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65 Comments
- synwolf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23Unfortunately I doubt it will be as pleasantly fragrant as my Glade air freshener, so I'm gonna have to pass on this one...
- saitou, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15"Why the ***** is it powered by the ethernet port?? The whole thing is inside the freaking jack for God's sake."
@scruffmaster: No, *****. It _can_ be powered via the ethernet port, as it uses only 5 watts.
This sounds like an amazing invention. - golhra, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Now my wallsockets can be infected with spyware! I hope no one hacks through to my lamp.
That is a really cool device nonetheless. - qwickone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12so you just connect a monitor and keyboard to it and youre ready to go?
- Nick_Circosta, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13now THAT is cool :)
- boredzo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8But does it run Linux?
- DWatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@dubloe7
you really dont understand how humor works do you?
its called a JOKE, look it up...
just in case you cant handle looking things up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke - kodek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7First time the question is relevant to the topic.
- curlewfish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Almost every modern CPU since the Pentium Pro (all Intel and AMD chips) has had a RISC core with an x86 frontend that essentially does a bytecode conversion on the fly. I'm pretty certain AMD has never made a consumer CISC CPU.
- veloscaper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It was interesting until I saw the price. £209 for the cheapest version ~= $390 USD. Just go buy a Dell instead and get more at the same time.
- praxcelis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6As far as I can see from the manufacturer's site http://www.jadeintegration.com/jackpc.php it's not as easy to install as "just screw it into a wall plate". To get the energy savings you still have to have a power-over-ethernet supply hooked in somewhere, and make sure your house wiring could handle it. For more than simple office apps and browsing you'll want to put up a server somewhere, but anyone who is hyped about this low-power low-footprint approach to thin clients probably already has one.
Still, it's fascinating. My kids do little but office apps and browsing, so it's nearly perfect. - SilentPurity, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I am gonna have one in my bathroom. =D
- spiderland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Link to source article:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39272166,00.htm - CarlosReyes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Also think about hotels, one of these in every room, connected to the TV, you can check your email, browse online... (not everybody has a laptop you know)
- digitaldivider, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7quit yer bitchin, ye pansy. I haven't seen it so it's news to me.
- PantherX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The scenario where the guy installs a keylogger to the back of a PC springs to mind... instead, the attacker replaces the existing jack with this jack PC... and a power injector to be used for man-in-the-middle attacks, enumeration, and account hijacking.
Yes, you'd have to be pretty slick to pull that off, but it's still very doable. - DanAtkinson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Very impressed! God knows why they intergrated IE with it though.
Design team meeting:
Boss guy: "We've got a great product here. What we need is a crappy non-standards compliant browser to access the web."
Geek 1: "Er... Firefox?"
Geek 2: "Firefox? Are you kidding? That's ridiculous. It's much too safe and secure. And it's quite standards compliant. We want something that'll make people scream when they try using anything remotely to do with CSS."
Geek 1: "OK... Opera."
Boss guy: "Opera? Are they even around anymore?"
Blank stares.
Boss guy: "Ok, then. It looks like we're going with IE 6 then."
Mumbles of agreement. - bbene, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That big machine is typically a terminal services server. It wouldn't really be any big addition to the infrastructure of a company.
- arnar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@philmunt: yes, your assumption is correct. PoE uses the two extra wires to supply voltage. For this you either need a PoE enabled switch (which provides the voltage) or a PoE injector, a device that you patch your connections through and adds voltage to the pair.
- scbysnx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2firefox wouldn't run there's not enough memory woops.. cornus covered that..
I like this thing though I might get one for my kitchen this would be PERFECT in combination with web apps - nonsequiturmine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually I think the largest customer base for this computer would be retailers. Think about it, what are checkout registers other than basic terminals connected to a large server? For a store with many checkout terminals, this will reduce total power consumption (albeit by a relatively small amount), and for a store concerned about style, this will reduce wire clutter.
Other uses can be in-store terminals such as a touch screen monitor attached to this computer in the middle of a large store where a shopper can type in an item that they are looking for and get a map pointing out where it is. The aesthetic benefit is that all the shopper would see is a flat monitor, with no cabling or computer in sight. - FrugalFreak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2IDEA! get piratebay.com to install bunches of these with add on Terabyte hard drives located in secret accessible doors in walls with visible port and custom make a cover to look like a standard wall switch. Then DARE Authorities to confiscate equipment. (if they can find the REAL systems). It would be applicable in any stealth requirement environment!
- vandykee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2cybercafes/coffee shops.
- Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is perfect for colleges. No more email problems from people forgetting to plug their cable back in.
- JamesWilson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2with a logitech wireless keyboard and mouse
- orangekid13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This could be highly useful for me... I'm looking to go into home automation, so that could be paired with a touchscreen lcd, that would be a lot easier than buying a whole tablet pc or something for all the locations.
- anonymonk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"The Jack PC runs Windows CE, is designed to connect to "any terminal server-based environment" and has Citrix ICA and Microsoft RDP clients built in."
