Smallest Computer?
The Associated Press - Aug. 14
Researcher Builds Inexpensive, Aspirin-size Internet Computer
W A S H I N G T O N, — The latest from the cyberworld:
an aspirin-size computer that, embedded in household
appliances, could let people on the road or at the office use
the Internet to cool their homes, heat coffee and tape TV
shows.
Believed to be the smallest such computer ever built, the inexpensive
device could help usher in a new generation of connected home
appliances, from VCRs to coffee makers to small cameras, controlled
over the Internet from almost anywhere.
“The implications of this are more than a silly little competition among
a bunch of researchers,” said H. Shrikumar, who studies specialized
machine automation at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. “This
has tremendous application in the way it might change our lives.”
The project also testifies to how much utility a concise programmer can
pack into a limited amount of computer memory, even in these days of
multimegabyte software applications with millions of lines of code.
The tiny computer, slightly larger than the head of a match, is
connected to the Internet from Shrikumar's apartment near the university.
It includes a tiny 4-megahertz processor he bought for 49 cents and a
small 32-kilobyte memory chip that stores World Wide Web pages and
other data.
Can Be Built for Less Than a Dollar
Although those numbers are paltry compared to the speed and storage of
modern personal computers, which run thousands of times faster and
contain hundreds of times more storage, the tiny computer still is more
powerful than typical computers less than a decade ago.
Shrikumar, 33, said his computer can be built for less than $1, making
it practical to install the devices in a variety of home electronics and
appliances.
Some existing appliances, such as modern thermostats or newer coffee
makers, can be programmed individually. But appliances connected using
the language of the Internet, called “TCP/IP,” could communicate with
each other even if made by different manufacturers.
Just before the hour the homeowner sets for his alarm clock, for
example, the thermostat could automatically turn up the heat, the
television could turn on the morning news and the coffee could begin
brewing.
“In one click, the whole house now wakes up with you,” he said.
“This can make our way of life much easier.”
Similarly, with the appliances connected to a home network that also
maintained a continuous connection with the Internet, consumers could
use the Web browser on an office computer to program their VCRs, turn
on their porch lights, even activate cameras to check on the baby sitter.
The Smallest Computer
The new wave of high-speed Internet connections using cable TV
modems or new digital phone lines already offer such continuous
hookups.
“I'm not sure I want a computer in my refrigerator that's controllable,
but the heating system, that's a legitimate one you'll want to control,” said
Richard Smith, president of Phar Lap Software Inc. in Cambridge,
Mass., who built the first small Internet computer more than two years
ago.
“This could solve the problem of programming the VCR. You could
have more sophisticated control mechanisms, have different time
schedules on the weekdays,” Smith said.
Shrikumar's Internet computer is smaller than one built earlier this year
at Stanford University, which includes a much more powerful processor
and lots more memory. But the Stanford computer costs more than $800.
Implications are Enormous
Vaughan Pratt, the Stanford professor in charge of that project, said the
implications of Shrikumar's work are enormous. “Everything that shrinks
down to a size that can be embedded in small spaces will have a big
impact,” Pratt said.
Since Shrikumar began testing his computer this summer, and after he
announced it on a private Internet discussion group, about 5,000 people
daily from around 70 countries have visited the tiny computer's Web site.
“This was just a fun hobby project,” said Shrikumar, who expects to
graduate next year. “It caught my attention and demanded that it be done.”
He is not sure what he will do once he leaves school.
“There are lots of things one can do,” he said. “It's a big world.”
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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