Re: Network Computers from Oracle
On Wed, 1 Apr 1998 21:49:47 -0600, "John Smith" <abc@123.com> wrote: >Folks, > >I wanted to start a thread to talk about NC's. Am I dreaming or do I have >an 'NC' on my desk in the form of an X-Terminal? This product seems like a >joke to me, and I can't believe that it has any marketplace viability. What >do these things do that I am missing? I saw a quote on quote.yahoo.com as I >was checking investments that absolutely cracked me up and prompted this >post. Here is the text: > >"Still, even though NC hardware has not been popular, the concept of network >computing -- low-cost PCs asking big central computers to handle their >computations -- has taken off. This type of centralized computing makes its >easier for big companies to manage networks of thousands of computers, so >lots of developers are concentrating their efforts on network computing, >Dataquest said." Too strong, but even we have customers who seriously want NC type machines. >Has taken off? Is this not the old dumb terminal-mainframe environment that >has been around longer than I have. Xterms do the same thing and have been >developed on for years. It will be a good 10 years before NC's can take off >in the public because you will need a T1 to your house to be able to run >one. Well, we have applications that runs fine on ISDN. However the big use we see for NC's are inside companies where users don't need a PC. If you are a bank teller, work in a store (the type that now use PC's as cash registers) and a lot of other jobs with a single or just a few uses of the PC the idea of an NC is just fine. For a broader use the NC needs more programs than are currently available. With the extent of Java development going on right now that is likely to change however. For many types of uses the NC also needs local storage. Some wouldn't call it an NC any more if it had that. That's a misunderstanding in my opinion (yes from Oracle as well as far as I know). The key differentiatior is how storage, local and remote, is used. I want to store some personal data locally. I also want to cash programs locally so I can perform some functions (word processing, spreadsheet ++) locally and without beeing dependent on the network. However next time I connected any updates would be loaded automatically. Many kinds of configuration changes would also be much simpler. >My comment is: Let Ellison push this hard - devote all your company's >resources to this endeavor!!! This is Informix's mistimed Universal Server >for Oracle! Now that Informix is back on track, they have a real >opportunity to beat up on Oracle. NC's for all!!! They do, but not by bashing the NC. They could fall over again by doing that. There are some realy large customers who want to use NC's extensively. With their new Java strategy I do think they are idealy placed for these as well. >James Saville >BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. Don't you want people to communicate more? PS: The Universal Server wasn't mistimed, it was (and to some extent is) mismarketed. Nils Myklebust NM Data AS Norway E-mail: Nils.Myklebust@nmdata.com FAQ at: Primary with ODBC info: http://www.smooth1.demon.co.uk Official site http://www.iiug.org/techinfo/faq/faq_top.html