fwdd from Educom:
> COMPAQ STEPS UP TO NC CHALLENGE
> Compaq Computer, not content to rest on its laurels, is planning a new
> line of network computers, designed as e-mail, Internet and
> terminal-replacement devices, which the company plans to bundle with
> its PC servers. The systems will include a separate monitor, a thin
> chassis and a keyboard, and will be priced in the $500 to $800 range.
> The company also plans to introduce a NetPC this year -- a low-cost,
> easy-to-use networked PC built to standards devised by Intel and
> Microsoft. "We believe there is a market for these devices and that
> our customers want them, and we'll deliver them to the market," says a
> Compaq VP. (Information Week 13 Jan 97 p24)
>
> COST SAVINGS FROM NC CONCEPT QUESTIONED
> Some of the enthusiasm for the network computer concept has been
> generated by companies hoping to save money by eliminating some of the
> widely publicized costs associated with maintaining a PC. A Gartner
> Group study last year estimated that a networked PC costs a business
> an average of $13,200 a year -- 21% is the cost of the PC and the
> portion of the network it consumes; 36% is the cost of administering
> it; and 43% is the cost of "end-user operations" -- employee
> tinkering, game playing, etc. However, purchasing network computers
> will not save the entire $13,200 -- the cost of the network and the
> server that can support all the needs of network computers will be far
> higher than those required for PCs, which basically wipes out that
> savings. The cost of administering the system will indeed be far
> lower, but there will be an additional cost involved in the
> introduction of NCs. And the cost of lost employee productivity is
> perhaps most difficult to measure -- indeed, if the employee is hooked
> directly to the Internet, instead of playing Solitaire, even more
> company time might be wasted. (The Economist 18 Jan 97)
----
adam@cs.caltech.edu
I'll see you, I'll call you, I'll raise you, but it's no cheap thrill.
-- Suzanne Vega