Goes through a list of about 10 PC innovations culled from the PC99, Easy PC
and Legacy-Free PC initiatives, and gives the inside scoop on whether IT
departments like then now, or would like them in the future (but not right
now).
The scoop (see the article for rationale):
ISA Elimination
Goal: Eliminate traditional ISA slots for add-in cards
IT response: Very favorable now
Outlook: Inevitable
Quick Power-Up
Goal: Enable PCs to boot up very quickly
IT response: Very favorable now
Outlook: Likely to be implemented, not likely to work
Remove Parallel Printer Port
Goal: Replace parallel printer port with Universal Serial Bus (USB)
IT response: Neutral now, favorable next year
Outlook: Will happen fairly quickly
Fallback: PCI add-in card, USB-to-parallel-printer interface
Remove Serial Ports
Goal: Replace serial ports with USB
IT response: Neutral now, favorable next year
Outlook: Will happen fairly quickly
Fallback: PCI add-in card
Remove IDE
Goal: Replace integrated drive electronics (IDE) hard disk interface with
SCSI, USB or IEEE 1394, known as FireWire
IT response: Neutral now, favorable next year
Outlook: May face opposition that will slow adoption
Replace VGA
Goal: Replace VGA with a new digital interface that supports both CRT
monitors and flat-panel screens
IT response: Slightly negative now, favorable next year
Outlook: Will face opposition
Fallback: PCI add-in card
Quieter Fan
Goal: Replace existing PC fans with low-power, muffled fan systems
IT response: Neutral now, slightly favorable next year
Outlook: Inevitable
Smart-Card Reader
Goal: Add a smart-card reader to the standard PC
IT response: Negative now, neutral next year
Outlook: Depends on cost
Wireless Networking
Goal: Add wireless networking to the standard PC
IT response: Negative now, neutral next year
Outlook: Unlikely
Replace Ethernet With ATM
Goal: Replace the Ethernet network adapter with an Asynchronous Transfer
Mode network adapter
IT response: Very negative now and next year
Outlook: Doomed
Fallback: PCI add-in card
Eliminate Floppy
Goal: Eliminate the floppy disk drive
IT response: Very negative now and next year
Outlook: Depends on what will replace it
Fallback: Superdisk drives (partial solution)
- Jim