Comments on: Telcos said testing plan to offer PCs to businesses

Call it the second coming of the network computer, if you like, but major telecommunications companies have set up pilot outsourcing programs where they would supply access to virtual computers.

[marvin25]

This is not surprising as the telecoms are required to spend billions of dollars to upgrade their systems not the last mile. They need something where they can make a better margin then just data stream which is all they have from the content providers. They also have to worry about companies moving to rural America where they have better broadband then the cities. This is provided by one ISP that is not cable or telecoms and doesn't use them for connection to the Internet. This means they try anything to keep them where they are and also make some more money. Right now they are losing all their business in rural America to this one ISP and they have make up for it some way.

[MTGrizzly]

I seem to remember way back in the old days, the PC was meant to free users from the autocratic control of a centralized computing model. Remember dumb terminals? Remember the disaster that was/were thin clients? [I used SGI's thin client, nice LCD screen, otherwise, what a mess.]

This is just another attempt to remove control from the desktops and put it back at the top. It disempowers individual users and empowers the telcos. Think about it, once the telco's have your data and have you dependent on their 'cloud computing' solutions, they can charge whatever they want. I mean what are you going to do about it? Has anyone ever seen a telco reduce prices? It doesn't happen.

Customer support on these 'dumb terminals' will be a nightmare. The Telco's will want to sell everything in a single package. This offer will be accepted by many, non-tech savvy customers who will do anything to not have to hire or pay in house tech support. Can you imagine having a problem with the dumb terminal in your business, that costs you money, and being told a tech will come by and fix it next Thursday between 1:00?4:00 PM? Then to be told they have to order something that will take weeks to arrive?

No offense to anyone who works for a telco, but large corporations cannot understand the problems small businesses have with IT. The telcos are used to dealing with things on a macro scale. This won't work for some storekeeper that has two employees and depends on a computer to make a living.

Oh, and what happened to all those 'thin client' solutions? Oh, yeah, you can buy them on eBay for about half-a-cent on the dollar...

[bdennis410]

Here's the bottom line; AnyThing, AnyTime, AnyWhere. (AAA)
What would be really interesting is if the telcos and cable AND wireless ( the "next" Internet), could design the AAA device and have hundreds of millions of displays of all types and sizes available whereever consumers and business go. Just log on and ..everything!
As far as a business model that has real legs, imagine true "Cloud Commuting."