Network Computer: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:18, 19 February 2019

Revision as of 12:27, 19 February 2019

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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 | authorlink= | title=The essential guide to computing | year=2001 | publisher=Prentice Hall PTR | ___location=Upper Saddle River, NJ | isbn=0-13-019469-7 | page=13 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwrQsOW5SsQC&pg=PA398&dq=information+network+desktop+computer+IT+appliance+date:1970-2005#PPA398,M1 | accessdate=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 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 USAUS), 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.

==NC standards and drafts==