I don't think we need URL to explain this one, he's busy enough. Corporations spend billions maintaining disparate PC systems and there's no reason for that now that most corporate desktops are already connected, not to mention hotels, retail stores, et cetera.
Using network ready computers based on a standard reference models would greatly reduce the cost of obtaining, installing and maintaining those hardware resources. There's nothing precluding the use of a hard-disk there and in all likelihood you will have a hard-disk which will cache your most recently used applications and their consituent components. There's nothing precluding a plug-and-play PC there either. The NC is any system which meets the requirements of the various reference models.
What really makes a network computer a Network Computer is the software: an operating environment specifically designed to access applications and information via the network. So how is this different from the popular and cost-effective use of terminals? Isn't this a giant leap backward? Not in the slightest. You see, what's different about NCs is they actually execute software on the client machine, that's something no terminal ever did, not even modern graphical terminals. The NC packs as much processing punch as the PC but without the maintenance and interoperability headaches.
Without Java, the NC simply wouldn't fly since it requires a portable, robust and secure operating environment, and Java is the only one which fits that description. It sure isn't OS/2 or Windows. Moreover, the language they developed to build all of the neccessary services has proven to be a top-notch general purpose language for any sort of development, NC or otherwise. BTW, the Java language is only the tip of the Java iceberg, anybody buying Microsoft's "It's just a language" propaganda needs to snap out of it right now. |
