On Thu, Jul 13, 2000 at 05:49:55PM -0400, Hugo Haas wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 13, 2000, Curtis Johnstone wrote:
> > Has anyone had an experience with the Web TV or other Internet
> > devices?  I want to get several family members hooked-up but that
> > thought of a PC, Modem, Win95/98 and Windows Net-Apps combo scares me.
> > Any recommendations.

I got a free PC for my mom last year:

   http://impressive.net/people/gerald/1999/#myfavoritepc

and set it up with AOL, but she doesn't use it much yet.

> I have never seen one, but since I am administering a Web site, I can
> tell you from the mails and the logs I see that their Web browser seems
> to suck.

I think it's basically okay for what it is, but has a few really
stupid limitations, like: 600 pixels wide, and no ability to
scroll horizontally. (I'm not sure that's true, I just heard it
somewhere.)

There's a "WebTV viewer" that lets you check how a site would
look if you were using a webtv:

   http://developer.webtv.net/design/tools/viewer/

but it's only available for Win* and the Mac.

> I am pretty sure that I saw a Linux solution like that: a simple box
> that you turn on and voila! I don't remember where though...

I just saw this news story:

   Gina Smith's New Internet Computer plugs in
   http://www.upside.com/Ebiz/396e18e70_yahoo.html

(included below)

which points to this site:

   http://www.thinknic.com/aboutnic.html

| We believe everyone should have Internet access -- without the
| cost and complexity of a PC.
|
| We don't think people should have to commit to expensive monthly
| fees, either.
|
| That's why we've created the New Internet Computer, the NIC.
|
| Starting at $199, the NIC costs less than the cheapest PC. It
| supports popular plug-ins like Real Player, Java and Flash, so it's
| just as Internet-capable. And the NIC is so easy to use.
|
| Plug your NIC into a phone line and pop in the NIC startup CD.
| Follow a few on-screen instructions and you're online.
|
| Sign up with our free ISP, or continue with the one you already
| have. If you don't want to pay new monthly Internet access fees,
| you don't have to. The NIC's base price is the most you'll ever have
| to pay.
|
| Think NIC. It's the natural evolution of the computer revolution.

The technical specs are embedded in a GIF (idiots!), so I can't
include them here easily. It's a 266MHz pentium PC, 64M RAM,
CD-ROM, modem, 10/100 eth, USB.

I don't know if it can plug directly into a TV.

| All the software you need is on the CD. It features the Linux 2.2
| Operating System and Netscape Navigator 4.7 Browser. The NIC
| supports popular plug ins, including Java, Shockwave and Real
| Player.

now the Upside article:

   http://www.upside.com/Ebiz/396e18e70_yahoo.html

(pretty long... I only skimmed the first page.)

