Information Appliances, Linux and Computers 142
This editorial
in Mac opinion discusses
the way Microsoft's competitors may attack Microsoft: making
computers irrelevant by replacing them with information appliances.
This could lead to an increase in computer prices -- economies
of scale no longer apply.>
You, too, huh? (Score:1)
One in every room.
Information appliance? No way! (Score:1)
It is far more likely that you will have a centralized computer with a bunch of specialized terminals strung up around the house. It is cheaper and easy to wire for, especially with 10Mb ethernet going through phone lines now.
This was Diba's plan, who I worked for as a visiting engineer out in Silicon Valley. They were bought by sun. Although you won't likely be watching TV on your computer you won't have a computer for every specialized task either. It simply isn't practical or cheap from the consumers point of view. We'll get something in between.
Appliances, not going to happen soon (Score:1)
Sure, "normal" computers will still be needed. And lots of them. But not for everyone.
This is just a case of the IT industry finally figuring out that a lot of people don't care if they can run program X on their box, they just want function Y, no matter what program deliver tbe features, and what the hardware specs are.
My grandmother don't dare touching a computer. But she would dare to use the internet, if she got a phone with a touch screen, with a web browser intergrated with a phone application, so it was just an extension of an appliance she is already familiar with.
can't happen. (Score:1)
Or for that matter, if your VCR doubled as a settop box, so you could access a menu of TV programs pulled from the net, and just choose the programs you want to tape from a menu. Or if you just can't remember where you've seen an actor before, and just push a button to bring up a web browser, enter the name on a search page, and voila.
Or you just tell your stereo to buy the newest MP3's from some cool artist, and burn it onto your brand new 18GB DVD that holds about a year of MP3's pr. plate.
How many phones does the average household have? VCR's? Radios? Stereos?
The point is that most appliances today need a CPU of some kind anyway, because of constantly expanded feature set. And because of the scale of economics, embedded CPU's aren't what they used to be: increasingly, they're just older versions of x86 CPU's etc.
The appliace market is commoditized to the extent where many of these appliance WILL have enough power to handle webbrowsing or information gathering of some sort. And there ARE features that will make it interesting, and WHEN people have multiple points from where to access the net (either via a web browser, or for specialized applications, such as my stereo example), they're far less likely to need a "real" computer - remember: A lot of people don't have a real computer yet, and many of those that do, use it only for a very limited set of functions, and would be a lot less likely to buy one if one of the primary functions weren't needed, because they could browse from their phone, for instance.
The key is perception (Score:1)
Example: PalmPilots also run fewer programs than Windows PCs. But they're growing legs and walking off store shelves anyhow. Of course, they're not sold as "general-purpose computers," they're sold as "personal digital assistants."
Example: WebTV boxes also run fewer programs than Windows PCs. But the various companies that make them (Sony, Philips/Magnavox, etc.) have still sold quite a few of them. Of course, they're not called "general-purpose computers" either; they're called "home Internet terminals."
If AOL/Netscape/Sun (the so-called "Alliance") were to create an Internet-access device, I can guarantee you that they won't call it a "computer" of any sort. If it happens to be upgradable (at additional cost, naturally) to the status of a general-purpose computer, then so much the better, but the base device won't be called a "computer."
Some of the video game consoles of the Eighties were like that, offering add-on components to turn them into home computers. Of course, they weren't really successful...but, given the awesome power of the PlayStation 2, Sony might be getting some ideas along this line. If they can turn a PSX2 into a general-purpose computer cleanly and cheaply (for, maybe, $100 or so over and above the cost of the standard PSX2), they could attract a lot of attention very quickly. Sony engineers reading this, take note :-).
But, again, the initial device wouldn't be called a "general-purpose computer," it'd be called a "video game console." And people wouldn't be buying it based on how well it performed as a computer, they'd buy it based on how well it performed as a game console. Similarly, if AOL/Netscape/Sun calls whatever box they may develop an "Internet access device," the public won't be comparing it to a Gateway or a Dell, they'll be comparing it to a WebTV. (Note to A/N/S: Find a good consumer electronics manufacturer to stick their nameplate on your box...that should help steer perceptions in the right direction.)
Special-purpose devices will only be perceived as "crippled" if the manufacturer lets them be perceived that way.
Eric
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Fastest Slashdot Ever? (Score:1)
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Of course, appliances run OS's as well. Who said Microsoft can't write MS Windows AP.
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Shaver Technology too? ;) (Score:1)
CAN happen. (Score:1)
Embedded Systems will rule the world (Score:1)
First off, I don't think that the proliferation of inexpensive NCs or other information appliances, and the subsequent decrease in numbers of "real" computers, will raise their price that much. It's Moore's law, more than economies of scale, that have made PCs so cheap. If the market shrinks, yes, prices might go up a bit, but (for a few years at least) the research and investment that drove the prices down is already sunk, and it will to a large extent continue.
Secondly, the market, and we as consumers, are pretty unforgiving. Under your scenario, no one could get away with trying to sell a Pentuim II PC for $5000. We would all remember back to when they cost $1500, and the manufacturers would know that we remember. Eventually, they'd concede, and they'd find a way to sell them for, say, $2500, and we'd agree to that price.
And so what if prices go up? I wouldn't really mind paying twice as much for my "hacker" PC if I knew the extra cost was subsidising low-end information appliances that give one more grade-school kid or grandmother access to the Internet.
You sound just like the mainframe jocks who felt threatened by the first PCs twenty years ago. Get off your high horse and realize that this next step, if it comes about, is just the continued democratization of technology. Those masses of people who are "too stupid" to keep up with future hold a lot more power than we do.
Read it, yesterday (Score:1)
Kiss apple goodbye.... and kiss Linux goodbye.
Think about it... if people are only buying AOL machines or Wintell macines you can say goodbye to the internet as we know it. AOL will pull into its shell like before and Microsoft will Innovate the web right out from underneath us. There wont be much of an internet left for Mac users or independent linux users...
not so funny is it...
Still I dont see this happening... Im not to worried about AOL trying to take over the world... I think they might try this (would be a good move on their part) but I dont think it would be so sucessfull that it could fragment the online world.
can't happen. (Score:1)
this is the difference... The _idea_ is to produce a bunch of extraordinarily simple apliances that do one thing realy well... the target market isnt people like you and me but rather people who dont currently own computers and, frankly, are afraid of them...
