Personally I don't see why families would need multiple PCs rather than an appliance that can surf the web, check email, etc (like Audrey). What most homes need is a simple box that will allow them to plug their existing PC, printer, scanner etc into a "central hub" and network an internet appliance or two into a pseudo-network of sorts. Link this to some broadband access and things get to be loads of fun....
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Personally, I think this is very close to how things will play out with one exception.
I do agree that the "home server appliance" concept is a good one, and I think it will become quite common as broadband is more widely adopted. I would expect this box to perform many services, including firewall, NAT, e-mail, file/print, etc.
Where I disagree with you is that I expect many families will have multiple PCs behind that device. Parents working from home, kids wanting to do homework, parents/kids wanting to play games - one PC won't be sufficient for many families, especially those with several kids. I have old laptops with wireless that I use as appliances for looking up phone numbers on the web and the like - substitutes for PCs they're not, excellent adjuncts they are.
- Eric |