] Gina Smith's New Internet Computer plugs in
] July 14, 2000
] by Jeff St. John
]
] Gina Smith, CEO of the New Internet Computer Co., can't believe
] how much people are willing to pay for an easy-to-use Internet
] appliance that retails for $199.
]
] It is Monday, July 10, and for the last 24 hours the New Internet
] Computer (NIC), the most recent incarnation of Oracle (ORCL) CEO
] Larry Ellison's oft-mocked "network computer," has been on the
] auction block at Amazon.com (AMZN). Final bids tendered this
] afternoon reached a staggering $1,650 for each of the 10 units at
] auction, which came with certificates of authenticity signed by
] Ellison, chairman and primary investor of the company.
]
] Smith, a 12-year veteran of consumer technology journalism who
] accepted the CEO job offer from Ellison in January of this year,
] won't be winning the office betting pool this time -- she guessed
] the highest bid would be closer to $1,000. Still, looking over
] the final results from her office in the North Beach neighborhood
] of San Francisco, she says she understands why the bidders wanted
] a NIC with Ellison's signature to themselves.
]
] "It's a collector's item, right?" she says. "Imagine if you had
] bought one of the first Macs. Or, for that matter, one of the
] first Newtons?"
]
] Emerging market
] Somewhere between Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL) wildly successful
] Macintosh PC and the wildly unsuccessful Newton handheld device
] lie the possibilities for the NIC, newest entrant in the emerging
] market of Internet appliances. Internet appliance is a broad term
] for devices that access the Internet without the complexity and
] corresponding cost of a PC, from Internet gaming consoles and TV
] settop boxes to wireless handheld devices and "Web terminals,"
] like the NIC.
]
] International Data Corp. has estimated the Internet appliance
] market will grow in leaps and bounds, from $2.4 billion and 11
] million units sold in 1999 to $17.8 billion and 89 million units
] sold by 2004. Smith says she wants to be right in the middle of
] the action.
]
] "If this does take off," Smith says, "we have the chance to be
] the next IBM (IBM), the next Apple -- and we'd like to be a
] major, major player, if not the player."
]
] The NIC can be bought through the company's website,
] www.thinknic.com, and eventually will be sold in some stores.
]
] Whether the New Internet Computing Co. can grow to meet Smith's
] expectations is harder to predict. The company faces competition
] from other newcomers like Netpliance Inc. (NPLI), whose I-Opener
] is the other well-known Internet appliance currently on the
] market, and the new Virgin NetPlayer from Virgin Connect, part of
] Richard Branson's Virgin empire.
]
] The company also faces competition from industry heavyweights
] like AOL (AOL) and Gateway (GTW), who in May of this year
] announced a partnership to develop several appliances for the
] consumer market. Other companies promising Internet appliances by
] the end of the year include Intel Corp. (INTC), 3Com (COMS) and
] Ellison's nemesis Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).
]
] Uncertain at best
] At the same time, analysts are uncertain whether countertop
] Internet appliances like the NIC will be taking off at all. The
] growing popularity of TV settop and handheld devices will take up
] a good portion of the predicted growth in the sector. And with
] companies like eMachine (EEEE) selling low-end PCs for as low as
] $399 (not including monitor and shipping), it isn't clear that
] consumers will choose the devil they don't know -- the NIC --
] over the devil they do -- the PC.
]
] "Peripherally, we're looking at low-end PC-makers" as the
] competition, says Smith. But she stresses that, to her mind,
] "we're not an either-or decision for consumers."
]
] About the size of a hardcover novel, the black plastic NIC comes
] with keyboard, mouse, and a single CD-ROM drive. A CD carries the
] Linux-based operating system, Netscape browser and email
] software, making for easy upgrades -- just replace the disc. Made
] by an unnamed major Taiwanese manufacturer, it comes with a 266
] MHz Pentium-compatible Cyrix processor and 64 MB of RAM.
]
] The NIC is hard-drive free and, except for 4MB of Flash memory,
] memory-free. And most importantly, given that Ellison originally
] thought up the network computer in 1995 as a way to break Bill
] Gates' operating systems monopoly, it is completely
] Microsoft-free.
]
] However, when you include the optional monitor and shipping
] costs, the price of the NIC jumps to $387, which is getting close
] to the price of low-end PCs. And while the NIC supports popular
] plug-ins like RealNetworks Inc.'s (RNWK) RealPlayer and
] MacroMedia Inc.'s (MACR) Flash, and allows the user to view
] Microsoft Word and Adobe (ADBE) Acrobat documents through
] homegrown plug-ins, it is unable to run applications from a