Im not sure if this will work the way everyone seems to want it to work (yea... like my microsoft toaster is gonna talk to my apple brand bred box to make me a bagel
Fastest Slashdot Ever? not really (Score:1)
It's far easier to forgive your enemy after you get even with him.
can't happen. (Score:1)
Adding to Altus's comments, not only are general-purpose things usually much more complicated than single-purpose things, but they tend not to do the job as well.
Why are knife and screwdriver makers still in business when there are Swiss army knives? How does Cisco stay alive when PCs running Linux or BSD can function as routers?
That's what JINI is for (Score:1)
Jini is Java-based technology for networking your appliances together. From their web site:
Jini connection technology makes computers and devices able to quickly form impromptu systems unified by a network. Such a system is a federation of devices, including computers, that are simply connected. Within a federation, devices are instant on--no one needs to install them. The network is resilient--you simply disconnect devices when you don't need them.
And since it's Java-based, it can already work with personal computers, and it doesn't need anything from Microsoft.
--
Timur Tabi
Remove "nospam_" from email address
don't worry, steve... (Score:1)
JINI...NOT YET (Score:1)
It's nowhere near ready for anything at this level yet and won't be for a long time.
I don't buy into it.. (Score:1)
Besides, doesn't anyone remember that the third party in this merger is Sun? Who's to say that Sun wont develop a consumer version of the Corona (a kickass $500 semi X-term) and push that as their appliance?
IMMINENT DEATH OF THE PC PREDICTED. (Score:1)
I've been hearing this for months now: The home PC is going to be replaced by an internet device by the phone, a TV/game system in the living room, and a word processing device in the study. Guess what: it ain't gonna happen. The computer revolutionized America, and then the world because of one quality: its versatility.
Gee, didn't coal power revolutionize 19th century England too? By yor same logic, I suppose we'd be still burning coal to heat our homes today.
:P - nuh
Just Because NCs haven't taken over yet.... (Score:1)
There has to be at least half a dozen comments in this thread saying that the Net PC already hasn't worked out yet, therefore the idea was bad. Just becuase we're not overrun with them now, doesn't mean that they've already failed.
In fact, we can already see the signs of set-top internet boxes and network computers already. Of course, there's the tried and true WebTV, a perfect example of a set-top box, but there are others. Alcatel is currently about to ship (in the next couple of months) a phone w/ a color LCD screen for e-mail and web surfing, and I believe that it runs Java! They're not the only company doing this, but theirs looks the best so far.
Hell, even iMac is a step in the NC direction, although it is obviously still a PC, you can't deny where Apple is going with its design.
If anything, the idea for an internet box is still well and alive, and I think we'll simpy be seeing more of them as time passes.
Shut your mouth, and open your mind (Score:1)
Why the hell should we want to upgrade if the "information appliance" already does its job without a hitch?
When was the last time, you got a new hard disk for your VCR? People rarely upgrade their TV's RAM. God forbid that I'll have to put a new processor into my NES.
Upgrading is the most antiquated, un-userfriendly, legacy from the IBM PC architecture (sorry boys, it sucks). What makes "inforamtion appliances" interesting is that they (in theory) are meant to work. Just work. No hassling around with 30 different kinds of serial, COM, USB, parallel, SCSI, ADB, etc ports. You plug the IA (information appliance) into the electrical plug, then plug in your netwokring cable, and that's it! Hell, if Firewire becomes as big as I think it might, you'll only have to plug in ONE stinking cable!!
Gee, I guess since the NC, IA, whatever you wanna call it hasn't exploded in popularity in the 2-3 years since its concept has been popularized, I suppose that means that it is already done for.
Geez, get a clue.
can't happen. (Score:1)
The reason Info. appliances will overtake PCs, eventually, is that they are *easier* for the ignorant masses to use. Much can be said about a PC's power and flexibility, but not ease of use.... not for a first-time user. *Especially* not with MS "leading" the way
Nuff' said!
Cheers,
- Hawkeye
The masses aren't ignorant. Each person simply (Score:1)
A hostile reaction from you is not what I need or
deserve. I was simply making a point that computers are not, nor ever have been as easy to
use as "marketeers" would want you to believe...
As far as the "you can't change the world" comment I don't know what to say, except that if *all* were like you, nothing would ever change for the
better.
One last thing!! If you expect me to take you
seriously, why not grow some balls and post under
your *own* name or 'net alias, at least!!!!
Why do I need to change myself? My comment wasn't
blasting any particular group, but there are a *lot* of computer neophytes out there... And I'm sorry to point this out to you, but there are definitely some truly ignorant "no-ops" out there!!! If you can't see it, you probably lean towards being one of them
- Hawkeye
You already have appliances on your desk (Score:1)
Makes me think of the old canon notebook with an inkjet printer built in...
Truthfully, I wouldn't buy a box that did copy/fax/scanner/answering machine, as it makes it much more expensive to upgrade, or replace when it breaks...
Then again, I'm strange enough to have a 12 port thick ethernet repeater.
it's an appliance!, it's an NC!, it's... (Score:1)
But what if you only have a limited space and limited needs? Hmmmm, that iMac begins to look pretty good and the first two versions were pretty expandable. Too bad they dumbed 'em down even further
well
We've heard this all before. (Score:1)
WebTV was supposed to make computers irrelevant for web browsing. Guess what. Can't easily upgrade, and you're locked in on your choices.
The thin client was supposed to replace the computer (sorry Larry). Again. Can't upgrade easily and if it's down, you cannot access anything to do work locally.
Now "information appliances" are going to replace the computer. Guess what. SAME SHIT DIFFERENT DAY!
I apologize for the use of profanity. But the saying applies better than just about anything else in this case.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Embedded Systems will rule the world (Score:1)
My first reaction is denial; I could not live without a computer to hack around with. But, on the other hand, this is very true. I am a 17 year old student who spends more time on the phone line doing tech support to Joe's who don't know a CDrom from a ps/2 port.
Anyways, I believe that in reality this is the most accurate pridiction you could make about the future. I'm sure glade I am a hacker an will most likely end up building these things with my knowledge in the future; atleast I have this to fall on.
That, and these devices will be networked, according to all pridictions. I guess I will have to flex my tcp/ip knowledge also to make sure my coffee and toast are ready at the same point.
