BookPC, WebPC, Kerbango and friends.

From: Eirikur Hallgrimsson (eh@mad.scientist.com)
Date: Mon Apr 02 2001 - 14:13:57 PDT


BookPC seems to be a trademark or something like that of PCchips (thats the
manufacturer's name). There's more info, and lots of photos of all sides of
the various models (but the snazzy black home theater model is sold out) at:
http://www.directron.com/slim.html Directron is a good site for PC parts,
particularly the stylish cosmetic parts that "all style, no substance" folks
that myself require.

I found a lot of detail on the motherboard at some point, but I'm too lazy to
dig it up again.

Personally, I just ordered one of the Dell WebPCs on blowout from
www.hitechcafe.com. They look good for many of the same applications as a
BookPC. And you can get them in any color you want, as long as you want
black. (c.f. Henry Ford). At $300-350, they're much cheaper than any of the
BookPC configurations that come with CPU/memory/disk.

WebPC. So nostalgic. Sort of like the iOpener, but done with Dell quality
and decent performance.

My mom needs an email/web device suited for an elderly luddite curmudgeon :-)
....but I think it's going to wind up being one of my legacy macs. The thin
web client consumer device didn't make it in round 1. Round 2 is shaping up
as a non-starter. 3Com has canned both their web tablet and the Kerbango
radio. Sigh, I wanted to see Internet radios with a decent UI for consumers.
Kerbango might have been better off staying independent. I imagine they
don't have that option anymore. Acquired and killed.

Wait until all these embedded-Linux PDAs, etc, try to actually sell units.
I wonder how many will actually non-developer units at all.

Sony (silicon valley) wants me to interview for their mobile and appliances
group. Are they behind the times or smart to continue development and ride
out the downturn in interest? Ok, I think it's both.

Eirikur



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