] CD-ROM, floppy or hard disk.
]
] It is, in short, not a PC, no matter how much it may look like
] one, or attempt to "reproduce the functionality" of one, as Smith
] says.
]
] Gina Smith's New Internet Computer plugs in
] page 2: Catering to the consumer
]
] Smith believes that this is exactly what the consumer market
] needs -- and she has her 12 years of experience with consumer
] complaints to back her up. In fact, she says, her experience is
] the reason Ellison hired her.
]
] "He was looking for someone who would know what consumers want,"
] Smith says. "Through all my years, the two most common complaints
] from people are that, one, computers are too hard to use, and
] two, computers are too expensive."
]
] Currently, the only other device on the market, Netpliance's
] I-Opener, has hit some snags.
]
] Netpliance recently raised the price of the I-Opener from the
] promotional price of $99 to $399, and on July 10 said it would
] not be able to ship new units to customers until October of this
] year. The I-Opener began selling in November 1999 and more than
] 20,000 units have been sold, according to the latest available
] figures released in March.
]
] Kent Savage, president of Netpliance, says that the i-Opener
] audience is primarily older and less Internet-savvy than the
] potential NIC user. "The person in the home never turns [the
] i-Opener] off," he says. "They're turning to it 10 times a day to
] see the news, sports, stocks -- and we're doing all that work for
] them. That's very different than a browser in a box."
]
] Smith agrees that the NIC and the i-Opener aren't necessarily
] trying to reach the same customer. "I don?t even know if they're
] a direct competitor," Smith says, "since we're offering free
] Internet access."
]
] Free Internet vs. paid
] She raises an important point. The NIC opening screen prompts the
] user to sign up for free Internet access through NetZero, a free
] Internet service provider with around 4 million current users.
] "Three clicks," Smith says, "and you're online, with no cost
] whatsoever." The NIC will work with a user's current ISP as well,
] and has an Ethernet connection for linking to a home or office
] network.
]
] Free Internet access separates the NIC from the I-Opener and
] other currently available Internet appliances, which are sold at
] below cost in exchange for the customer's set-length subscription
] to one Internet service provider or the other. The I-Opener, for
] example, will only work with its own ISP, which costs $21.95 per
] month. Intel's upcoming appliance, the $500 Dot.Station, will be
] sold exclusively through third-party arrangements with ISPs
] hoping to jump-start consumers' need for the Internet by giving
] away the devices with subscriptions. And the MSN Web Companion,
] due for release near the end of summer, will require a commitment
] to MSN's Internet service.
]
] Ross Rubin, vice president of research development at Jupiter
] Communications, says the NIC's features "make it more appealing
] than any other offering" he has seen in this category.
]
] "The price point seems right, the message of a free ISP or using
] your own is positive, and I like that they've put Ethernet on
] board so it's broadband ready," he says. Rubin also lauds the
] idea that the company is selling the computer on its own rather
] than as part of an ISP package. He says the method of
] distributing through third-party providers has "consistently
] failed."
]
] Who needs it?
] However, Rubin sees a problem with Internet appliance makers'
] target market of first-time Internet users. He believes that
] these people are not on the Internet already for one reason --
] they don't want to be.
]
] "The problem is not that they're daunted by the complexity of
] PCs," he says. "The problem is they don?t have needs that require
] them to access Web content and communicate via email.
]
] "The question is, 'is this really going to open things up for a
] new audience?' We don?t really think so," Rubin says. "We don?t
] see non-PC access expanding the Internet audience."
]
] One way NICC is trying to expand their potential audience is by
] going to the schools. "We know they're ready," Smith says. "Their
] biggest problem is total cost of ownership, upkeep and
] maintenance." As part of this strategy, on May 8 of this year
] Larry Ellison pledged 12,000 NICs to the Dallas Independent
] School District, part of his promise of $100 million to install
] and support NIC networks in schools across the country. Smith
] says deals with two more school districts will be announced soon.
]
] Gina Smith's New Internet Computer plugs in
] page 3: Aiming for small business
]
] Smith says that small businesses are the last step in NICC's
] sales strategy. "Those without Internet access, and that might
] have old 90-megahertz Pentiums in their offices," she says, "they