You already have appliances on your desk (Score:1)
Would you buy one unit that had cpu, monitor, and printer all in one box? Even Apple's iMac doesn't go that far. Now add copy machine, scanner, phone answering machine...
Wouldn't it be nice to have all those appliances connected by a Jini network?
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Unix is to Windows as appliances are to jumbomatic (Score:1)
Now add the Unix pipe and you've got something interesting. Tell the breadmaker it's got X ingredients and it should make bread for 6pm; tell the coffeemaker to have coffee ready at the same time; tell the oven ditto, and ditto for the microwave. Well, not quite a pipeline, but you couldn't do that with one jumbo appliance.
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Well, it could happen... (Score:1)
Think about it. The #1 argument you heard in, say, 1989 for buying a DOS PC over an Apple II was that the PC ran more programs. The #1 argument you hear in 1999 for buying a Windows PC over a Mac is that it runs more programs. And a limited-power device like the Netscape-Linux IA the column talks about will slam into the same wall -- it's less useful than a PC.
Computers are programmed general-purpose information devices. A programmed limited-purpose iformation device will always be percieved as crippled.
I think this is a stupid idea. (Score:1)
On rellated note. I'm not surprized to hear this from AppleHeads. For a long time this was their main drive to turn computer into appliance (note pad, sketch pad
I have a better idea for appliance. Hou about box with alpha chpip for under $1000?
Cheers
Toaster Technology! (Score:1)
toasters@mathworks.com. does. Net Apps seem to be about spending a lot of money, fretting over the fruits of that cash (cache?), and endlessly, well, fucking with the parameters for this box that was advertised as simplified storage management*. *I may be poisoned, but I have yet to see a network-beast (aside from Cisco) that actually was what it was advertised to be. Netapp, etc. are not there yet (autonegotiating on standard hubs would be a start). My Filer 720 still spews NFS errors whenever I ask it to copy more than a few K. I suspect that's because I can't make it behave like the other Solaris box accessing it; which does so over a crossover cable. Go figure. I guess my next storage device is a Sun server with RAID. At least that works. Wait, it is cheaper, too. I can hope, tho. Some day, this netapp box will cease to be a lame ass bottleneck. I just hope I'm not dead then. Oh, yeah - slashdot nanotech will be there by then. Sorry. -j
um...look carefully...april fools! (Score:1)
TOYS, industry need them desperately!! (Score:1)
All those big money made at NASDAQ needs to be put in something investors (Idiots in suit) feels like the cutting edge of tech. So anything that combines this words would do it fine in pushing company XXX stock's up:
-Internet
-Computer
-Web
-Miniature
-Network
-$399,99
So now, invent your prefered appliance and patent it, then go to some tech company and became rich. As simple as that...
can't happen. (Score:1)
Why buy an OS and a bunch of expensive add-ons if you have a free OS and a bunch of free utilities that do the same thing? Because that other OS, the one that costs money, has a huge marketing department and name recognition behind it.
Sure, my information appliances manage to burn bread, but that will be fixed in the next release, no not service pack, a costly upgrade. Who cares if you can add your oven to the fridge-and-dishwasher network by rolling your own code or downloading someone elses? We have a support staff behind our $400 oven-add-on, and for only $100/hour we'll get you up and running.
For the average consumer, marketing sells. I thought M$ taught us this? Luckily Linux is getting some press, and people are realizing what it means to have a community working on an open project and contributing their time to a worthy cause, that of the common good. Isn't that what America is supposed to be about?
It may as well happen (Score:1)
I would not buy a browser machine(or a WebTV). But I would certanly take a computer for free with Linux on it. Such a configuration would be an appliance for the less technical user, but it would still be a complete computer.
On the other hand, the "incomplete machine" argument makes less and less sense as the hardware prices go down. Twenty years ago, the idea of a "text processing" machine failed because it would be too expensive for the end user. I am not sure if this idea wouldn't sell a lot today.
And it makes a lot of sense to AOL. They not only hurt Microsoft, they also lock their audience in "their" Internet.
Not home networks but global (Score:1)
But we're definitely seeing the trend from mainframe to PC continuing from PC to invisible infrastructure.
Consider this: A thin Java console lives in an embedded system built into your kitchen counter, perhaps on the microwave console or the fridge door. It maintains the shopping lists and contents of your cupboards. It makes a list at the end of the week, and as you walk out the door, it sends it to your PDA.
As you shop and put things into your cart, the PDA reads the isle and item you are near (little electronic price tags on shelves - passively powered by an emitter in your cart) and cross-references your calendar to check for dinner dates, special occasions, and the dietary preferences and allergies of the people involved. It makes suggestions and issues warnings. "Your father is coming for his birthday dinner monday - likes porkchops, but is allergic to scallops".
When you check out, the payment is made electronically of course. Maybe we don't even need a clerk - only a bagger. And here's my favorite part... Those little 'invasion of privacy' discount cards that Stop&Shop has are actually useful. What you buy, and the rate at which you consume it is in your system (currently in PDA). You know what you're low on, and what you bought comes off the shopping list as you restock.
That's for shopping. At home, there's more transparent logic.
If you have a single can of cranberry sauce, in April, it doesn't hassle you for more. If it's late November, it'll remind you to get more. If you have a Jewish friend who is coming over, the system will pull a recipe, based on the contents of your fridge and cupboard, for something Kosher. Or you have a vegeratian friend. This thing should know your friends, your habits, their habits... It should be global, not personal or domestic.
When the dinner date is made (to extend the context) the backchannel of the conversation exchanges schedules and dining preference. As you become more familiar with someone, you release more and more pertinent information. If you're close friends, you share vacation schedules, cultural and entertainment habits, and medical histories, just in case.
Let's go a little further: Your car fails to start in the morning. An email is automatically sent to your mechanic and an appointment is made in cross ref to their shop schedule. An email is dispatched to work informing them when you'll be in and why you're late (authenticated so they know you're not cutting out to see Phantom Menace) and you either go back to bed for a few hours, or by the time you walk back in from the garage, your PC is online and logged into work. You're telecommuting today.
Wanna go on a trip? Hmm, 3rd week in August looks good. You make the personal arrangement with the spouse and inform the PC. Guess what? By lunch time, a flight, hotel and itinerary are all booked, according to your defined specs for cost, convenience and personal quirks.. And you know what? Since you've got an allergy to papaya, that's not on the menu. And it's only April.
