Network Computer: Difference between revisions

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{{for|the Sun Microsystems slogan|The Network is the Computer}}

{{Short description|Computer that depends on a computer network}}{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}{{Infobox Computer

{{More citations needed|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox Computer

| name = Network Computer

| developer = Oracle Corporation

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The failure of the NC to impact on the scale predicted by [[Larry Ellison]] may have been caused by a number of factors. Firstly, prices of PCs quickly fell below $1000, making the competition very hard. Secondly, the software available for NCs was neither mature nor open.<ref>{{Cite book | author=Walters, E. Garrison | title=The essential guide to computing | year=2001 | publisher=Prentice Hall PTR | ___location=Upper Saddle River, NJ | isbn=0-13-019469-7 | page=[https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto00walt/page/13 13] | url=https://archive.org/details/essentialguideto00walt | url-access=registration | quote=information network desktop computer IT appliance 1970-2005. | access-date=2008-05-06 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=December 2008}}

Thirdly, the idea could simply have been ahead of its time, as at the NC's launch in 1996, the typical home [[Internet]] connection was only a 28.8 &nbsp;kbit/s modem [[dialup]]. This was simply insufficient for the delivery of [[executable]] content. The [[World Wide Web]] itself was not considered mainstream until its breakout year, 1998. Prior to this, very few [[Internet service provider]]s advertised in mainstream press (at least outside of the US), and knowledge of the Internet was limited. This could have held back uptake of what would be seen as a very niche device with no (then) obvious appeal.

NCs ended up being used as the very 'dumb terminals' they were intended{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} to replace, as the [[proprietary software|proprietary]] backend infrastructure is not readily available.{{Clarify|date=May 2008}} 1990s era NCs are often network-booted into a minimal [[Unix]] with [[X Window System|X]], to serve as [[X terminal]]s. While NC purists may consider this to be a suboptimal use of NC hardware, the NCs work well as terminals, and are considerably cheaper than purpose-built terminal hardware.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

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