[LINK] MacIntel: The Thin Client Theory

[Con Zymaris]

On Tue, Jun 14, 2005 at 11:06:37AM +1000, tal wrote:
> ... or you could just note that Apple Mac is the only system to have the
> combination good-Kernel + good-GUI, where most Linux boxes are
> good-Kernel + fair-GUI, or Windows which is crap-Kernel + good-GUI.

Apple's is a _slick_ GUI - not the same as a good one. People seem to
confuse the two. I'd be seriously bothered with that GUI after an hour or
three's usage. (And for reference, I've used Apples since the ][+ in '79 
and the Mac since early '85)

> 
> so it would be logical for M$ to buy out somebody like, say, Red Hat and
> create their own good-Kernel + good-GUI combination, when Apple could
> have serious problems if they're still more expensive than a Wintel box,
> so the PPC is doomed for them.
> 
> and Linux certain isn't going to disappear, it can be, and has been,
> ported to just about anything, so without Vendor lock-in Apple & M$ have
> the death of 1,000 cuts coming at them.
> 
> and Thin Client?  might be a good move for lusers using fixed-in-place
> desktop machines, and even some WiFi jobbies, but not for stand-alone,
> where if your machine doesn't have full features it can't use them.

Obviously, thin-client style systems are only useful for corporate 
desktops. Nothing else.

> 
> frankly, i don't see anybody disappearing from the market anytime soon,
> except for social diseases like SCO ("she turned me into a newt ... i
> got better!"), but i do see the market reshaping itself dramatically in
> response to new products and services, especially as new business models
> supersede obsolete ones like those currently being defended by IP law.

Oh, come now. Nothing _really_ dissappears from this market. You can still
get OS/400 and VMS for instance. And my CP/M box still works too ;-)

We're talking general trends of where the market is going. And as the 
hardware space becomes cheaper, the econmics at play will lead us 
towards commodity pricing (i.e $0) in the software space too. 

How many platforms (and platform vendors) can run a marathon on a $0
product revenue model?

-- 
___________________________________________________________________________
Con Zymaris <conz at cyber.com.au> Level 4, 10 Queen St, Melbourne, Australia 
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