It's a nice dream. But it's not unrealistic. ATMs are pretty ubiquitous at this point, and computer technology is disappearing fast into the infrastructure. What we're looking at is a future of distributed systems and intelligent agents that will facilitate our lives by taking the mundane details off of our minds. The same way that the car and highway made travel plans easier to make. The same way that the telephone reduced interpersonal communication from the artform and drudgery of ink to a completely thoughtless act.
Alfred North Whitehead said that:
It is a profundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy-books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are like calvary charges in a battle -- they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments.
Multipurpose/Composite appliances (Score:1)
You get a printer/scanner/fax/copier and you think you're getting a great deal. But, you're not really getting the functionality you want. The lesser models require that they be connected to a running computer to send and receive a fax, many need to go thru the PC to send a fax or make a copy, because these features depend on the scanner, for which the driver is on the PC.
This is like requiring the oven appliance to heat up before making toast.
And if a component dies, guess what? You're S.O.L. until it gets shipped back to you, post repair. (I can't wait 4 to 6 weeks to print something...) Bad mojo.
Now, software is different, but I still have my doubts about the PC. Personally, I think that the storage vs memory vs display vs multimedia are all separate components - that happen to be in a single box. I can upgrade, replace and tweak any and all of them.
The era of the PC as a multipurpose device came (and went) with things like the Mac (who sanctioned the original article for this thread) and 'closed' PCs like Packard Bell...
These companies cater to people whose head hurts from the complexity of a separate case and monitor.
Me, I'll keep my AGP, external drives, hot-swap PC cards (why didn't these even make it on the desktop?) and fsck the case.
Apple Newton vs Palm Pilot (Score:1)
The NC was an instance of a concept. Now we wait for somoene to make one that actually works.
Maybe 3Com?
Aint gonna happen (Score:1)
There's your example for the "appliances". No assumption that you have other appliances to handle otherfunctions for you.
You wont pay it but others will. Furthermore the single purpose-built multi-function appliance will always have a buyer becasue of ease of use.
If Sony were to put Linux+PPP+Netscape on a PSX cd and give it to everyone with their Playstation 2 for free along with 30 days of Sony Online, How is that not attractive to your average PC user. Sure, there's no MS Office (Who really uses it at home anyway?) but there's plenty of Internet and 3d games, and the machine has a life span of a few years rather than a few months. What you want and what people can sell do not always collide.
Toaster Technology! (Score:1)
Use common sense. (Score:1)
There are a lot of good reasons but I think the biggest one is Concurrancy. This allows one person to do multiple things at once or multiple people to do many different things. It means that I can enter information into my palm pilot at the same time I am talking on my Cell phone. Having both functions in a single device is a compromise. It means that I can play video games while my wife shops for our next vaction on travelocity while keeping an eye on the TV for futurama to get back from commercial.
Compactness is another issue. Even if being able to use a PalmIII and a cellphone at the same time weren't an issue, having the two integrated means than when I just have a cellphone I still have something as big as a palmIII because it has to be big enough for the screen.
Even so, given the right set of compromises, I think we will see multifunction appliances such as a DVD-player/cable-box/Internet access/video game/video recorder. A home could probably have two or three of these hooked up to HDTV sets and it would provide for the entire households information and entertainment needs at a reasonable level of concurrancy.
don't worry, steve... (Score:1)
*Does* happen (Score:1)
You you could make something, a stupid fast reliable cheap email client, I'm sure that would take off too, expecially since it is just text. Why would someone use that? It's convenient to store and send messages, especially at a reasonable cost. If it's slightly more expensive, and has the capability to do Java and web browsing, I'm sure many would be satisfied with it, and not want a whole PC.
On the other extreme, you can have a game/entertainment device, like a game console... Think the PSX2, with DVD, CD, PSX1, PSX2 support.
Why would someone want something as clunky, difficult, and ornery as a PC?
On the other hand, it's very powerful, flexible, and programmable, though these features cause it to be clunky sometimes, difficult, and hard to use.
AS
It may as well happen (Score:1)
Is a PalmPilot not an incomplete computer?
Why is it so popular then?
So apply some of the same principles that drive the 'Pilot:
Efficiency, effectiveness, ease of use.
Apply these concepts to other devices...
A home entertainment device(gasp!) like the PSX2, which will handle DVDs(movies too, I hope), CD music, PSX1 games, and light computation situations with a USB mouse and keyboard.
It's just so much simpler to deal with a console today than with the standard PC; buy a game, plug it in, turn it on, and play.
With a PC, config files need to be messed with, optimizations for different hardware might be necessary, new drivers and updated software may be required...
Imagine a machine similar in concept to a PSX2 or other console but applied to the internet, or to communications, or to multiplayer/single player gaming... Take the basic components of the PC, and distill it into each device such that there is nothing more complicated that turning it on, waiting a few seconds for bootup, and then using it! There should never be re-configuration for each device, ever, other than perhaps user taste.
AS
Disagree (Score:1)
The multifunction device isn't specific *enough*, though it can probably function fine.
Why buy a PalmPilot when you can lug around a notebook PC or Mac? The PalmPilot is an example of a targeted device, relatively inexpensive, *efficient*, effective, and simple. For the same reason, why do people buy consoles to play games when they could have a PC? You don't deal with the hassles(which are also freedoms) of a multi-function device in a targeted machine.
Perhaps another example; the upcoming PSX2 is a multi-function device, with DVD, PSX1 game, PSX2 game, and CD music device. However, it is also a very specific targeted machine; entertainment. Unlike getting a PC, with DVD decoder, 3d graphics accelerator, 3d sound acceleration, USB joysticks and gamepads, copious amounts of memory and disc space, you get a compact effective efficient device for about half to a third of the cost.
It can't do nearly as much, but it chooses to do a specific subset well. It may also be able to do web browsing and a few other minor things, because it can, but it's value is efficiency. Plug it in, turn it on, pop in CD/DVD, and play.
No need for autoexecs, new drivers, new bios updates, new perhipherals devices...
Likewise, if someone just wants to listen to mp3s, browse the web, write email, ICQ, IRC, perhaps internet voice phone, and internet video phone, a 300$ device to hook up to a TV, or a reasonable 15" monitor seems very apt. Why bother with the muscle (and flexibiltiy/headache) of a more powerful machine?
You may not, but the average user who doesn't do *more* would appreciate the simplicity and effectiveness of such a targeted solution.
