, sans interent and electricity if necessary.

[irlandes]

Good point!

yeah, I thought that was pretty lame comparing that machine with one that will work where there is no electricity available.

It could be, however, the beginning of another view of computing, and in the long run, that could achieve the same result.

[Ben Li]

This is possible without thin clients

In the last four years, we've sold thousands of locally-connected workstations powered by multi-station PCs that don't require any proprietary hardware. Our hardware cost (USB keyboard, mouse, standard video card head, cables) is about $40 per additional station without the monitor, which is competetive with the nComputing product and much less expensive than the sealed laptops for fixed deployments.

Plug: http://openuserful.org, http://userful.com

[Ben Li]

This is possible without thin clients

In the last four years, we've sold thousands of locally-connected workstations powered by multi-station PCs that don't require any proprietary hardware. Our hardware cost (USB keyboard, mouse, standard video card head, cables) is about $40 per additional station without the monitor, which is competetive with the nComputing product and much less expensive than the sealed laptops for fixed deployments.

Plug: http://openuserful.org, http://userful.com

[pachycephalas]

Sounds like old dogs and new tricks

Back when hardware costs were higher and our charity could not afford PCs for everyone, I installed about ten units of BUDDY, a Win98 based system remarkably like nCom's.

It worked, but crashed a lot. The only problem was that it could not handle the demands of two users with all of Office 2000. Prior to Buddy there were several DOS-based (not Unix) systems using Wyse terminals and shared DOS software. It also crashed a lot.

My question is this: How reliable is this nCom setup? Its predecessors were choices that led to great frustration.

Another question: How does this option help those in the powerless bush lands?

[pachycephalas]

Sounds like old dogs and new tricks

Back when hardware costs were higher and our charity could not afford PCs for everyone, I installed about ten units of BUDDY, a Win98 based system remarkably like nCom's.

It worked, but crashed a lot. The only problem was that it could not handle the demands of two users with all of Office 2000. Prior to Buddy there were several DOS-based (not Unix) systems using Wyse terminals and shared DOS software. It also crashed a lot.

My question is this: How reliable is this nCom setup? Its predecessors were choices that led to great frustration.

Another question: How does this option help those in the powerless bush lands?

[romulo_perez]

Hundreds of School Districts have already purchased

Hundreds of school Districts have already purchased ncomputings this since the release of the x300s and it is working beautifully. Just think what saving 80% over buying a single user PC means to a school district. This product is already saving our country millions of educational dollars and this is just the beginning. This product may not work in 100% of all environments but how many things do. I Think is is more like 95% of all environemnts can use this technology successfully.

We have 3 GHZ servers with thousands of users hitting the hard drive and memory at once. Why is it a big deal to have a 3GHz Workstation service 4-7 students running office or Accelerated Reader? It only makes sense.

The bottom line is that it is saving the consumer 80% over buying a single user PC or laptop. If you could buy gasoline at 80% off at a local station the price of the gas would be 70 cents. You'd line up for days at that gas at that station. This is the same thing and works beautifully and it saves you 80% on educational technology purchases. These are dollars that our educational entities can use for other things beside filling the billionares pockets who really don't need the money.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

[romulo_perez]

Hundreds of School Districts have already purchased

Hundreds of school Districts have already purchased ncomputings this since the release of the x300s and it is working beautifully. Just think what saving 80% over buying a single user PC means to a school district. This product is already saving our country millions of educational dollars and this is just the beginning. This product may not work in 100% of all environments but how many things do. I Think is is more like 95% of all environemnts can use this technology successfully.

We have 3 GHZ servers with thousands of users hitting the hard drive and memory at once. Why is it a big deal to have a 3GHz Workstation service 4-7 students running office or Accelerated Reader? It only makes sense.

