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To: micromike who wrote (8458)	3/22/1998 3:24:00 PM
From: Charles Tutt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

I have a still different view of the future of home computing. In my scenario, there's a box sitting in a utility room or closet, or perhaps in the basement or attic, that is the "home server" to which NC's, etc. ("etc." potentially includes television, telephone, home security system, stereo, light switches, appliances, -insert results of imaginative thinking here- ...) are networked. The box either comes preloaded with basic software, or perhaps can be loaded via the Internet or by inserting a cartridge of some sort. It's an appliance, and is treated as one, rather than as some magical waster of time. JMHO, of course.

To: micromike who wrote (8458)	3/22/1998 5:33:00 PM
From: Carl Wysocki	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

I'm not sure Mike. The disadvantage of the thin client model for the home environment is the perceived lack of security and privacy. I believe that net users, moreso than the general population, are becoming more rabid in their desires for some sorts of personal privacy protection, and I am no exception. For many, buying a fat client, and storing info locally, provides a greater sense of security than having it stored on some central server. Besides, the cost differential is minimal, and in absolute numbers, will decrease even more over time. While I would never have a thin client as my primary terminal, thinking ahead a few years, I could have on as a 2nd or 3rd, provided the apps I accessed from those clients were optimised to run, say on JVM, rather than on top of Win2001. Then again, with a $400 machine running at 1GHz, with 100gigs of storage, and 500 megs of memory, why bother. Just an idle Sunday afternoon thought. Carl