-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <ace0059603021004f459@[205.199.118.202]>, Timothy C. May wrote:

A couple of years ago "the computer for the rest of us" was said to be a pen-based Newton-type machine, now it is said to be a diskless, memory-limited "Eunuchs" machine.

Beyond the specifics of Oracle's naive vision, I think what is doomed (I hope) to fail is the obsolescent paradigm that it reflects. It seems that many corporate types are fixated on the idea of tractable and predictable consumers. The need to raise the population and broaden the demographic of potential customers for the coming Information SuperMarketway by minimizing the entry cost is obvious. The approach to understanding the actual dynamics of why people are and will increasingly come into this space and what they will want to do once they get there is deficient for many. Some are intimidated by the unpredictably evolving emergent properties of consumer (well, still mostly window shopper) behavior in this new territory, and are looking for the comforting familiarity that their marketing consultants and financial planners could provide them in the old brickspace way of doing business. Others are puzzled, or are overtly threatened by the idea of potential consumer's who are also content producers. I think that the limitations of interactive set-top boxes and lobotomized net terminals appeals to this mindset. There's less likelihood of troubling novel behavior and initiative. The consumer's options are constrained and thereby the details of marketing are more manageable. These prospective cyber-consumers who are increasingly in the frustrating habit of producing and sharing content amongst themselves (usually for free, no less!), thereby distracting each other from the content providers and virtual storefronts they should be flocking to, are a potent wild card in the game that many cannot deal with, and some wish they could deal out of the deck. This nascent internet phenomenon is the economic aspect of the broader disintegration and decline of the means to control mass opinion and behavior that many in the current ruling class find threatening as well. The corporations that can get a clue, and learn how to go with the flow of this changing environment, can still prosper. The dinosaurs who can't, or won't adapt, will free up valuable niches for the independent upstarts who not only can ride the waves of change, but who thrive on them and even strive to make them bigger. Oracle's vision of the low-cost, diskless "Eunuchs" net station may materialize on the shelves of Walmart, and Circuit City, etc... But it will not take long for those who buy them to realize that they are in a subclass on the internet (That is, if they are really given the freedom to explore the net at large) and to feel frustrated with their limited options to create and express themselves. Those too dim-witted to notice or care might as well have remained as bovine Cable Shopping Network viewers ensconced in their TV room lounge chairs. I do think that there is a substantial and viable market for entry level notebook form factor (running off a cheap wall socket DC converter with battery optional) 'Net' PC's well below $1000 in the not-too-distant future. Processor and hard drive costs are certainly dropping fast enough to make that a credible possibility. Display and memory costs remain the major obstacles, but I think workable compromises could be made. This could be a potent opportunity for somebody like the AIM alliance to make an end run around the Intel-Microsoft axis, if they were able to take the long view and act decisively (yeah...fantasy). Start with something like the low end PPC602, develop a highly integrated chip set for video, drive, RAM controller, modem, etc... Surface mount on board with RJ-11, USB and external monitor connector, include as much HD as will fit within the target production cost. Throw in a SIMM or DIMM slot for the option of supplementing the minimum included memory later. Provide greyscale LCD standard with color dual-scan option. Come up with a _TIGHT_ fully native code subset of MacOS. Add a compact application suite including internet connectivity plus simple PIM and WP functionality. Provide a coupon for a subsidiary online service cum internet gateway, ala MSN. Sell the machine at a minimal margin over cost, and view the entire venture as a way to gain broad market presence. Market presence must have substantial worth, because Netscape's stock is surely not being valued on its price-earnings ratio.

The only relevance of this whole topic to Cypherpunks is....is....minimal.

Well, perhaps. I suppose I'm risking the chastisement of Cypherpunk purists with my follow-up on this non-crypto topic. But it seems to me that the broadest shared sentiment among the people on this list is a passionate interest in defending and expanding personal liberty, sovereignty and privacy in cyberspace, and the realization that the unencumbered use of strong cryptography is indispensable to those goals. If it wasn't for this nexus, there would be no cypherpunks, and the esoteric technicalities of modern cryptography would be of interest to few besides professional security consultants/programmers and obscure academic types. It's useful to explore the wider context of relevance occasionally, if only to gain perspective (As long as we can avoid another Ayn Rand or Noam Chomsky pissing match...). ObCrypto: People limited solely to diskless terminals for their internet access will be second class netizens. They would be less likely to really appreciate and comprehend the issues surrounding online privacy and cryptography, and they would be less able to take action on these issues even if they wanted to. - -Michael -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBML1jZtGJlWF+GPx9AQGhcAP/WL7+Unoxn51A2QlCRRSsS8wXdi7/UuFz 3JSC49VJLU7KFWEqTwhIV657JubChxUjN1mxymSDbaoROWcyPn8AlEVuLD2Y/NcW SYYCAy1nJWh8H2yFAz1aW2XToG09V/XrO/hhcN8WyM8agJoYcVxdCmRuC/6bhPnG qBcMn7amGnE= =/Qbk -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----