The bottom line is that it is saving the consumer 80% over buying a single user PC or laptop. If you could buy gasoline at 80% off at a local station the price of the gas would be 70 cents. You'd line up for days at that gas at that station. This is the same thing and works beautifully and it saves you 80% on educational technology purchases. These are dollars that our educational entities can use for other things beside filling the billionares pockets who really don't need the money.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

[romulo_perez]

Hundreds of School Districts have already purchased

Hundreds of school Districts have already purchased ncomputings X300 since its release. The x300s and it is working beautifully. Just think what saving 80% over buying a single user PC means to a school district. This product is already saving our country millions of educational dollars and this is just the beginning. This product may not work in 100% of all environments but how many things do. I Think is is more like 95% of all environemnts can use this technology successfully.

We have 3 GHZ servers with thousands of users hitting the hard drive and memory at once. Why is it a big deal to have a 3GHz Workstation service 4-7 students running office or Accelerated Reader? It only makes sense.

The bottom line is that it is saving the consumer 80% over buying a single user PC or laptop. If you could buy gasoline at 80% off at a local station the price of the gas would be 70 cents. You'd line up for days at that gas at that station. This is the same thing and works beautifully and it saves you 80% on educational technology purchases. These are dollars that our educational entities can use for other things beside filling the billionares pockets who really don't need the money.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

[romulo_perez]

Hundreds of School Districts have already purchased

Hundreds of school Districts have already purchased ncomputings X300 since its release. The x300s and it is working beautifully. Just think what saving 80% over buying a single user PC means to a school district. This product is already saving our country millions of educational dollars and this is just the beginning. This product may not work in 100% of all environments but how many things do. I Think is is more like 95% of all environemnts can use this technology successfully.

We have 3 GHZ servers with thousands of users hitting the hard drive and memory at once. Why is it a big deal to have a 3GHz Workstation service 4-7 students running office or Accelerated Reader? It only makes sense.

The bottom line is that it is saving the consumer 80% over buying a single user PC or laptop. If you could buy gasoline at 80% off at a local station the price of the gas would be 70 cents. You'd line up for days at that gas at that station. This is the same thing and works beautifully and it saves you 80% on educational technology purchases. These are dollars that our educational entities can use for other things beside filling the billionares pockets who really don't need the money.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

[romulo_perez]

Hundreds of School Districts have already purchased

Hundreds of school Districts have already purchased ncomputings X300 since its release and it is working beautifully. Just think what saving 80% over buying a single user PC means to a school district. This product is already saving our country millions of educational dollars and this is just the beginning. This product may not work in 100% of all environments but how many things do. I think is is more like 95% of all environemnts can use this technology successfully.

We have 3 GHZ servers with thousands of users hitting the hard drive and memory at once. Why is it a big deal to have a 3GHz Workstation service 4-7 students running office or Accelerated Reader? It only makes sense.

The bottom line is that it is saving the consumer 80% over buying a single user PC or laptop. If you could buy gasoline at 80% off at a local station, the price of the gas would be 70 cents. You'd line up for days at that gas station. This is the same thing and works beautifully and it saves you 80% on educational technology purchases. These are dollars that our educational entities can use for other things beside filling the billionares pockets who really don't need the money.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

[romulo_perez]

Hundreds of School Districts have already purchased

Hundreds of school Districts have already purchased ncomputings X300 since its release and it is working beautifully. Just think what saving 80% over buying a single user PC means to a school district. This product is already saving our country millions of educational dollars and this is just the beginning. This product may not work in 100% of all environments but how many things do. I think is is more like 95% of all environemnts can use this technology successfully.

We have 3 GHZ servers with thousands of users hitting the hard drive and memory at once. Why is it a big deal to have a 3GHz Workstation service 4-7 students running office or Accelerated Reader? It only makes sense.

The bottom line is that it is saving the consumer 80% over buying a single user PC or laptop. If you could buy gasoline at 80% off at a local station, the price of the gas would be 70 cents. You'd line up for days at that gas station. This is the same thing and works beautifully and it saves you 80% on educational technology purchases. These are dollars that our educational entities can use for other things beside filling the billionares pockets who really don't need the money.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.