Likewise, a gaming PC, to compete perhaps with the PSX2 or its ilk, could also evolve. Nice large 17" monitor, AGP4x video card with dedicated floating point on board geometry processor and multiple rendering pipelines, a good 3d sound card, perhaps ethernet for networking, a minimal WinOS or LinOS or MacOS, with some processor equivalent to a Celeron 300, would do well. Games would not rely on the CPU for performance, but on the 3d sound system to do the sound processing and the 3d graphics system for the drawing and transforms and floating point. The CPU would just be there for AI and minor contention stuff, physics, etc.
You could probably build the above system for about 400$, comparable to the PSX2, for a bit more flexibility. Notice the lack of a hard drive? Why bother? Perhaps a cheap minimal EIDE 1 gig, or whatever the min standard would be...
The games would be self contained on CDs or something, and the memory would not be burdened by an overbloated OS...
AS
Well, why not? (Score:1)
Would you argue that these this niche would be better served with notebook PCs, and that everyone who bought one was scammed or something?
Or even console gaming systems? Would you argue they aren't entertainment 'appliances' that would be better replaced with a full PC and 3d graphics and sound, with associated headache?
What about Sony's planned PSX2; on paper, it seems like an entertainment 'appliance', with DVD movie support(hopefully), PSX2 game support, PSX1 game support, CD music support, and additional functionality availble through USB and FireWire ports. It may have the option of email and web browsing, with the addition of a keyboard, mouse, and a bootable CD of, say, Linux...
What is an HP programmable scientific calculator if not a calculation and scientific 'appliance'? It's a bastard of a computer, but has enough power and functionality to play small games, do some serious calculation, graphing, etc. It's an example of a specific function that a full computer can easily do, boiled down to a handheld, instant on, instant use device.
Just because the PC is popular/powerful/programmable doesn't make it the best solution for anything/everything. It can do anything/everything... but not necessarily conveniently, effectively, or effeciently.
AS
Dichotomy in the posts... (Score:1)
The thought that PCs might get supplanted by simpler devices...
My thoughts on this tend towards some analogies; PalmPilots as simple devices that relieve some of the need for a notebook, portable, or handheld PC, for note taking, PIM, scheduling, etc.
Or a handheld programmable calculator, like an HP, replacing a notebook etc for computational purposes.
Each one is a dedicated device; one a dedicated information management device, the other a dedicated calculation machine. Each is fairly programmable and generic, but still simple and effective.
Another example is a console system as a dedicated gaming machine, like SNESes, Genesi, and PSXs of old.
The multifunction route, another angle that is popping up, seems to say that the PC is too complicated, and that a simpler machine, but similar to the HP calc or PalmPilot in being a computational device would succeed. The PSX2 is an example I think fits the bill perfectly.
A dedicated entertainment device; CDs, DVDs, games, and perhaps even the odd email or web browsing experience, with a USB keyboard, mouse, and modem.
Or a dedicated internet device would work too, with hardware accelerated Java, a browser, some telnet functionality, email, perhaps mp3 support and speakers for streaming music or listening to music locally, etc.
Why would a household who does not take advantage of the programmability of a PC want the full power, cost, maintanence, and hassle of said programmability?
AS
Sure we do... (Score:1)
Or game consoles instead of PCs for games... It's been happening for years, and if Sony's PSX2 is as cool as it looks on paper, perhaps even more of a shift towards a dedicated entertainment device over a general purpose (flexible yet full of headaches) PC.
It's just a prediction that simpler easier to use devices will replace PCs for a bunch of functionality in which new users don't want/need the hassle/freedom/flexibility of a PC.
Why use a handheld calculator even when you could use a notebook PC with Excel?
Why use a wristwatch with time/date functionality when you could lug around a handheld calculator, or even a notebook PC?
Why use a remote control for your TV/VCR when you could reprogram/rewire your HP scientific calculator to do so?
Perhaps my examples are extreme, but they're so obvious that I think most people miss the fact that it does in fact happen.
AS
Yea, and Network Computers will take off any day n (Score:1)
It's been said before, and nothing came out of it. PC's are getting cheaper and more popular. The only thing that can hamper MS's hold on them is their reluctance to lower the price of Windows.
Most predictions are not going to happen normally. (Score:1)
But as least we know, it seldom happens that nearly the everybody wants the exact same stuff. So even there're different information appliances, some of us may still want personal computers to do the jobs. Even sardines come in different brand names. In that era, no single manufacturer earns huge economic profits. That's a good thing.
In other words, as long as a company that can identify certain customers' wants, they can survive. This editorial writer just doesn't feel good when Apple's customers are not large enough to dominate the part they are good at, and this writer is scared that Apple will again leave the path of satifying the customers' needs. As long as Apple moves in pace of the market, that would be fine. And it seems that Apple is not doing too bad now.
Embedded Systems will rule the world (Score:1)
Doesn't anyone else remember what it was like in 1986, with VIC-20s available for $99, but to get any real computer power one had to pay upwards of $5000. A horrible time for anyone who loved power and didn't have the cashflow to afford it.
Compare that to the situation we're in today. A fairly awesome computer can be had for $1500, and a respectable one for $1000. This is nice, this is what makes it so someone like me (student, and no rich folks either) can afford the power needed by compilers and the power needed by unices (and the power needed by Quake, but I probably shouldn't mention that
If we had things the dangerous network appliance way, there would be whole generations of people who could be power users and discover the world but can only afford brain-damaged $200 NA's because real computers are $5000 again. There would also be whole generations of people who never new any of the power of creation -- from the little stuff like a HTML doc or a Visual Basic program to the big stuff like installing Debian or compiling the 10k line C program they've been working on. This would be a horrible future for anyone. The internet would become effectively as read-only as television, and likely just as vacuous.
So the way I see it, we as the power users have a duty to stop the spread of NA's as fast and soon as we can. They must appear ugly and innefectual and a bad idea, and they must dissapear into the past of computing fads faster than the touch screen. We need to keep Moore's law going as hard and fast as it possibly can, and advance the future *despite* of people too stupid to keep up with it.
Embedded Systems will rule the world (Score:1)
>to buy our PCs at ridiculously low prices. We'll
>actually have to use our PCs for five years
>instead of trading up every eighteen months.
