ing the Internet, the World Wide Web, and on-line broadcasting transmitted there.
The idea is that such a computer would probably cost around $500. The low price would be attractive to families and individuals currently cut off from the Internet due to pr
ices in the thousands of dollars for standard all-purpose desktop computers. The price would be made possible by using lower-end CPUs and other components.
Compaq isn't the only vendor with such a machine in mind. Sun is interested in a similar machine -- with a twist. The hardware for the Sun machine would consist of not much more than CPU, keyboard, screen, and modem. What about software? That's the twist.
Using Sun's Java technology, users could access programs resident on server computers. Part of the software would run on the user's machine. When the program was finished, it would simply vanish. That would reduce the need for hard disks and floppy drives. Developers are already producing Java applets that people can download and run on their computers. Sun would apparently provide the Java end of things and team up with a PC maker to produce the hardware.
Philips and partners are taking a different approach: a device that will allow TV sets to access the Web over standard phone lines
. The prototype includes a standard modem and one of Philips's CD-I set-top boxes, running software that can browse the Internet from a CD-I disc. The product is expected to come out in Europe first and then the U.S. Such an approach capitalizes on the near-ubiquity of television sets and telephone service. The result would give people access to computer-hosted data and broadcasting -- without a computer: a boon for some, a disturbing return to the dumb terminal for others.
We Don't Need No Stinking Computers