] can upgrade with NICs for about one-tenth the cost of PCs." The
] NIC supports Citrix Systems' (CTXS) Independent Computing
] Architecture (ICA) terminal display protocol, used to run
] applications on remote terminals from a central server. (The
] other predominant display protocol, RDP, is made by -- you
] guessed it -- Microsoft.)
]
] Jupiter's Rubin isn't sure that the NIC is a viable network
] terminal in the current marketplace, mainly due to the state of
] networked computing today. Beyond the problem of Microsoft's
] ubiquity in the market, there are the "server-side problems" of
] maintaining large centralized architectures.  Plus, he says,
] "there are still a lot of enterprise apps out there where you
] need the original software."
]
] Mike Mathewson, the final buyer of two of the 10 NICs auctioned
] off on Amazon.com on Monday, believes the answer to running
] applications on the NIC lies in Internet-based Application
] Service Providers, or ASPs. As editor of ThinPlanet.com and
] ASPIsland.com, two sites dedicated to client-server technologies,
] Mathewson says the NIC's ICA compatibility is key for business
] clients.
]
] "It allows the machine to play in the whole ASP market," he says.
] "I don?t think it?s the kind of thing people are looking for at
] CompUSA, but the business users and the ASP industry will
] certainly be looking for that."
]
] Jupiter's Rubin doubts that the ASP industry is ready to fully
] support a NIC-networked office, however. "Overall, I haven?t seen
] evidence of that infrastructure being mature enough," he says.
] "Microsoft is moving in that direction, but of course you need
] Windows for that."
]
] And, of course, keeping Microsoft out was the key to Ellison's
] original Network Computer Co., whose failure was nearly as
] complete as was Newton's. Plummeting PC prices undercut the
] low-cost appeal of the network computer, but more importantly,
] numerous hidden costs and complications sabotaged efforts to sell
] it to corporate clients.
]
] How it's different
] Smith is quick to point out the differences between that effort
] and hers.  "The Network Computer required buying a server, and
] you needed NCOS, an OS developed by Oracle," Smith says. "It was
] a completely different machine."
]
] Overall, Smith says, it comes down to a question of faith and
] timing. "You either believe that Internet appliances are going to
] take off, or you don?t," she says. "If this category takes off,
] we take off. If it doesn't, all the money in the world won?t push
] our product forward.
]
] "It's like asking, 'How could the Palm Pilot succeed where Newton
] failed?' " she says. "Well, Newton didn?t work, and like the
] Network Computer, it had a lot of hidden expenses involved. But
] it was ahead of its time."
]
] Smith also points out that the company that emerged from the
] ashes of the network computer, Liberate Technologies (LBRT) has
] successfully transformed NCOS into an operating system for its
] new TV settop box technology. Liberate recently announced its
] partnership with AOL to create AOLTV.
]
] A doable goal
] As far as overall sales of the NIC, Smith has set her sights
] lower than Ellison, who announced in February that he hoped to
] sell 5 million to 10 million NICs by the end of next year. "I'd
] like to sell a million by the end of the year," Smith says
] flatly. "It's an aggressive goal, but I think it's totally
] doable." And, Smith adds, "We are making money off every machine.
] That's very different than the others, who lose money on the
] machines and make money on selling Internet service."
]
] At this early stage of the game, however, Smith says she is
] judging eventual success less on the numbers of NICs sold and
] more on "mind-share."
]
] "I want people to think NIC when they think 'what is the under
] $200 computer?'" she says. "Like Apple -- they had low numbers,
] but Mac is the most recognized computer term in the world."
]
] At least one person agrees with her -- Shervin Pishevar, CEO of
] Internet operating system company WebOS. Pishevar was the other
] buyer in Monday's auction, snapping up eight of the signature
] NICs for a total cost of $13,200 (not including shipping). He
] says he will donate all but one of the machines to school
] districts, starting with his local District of Columbia school
] system and Montgomery County, Md., school district.
]
] Pishevar makes the argument that the time of the network computer
] has come -- or, in his words, " technologies and price points
] have reached that sweet spot where demand will allow the volume
] of these units to exponentially increase over the next five
] years."
]
] If this is true, he says, "Having the first 10 of these Network
] Computers will be like have the first 10 Macs created and signed
] by Jobs and Wozniak." He makes no mention of the Newton.

--
Gerald Oskoboiny <[email protected]>
http://impressive.net/people/gerald/