This is way less OK than you seem to think it is. First of all, fewer people outgrowing their PCs means fewer used PCs in the marketplace, and therefore used PCs go way up in price too. That means poor power users (read: myself) will have a harder time of getting any power. This is bad for both me and the two million or so other students and assd other poor folk just like myself. Once again, remember the eighties, where a power user HAD TO BE either rich or in a university to even be power users. Otherwise they were wannabes with super-keen C-64s. I was poor, so I was a wannabe. I don't want to see this come back, even if I do get rich with my CS degree
>If the market shrinks, yes, prices might go up a
>bit, but (for a few years at least) the research
>and investment that drove the prices down is
>already sunk, and it will to a large extent
>continue.
Key words: for a few years at least. After that, after the market at large has forgotten that cheap power once existed, and their brains have been destroyed by the non-interactivity of NCs, then the gouging will begin. Two things will happen: PCs will go up a great deal in price, and their respective price/power ratio will go into the toilet. There's no way around it, if there are only, say, one million power users in the US willing to pay for studly machinery, said machinery will be darned expensive and much less research will go into it. Not to mention that the manufacturers will start to just make crap, because there's not enough market for there to be competition.
>I wouldn't really mind paying twice as much for
>my "hacker" PC if I knew the extra cost was
>subsidising low-end information appliances that
>give one more grade-school kid or grandmother
>access to the Internet.
That means that you're more than likely rich. More power to you, I'm all about capitalism, but don't let it cloud your judgement on the issue at hand. Grandmothers have access to libraries, which can buy real, high tech PCs. They also have the cashflow from retirement benifits, in many cases, to buy themselves a PC if they really want to. Those kids that you mention, what would you rather they be able to do: use their NCs from home, comprehending but never creating; or use real PCs at school, being able to do anything and everything available in the infosphere from them?
I know if I were still in school, I would take the latter any time. But then, I would know what I was missing. If we let NCs proliferate, than nobody will know that all of that pretty WWW that they see on their AOL machines had to be crafted, had to be built and loved by someone. Those people will all just see it like TV, pretty pictures to watch interspersed with the occasional ads. What a waste of that which made so many people better thinkers in the mid to late 1990s.
>Get off your high horse and realize that this
>next step, if it comes about, is just the
>continued democratization of technology.
Wrong. Dead wrong. MY way is about the democratization of technology, the NC way is about the democratization of crap.
If we continue down the path of power on the desktops of the people, than eventually we will have really slick, nice computers (slicker than the ones we have now) available for $500 or less. This won't just be non-interactive "appliances" in the hands of the people, this will be true creative power, and it will be good. If we let Moore's law continue at the speed it is at now, just immagine what will be available to THE COMMON PEOPLE (read: not just us hackers) in the year 2005. There will be speeds on everyone's desk almost as fast as mainframes are today. That is true democritization of technology, giving everyone access to raw, unadulterated, shocking power.
Of course if NCs take over tomorrow, nobody will care that they could have had power in five years for the same price. That's the way people are, if they're not educated about the possibilities, then 90% of them will stick with what they have and what they know. In 2005 we could see the same pretty translucent blue NC on the desk of everybody in the world, and still have to know that if they had waited just a little bit longer, just a matter of four years or so, they could have been almost infinitely better off, for the same price.
Could you live with yourself and your proselyzation (sp?) of NC technology? If so, how?
What's worse... (Score:1)
Scary joke.
--Corey
Shaver Technology too? ;) (Score:1)
---
Tim Wilde
Sysadmin, Dynamic DNS Network Services
Appliances, not going to happen soon (Score:1)
The Ford Mustang is probably not a good example. A lot of non car people own them just for the name. The people that bought the shitty 80's 4 cylinder ones come to mind. Most people that buy Mustangs now buy the V-6 version than the V-8. My 1983 Toyota Supra is faster than it even!
The lesson: buy foreign cars.
Ok, I'm done ranting now.
can't happen. (Score:1)
Apple doesn't sell cheap computers (Score:1)
"D-Fly" says:
Which is all quite interesting, except that Apple doesn't sell cheap computers. Yeah, they have their iMac, but people buying $999 iMacs aren't buying them because they're cheap -- there are too many $499 Wintel machines for that to be a consideration. No, people buying Macs are buying them because they want to have a Mac, for whatever reason, and they're willing to pay more for it. Getting rid of the low-end of the market, if it happens, hurts Microsoft a lot more than Apple.
99.9% of us need no OS at all (Score:1)
Another problem with the article (Score:1)
It's a UNIX server anyway.
Appliances, not going to happen soon (Score:1)
[snip]
I think the key here is personal computing. Remember the article gave the example of the Ford Pinto? Consider how many americans own Toyota Camrys (easily considered an appliance) versus how many own Ford Mustangs (a fast car with a powerful engine).
Yes, people will always need multipurpose, powerful workstations, but most of those people will be us, the enthusiast Mustang owners, the hackers who appreciate and need to use such machines.
OTOH, maybe you're right...look at the F-150: a powerful, multipurpose machine, and the bestselling motor vehicle in america. Hard to say, I suppose, after all.
Embedded Systems will rule the world (Score:1)
I would think that new providers that provide for the more advanced people would pop up. That gives you access to a compiler for example.
Power users wil still get their power. One way or the other.
As for newbies. They'll still be recruited, maybe more by other hackers than my themselfes.
details (Score:1)
details (Score:1)
NO (Score:1)
let's see, we have free web-based email, calendar, contact management, games, maps, auctions, software downloads, email lists, fax, file storage, photo services, translation software, messaging, chat.....
sounds like the network computer just MIGHT work to me.
JINI...NOT YET (Score:1)
Another problem with the article (Score:1)
Yo!
Another problem with the article (Score:1)
Connected to macopinion.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
FreeBSD (noldo.pair.com) (ttyp4)
login:
A Solution (Score:1)
If you think that's bad... (Score:1)
Swiss army knives!? (Score:1)
> I am Swiss, and
soldier). I am punctually amused to view how much people can't resist such a play-thing
have received in the army (the simplest!
can still use with one hand, was
spread emergency-rations of *pate'* on bread slices. (To cut bread one already needed to take some care for
not chopping his fingers too.)
Swiss chocolate: this is something!
can't happen. (Score:1)
Business appliances (Score:1)
The appliance concept does make much more sense for business/home-office tasks.
These are single-purpose boxes, which make good appliances. General-purpose information appliances don't do very well. Eventually, they can't be general-purpose, because their hardware can't handle future general-purpose tasks very well.
