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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Howe who wrote (50672)	10/5/2000 12:09:29 PM
From: Charles Tutt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

" ... freedom, privacy, security, flexibility and individualism." I would argue that EVERY ONE of those values is better served via thin clients. Freedom: access your files from anywhere, rather than being tethered to a particular desktop. Don't waste your time being an unpaid computer administrator. Privacy: remember the State Department's problems with disappearing laptops? What about the Los Alamos disappearing hard disks? See also "security," next. Besides, don't many (most?) PC users already store many of their private files on central servers? Don't most have bank and brokerage accounts? Security: how many PC users keep their security patches up to date? With professional administration, security is less likely to be ignored. See also "privacy," above. Backups are also much more likely to be regularly done; raise your hand if you've ever lost a file to a PC crash. This is especially important in a business context: do your critical files go home on the bus? Flexibility: see "freedom," above. Also, it's much easier to muster additional resources for tasks that are simply beyond the capabilities of a particular PC. Plus, being networked enhances the ease of collaboration; once you ARE relying on networking, there's little or no benefit in putting a behemoth PC on each desk. Individualism: PC's win here only if you define yourself through your PC. If you have a life other than as a geek, individualism is akin to freedom, addressed above. Express yourself by choosing the color of your cell phone access device if you like; how many people decorate their PC's? BTW, current thin client technology allows your "desktop" to follow you anywhere. The one you recognize, but dismiss: COST. Studies have shown that TCO is lower with thin clients. All JMHO, of course. Charles Tutt (TM)