We're starting to see business appliances which act as webservers, file servers, routers, gateways, etc. Single-purpose devices which can be hung off a network as needed. Sure, they're more expensive than using a multi-purpose Linux PC, but they're more convenient.
Another problem with the article (Score:1)
Wouldn't that be... nice?? (Score:1)
How long will it be before we're incapable of doing any simple task on our own? Sure, you can use a bread machine to make bread, but what if for some reason, your bread machine crashes?
On the note of the idea of a programmable toaster.. do you think you could program it to hop into the tub with your spouse if you wanted to bump him/her off??
What about the Grandparents.... (Score:1)
And it would have to be better than WebTV.
Remember IBM's PCjr? (Score:1)
I guess people have more diverse uses for computers than many marketing weenies believe.
I might buy a dedicated "instant on" web surfing device *as well as* a full blown PC, though!
Appliances are here! (Score:1)
black boxes containing Intel chips and memory
and an unlisted operating system (could it be
Linux?). Following are the prices from CDW:
1. eMail Station, $677.42. LAN and Internet
e-mail domain server for small business.
No monitor, no keyboard -- log in from any
browser to configure.
2. ISDN router, $398.64. Shared Internet access
for a small business from one ISDN line.
This is not an ad for Intel, but it shows how
anyone can build black boxes with a preconfigured
version of Linux set up for a few simple tasks.
IMMINENT DEATH OF THE PC PREDICTED. (Score:1)
Appliances, not going to happen soon (Score:1)
Embedded Systems will rule the world (Score:2)
This talk made a big impression on me, and it's one of the reasons I now specialize in embedded systems. Embedded processors don't have to be specially designed for a particular application, and many come with all sorts of standard peripherals on the same chip as the CPU. This means that they can be mass produced and plopped into all sorts of devices with a minimum of effort. Think back to the industrial revolution and what the assembly line did for consumer goods... Now imagine the same sort of revolution happening right now for CPU-enhanced consumer electronics.
Therefore, my first prediction is that the embedded market will continue to explode even faster than the desktop PC market. Think about it: The average household in the USA has 1 desktop computer. The average household has dozens (if not hundreds) of applications for embedded processors, and that number will continue to increase. (The average new car today has between 10 and 50 microprocessors hiding in it.) I predict that a lot of tasks for which we use PC's today (and for which MS wants us to continue to use PC's) will be offloaded into embedded systems over the next few years -- if only to make them more accessible to those who are not among the technical elite. Which is easier to play games on: a PC or a Nintendo 64?
But what about the WWW browsers, spreadsheets, and desktop publishing apps? In other words, what about the apps that are harder to turn into convenient consumer electronic devices?
Prediction #2: these will be taken over by public service companies...companies that will probably evolve from present-day ISPs. Put Linux in non-volatile RAM in a "network computer" -- something with an X server, a web browser, and a small amount of local storage. Connect this via a high-speed link to your ISP. The ISP has a mainframe (or a network of load-balancing rack-mounted machines) doing application service to the at-home boxes. Software upgrades, backups, etc. are done transparently, and average Joe who doesn't known a PCI bus from a PID doesn't have to worry about them.
In conclusion: The desktop PC is useful to the technically-savvy among us, but is scary as all heck to the remaining 95%. The only reason it is so prevelant is that MS has been pushing it at everyone. Ten years from now, it will have vanished, replaced by inexpensive network computers and embedded devices; viruses and OS crashes will become amusing anachronisms. Linux/UNIX will still be around for the developers and for those of us who like to tinker. The network computer market is up for grabs, though. If the AOL/Netscape/Sun conglomerate play their cards right, they have all the tools to win it from MS, and MS's glory days will fade into the history books.
Just my 2 cents.
Aint gonna happen (Score:2)
I've been in the market for a 27" TV for about two months. I really want to get a Sony that has S-Video. However, the lowest-cost one that fits that is $499. Now what do I get for $499?:
Super surround sound (already handled by receiver)
smart sound (already in receiver)
dual tuner picture in picture (have cable box)
Super menu functions (in VCR/cable box)
Now, I can understand why I might want that functionality. But...why should I be paying $100 for functionality I don't use?
There's your example for the "appliances". No assumption that you have other appliances to handle other functions for you.
Now take a look at a TV that is just a TV. No audio out, no extra idiot functionality, no other crap in it. But it does the job well. But you need to have a VCR to change channels, and a receiver to handle the audio. Each item in the entertainment center is specialized to do one thing (audio/video/CPU/storage), and do it well.
There's an example of the current state of PC affairs. I'd rather have a plain 'ol TV that just had a good picture.
If you think that's bad... (Score:2)
Well... color me fooled. (Score:2)
Who says they need to be "PCs"? (Score:2)
Use a StrongARM, or some other dirt-cheap RISC CPU. Add a 15" monitor, one of the new IBM miniature disk drives, and an ethernet port. The whole thing should be no larger than a telephone, except for the monitor and keyboard (infrared makes sense here!), and should cost well under $100 sans monitor to build. At THAT price point, giving boxes away makes a lot of sense.
Uh...yes. a bit. (Score:2)
They are actually being dominated by AMD in certain sectors. That's a pretty radical shift, and I would say signals a certain amount of trouble.
can't happen. (Score:2)
Right now the TV Guide from the Internet idea has been implemented in WebTV. That and Wince devices hardly make Microsoft irrelevant in the appliance market.
Admittedly, people probably don't care what OS their cell phone or remote control runs, although a full blown hand held unix would be geekycool for some.
--
Dichotomy in the posts... (Score:2)
Well, in the mainstream computer market, complexity wins over a simple well focused solution almost every time. Look what happens when a new version of MS Office or Windows comes out. IS departments practically have to beat back the users that want to install it.
However in the home market, dedicated devices make logicial sense. My mother, who couldn't use a Mac for the life of her, got up to speed on a WebTV in about 15 minutes.
Yet, almost every attempt (with the exception of the WebTV and PalmPilot) at a "information appliance", going back to the original Macintosh, the Atari XL game unit, hundreds of telco and cableco expirements in home shopping and "infotext", the AmigaCD, the Pippen, AT+T's tablet computer, the Newton/eMate, cell phone computers, modems for Segas+Nintendos, and so on all have failed quite dramatically.
--
Appliances, not going to happen soon (Score:2)
These systems will come in many shapes and sizes like they do today... but they will always be there. Linux, MacOS X, Windows, Unix they'll be with us forever.
I want some of that theoretical biological computing... using neurons and stuff. Wow, fast, complex, dream
Your argument doesn't support your thesis. (Score:2)
Answer honestly. How many people do you think would be well served by an appliance that did nothing but run an e-mail program, with HTML formatting, a good web browser, a news program, a chat client, and a streaming media client which supported the major formats? This appliance would just work, it would be available in less than 15 seconds, it would not crash. New functionality would be added seamlessly without user interaction.
Such a device could even keep me happy for weeks at a time.
What about a similar device that could also play playstation games and open and create Microsoft Office documents?
I think that these features would satisfy most low end computer buyers, which could have repurcussions for the hardware market.
Certainly these appliances would create greater need for servers and network equipment, but what would happen to the low to mid-range PC market. Would it whither and die, or would it survive as the back pasture for technologies originally developed for the high end.
the Bored System Administrator Thread Returns (Score:2)
From an administrator's POV, I'd imagine it would be great to see thin clients begin to replace PCs. Imagine only having to administer one box, maintain security in one place, and worry about hardware failures in one rack.
Everyone (on slashdot anyway) always tries for the arguement about wanting to do X on their machine that you can't do from a thin client. Then you, as a knowledgable user, can maintain your own system, with your own peripherial Y that does what you need. Be it video capture, some special joystick, or 3d accelleration. Geeks like slashdot users are the exception.
I'd even be one of the thin client users. I'm sure that as you're reading this, you think of yourself as one of the exceptions above, but how often do you REALLY do something out-of-the-ordinary with your system? To tell you the truth, all I ever do is: 1. netscape (for mail and browsing), 2. lyx, sc, and the like (or "Word" "Excel" "Powerpoint" for you MS people) 3. ssh, and 4. quake. Theoretically, most games could be played on a thin client. For the fancy ones, I could deal with moving using another platform. Now, what do YOU do that's above and beyond that?
Long live Larry Ellison and his dream of centralized computing!
-Chris
Re: (Score:2)
I Want To Be A Tech Columnist When I Grow Up (Score:2)
By God you're right! I predict that in ten years we will have given up the home PC in favor of (insert favorite item here) for several obvious reasons...
How many years have we been hearing about the death of the PC? I agree that the PC's place in our lives will change, but in one way or another it will always be there.
"Responsibility for my career? I'm just a freakin' phone monkey!"
You already have appliances on your desk (Score:2)
The problem is it was not easily upgradeable and looked scary to uninformed users.
"Responsibility for my career? I'm just a freakin' phone monkey!"
Yes, it *can* happen. (Score:3)
It's actually about a network where devices have access to the information they need when they need it, and the devices are not general-purpose computers with Red Hat Linux, a keyboard, and a 5-ton monitor attached. Take a look at the Ninja project at Berkeley. Think about what Sun's Jini was supposed to do.
They're selling CD players now that can hold more CDs than most people own. Why the hell should you have to remember that CD #241 is "Garbage / Version 2.0". Worse, what good is it if you have your entire music collection in a device and you still have to futz with it every half hour at a party to get a reasonable music rotation going?
Why, indeed, can't your CD changer be chatting with your home server which has a Net connection? It will pull down all the CDDB information ("ohhh, that's why they went proprietary") for your collection; you tell your system that you want the party to crescendo in music tone and pace over 5 hours, then decay over an hour while you shoo everybody out the door, then close with Elvis Costello to get the stragglers out. Some service like Firefly will take care of all the recommendations for you. Tell it you want "Queerest of the Queer" next song, and it will stick it into the rotation.
Why, some people here have once wondered, is the Palm Pilot such a big deal. Everyone wants Linux on a handheld, don't they? Have you seen 3com's plans for the Palm VII and the way it will communicate with Internet services like Yahoo News, e-trade stock quotes, and all that other stuff? What else are they doing, besides missing the XML boat?
They're turning it into an information appliance.
Why, you might wonder, is Intel talking with Ericsson about wireless data communications in the home?
They want to make information appliances.
Q: What is Lamar Pott's new job at Be?
A: Find out here [be.com]. Hint: It contains the word Internet and appliance.
It's going to happen, and moreover, you want it to happen. At least I do. -Stephen van Egmond, svanegmond@home.com who forgot his slashdot ID.
Not appliances, but home networks (Score:3)
I don't see people running out to buy a lot of these appliances. Sure, there's a niche for WebTV and perhaps an e-mail appliance, especially among the older generations unfamiliar with computers.
But I have to say, I think a networked home, with a server, a couple of workstations and a liberal assortment of thin clients, isn't beyond the realm of possibility. We're seeing it now with centralized, computerized climate controls and all-in-one entertainment centers. Give it a decade, maybe, and we'll start to see total solutions based on a home server or high-end PC.
But again, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
can't happen. (Score:3)
It's an analogy akin to saying I have a Widget that can function as a dishwasher, can opener, toaster, and microwave oven. Why would I want to replace my widget for all of those other appliances? My Widget can also be upgraded (free of charge) to support Oven Baking and Bread Making.
--
Read the article you lunks (Score:3)
The point was much more interesting than the headline suggests.
Here's a nutshell:
AOL/Netscape -vs- Wintel; AOL goes to war with Wintel by building Emachines-style boxes, loading them with a free OS like Linux (Windows now costs a significant portion of the computer price), and giving them away to anyone who signs up with them for Internet access.
In the process, say goodbye to Apple with their proprietary OS. People will either buy a Wintel if they want to blow a lot of money, or take a free AOLbox if they are cheapos.
It's an interesting point, I'd say.
We've all seen that the market for cheapo PCs is actually quite big. That's why Intel is in trouble, and why Apple might be...
I Want To Be A Tech Columnist When I Grow Up (Score:3)
That's it. I'm giving up my job. No more coding. No more debugging. No more deadlines. I'm going to be a technology columnist who makes radical predictions about the future of computing!
Think about it -- you make money based on how many people read your work. If you want more people to read your work, just make more radical, controversial predictions. *Ka-chiiing* More money for you!
Best of all, no one notices or remembers when you're wrong. If they do, you can just mumble about, "unforeseen market forces".
If you run out of topics, just whip out a little essay on, "How technology is changing our lives." Content is optional!
/* Remove tongue from cheek */