- bluehouse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's not a PC it's a thin client
- philmunt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When they say "power over ethernet" I'm assuming they're talking about the the old hack where you use the 2 extra wires that aren't used in communications to carry the current. So you would need some sort of device to supply the right voltage down the line.
Still, I'm sure I'm not the only one who can see remote X clients booting from the network. - Cronus6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It runs Windows CE, I'm sure part of the licensing deal with MS was the inclusion of IE.
As stated elsewhere Win CE is a thin client and therefore virus free, so it hardly matters what browser you run.
I'm quite sure (if it can be done) that the *nix community will find a way to flash this device and install FF, which should be interesting as even the top of the line model is "just" 128meg.
And we all know what a fine job FF does at gobbling up memory. - DWatch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For big retailers, this would not be ideal for checkout registers. In the retail world, you need a lot more than whats offered in these boxes. First, you need a way to interface the cash drawer, customer display, barcode scanner, cashier display, scales, and credit card reader/pin terminal. Several companies are working on making USB a standard for those devices, but the majority of point of sale (POS) vendors still rely on proprietary interfaces (mostly using serial communications protocols). Also, you need redundancy, if there is a network or server failure, you need to go into 'offline' mode so you can still check customers out, and store the transactions locally until the server becomes available again. For this you need local storage to hold the item files (barcode lookup tables) and transaction records. Most of the big retailers have IBM or NCR running the registers, not because they are cheap, but because they have a certain level of reliability engineered in. The IBM's even have a small UPS built in.
On the flip side, though, all the systems in the managers office, as well as in the customer service area, loading docks, security office, etc, can benefit from running a thin client.
And yes, I used to install grocery/department store POS backends and registers. Interesting work. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+9No, you won't be going anywhere, it's powered by the ethernet port.
- Ignignokt01, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I'm pretty sure the people who will buy it will realize this. Hell, desktop PC's aren't supposed to be moved around that much anyway, I for one haven't moved mine in about a year.
- dnthomps, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I can see this being really usefull for a guess room or libraries, schools and businesses. A lot of those typs of places can use this to run Internet Explorer(Eeek) and web-based apps.
- crunk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Did you see the same picture? What ethernet port?
- tormented, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nice idea. Thin clients arn't usualy all that uselfull though. Well not to the average user I mean. Still I think this thing rocks
- Stonekeeper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmm.. I just read that it has IE6 "integrated"? I wonder if it can be flashed with a linux image?
- GarethSaxby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2One broken link, and two articles that, whilst reaching the site before this article, have not reached the Digg barrier to reach the front page. In short, stop moaning about that sort of thing, the whole point of Digg is to keep users informed, and because kthdsn submitted this article, it has now managed to reach more users on the site than it would usually. Stop bitching.
I am a tiny bit confused about how they're selling the product on their website... Apparantly, the use of Flash memory over a Hard Disk means that the Jack PC will never be subject to viruses. Personally, I would have thought the use of Windows CE would mean it's less susceptible to viruses, but it's hardly immune. I'm certain that even with the stripped down operating system that it contains, someone could still write a virus for these things. As the ZDNet article points out though, it's far from an actual computer, a server is most definatly required for full functionality. You're just shifting where the actual computer is, whilst paying more. - Nik420, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1When did AMD start selling RISC processors? x86 architecture is not RISC. x86 OSes will not run natively on RISC processors. I assume this must be a typo.
- dubloe7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0this is awesome, i have been looking at having a server/client system installed in my next build, so i could have terminals in several rooms in my house withough buying computers and using remote desktop.
- reedreeder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0the best feature: the ability to be powered over ethernet.
it's hooked up to a power outlet. but you CAN power it over ethernet if you want. - heymark, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Interesting concept. But, i fail to see it pull through. Seems like it's too much of a hassle to get it going/connected, and it's most useful purpose is being used as a thin client anyway, so the big machine has to be _somewhere_
- t3rr0rz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0might wanna empty your bank account for one, mine atleast =P
- DWatch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Lots of companies already run thin clients, now they can take the box off the desk and put it into a wall jack, where it will be a little more protected from spills, dust, theft, user abuse, etc...
Thin clients don't work for every application, and it was a big buzz word a few years back, but it does have its applications. Imagine an office where you don't have to have IT guys constantly changing hard drives and re-installing OS and applications over and over. You just show up and swap out the wall jack, user reboots, and is right back at the desktop and working in a few minutes. Having all the storage at a central location on a RAID system is pretty cheap compared to the cost of maintaining hundreds of individual machines. If your business model can use thin clients its great. - chall2001, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Neat idea but who would use this? Its almost $400 so you could by a cheap dell instead and have a real computer. It doesn't have wireless so you have to be close to the wall. You can't upgrade it. If you bought a cheap LCD monitor ($200) + mouse and keyboard you would be at the same price of a cheap laptop.
Once they drop the price to about $100 they'll have something. - dylanwinn, on 03/05/2009, -0/+0Interesting idea, but the lack of x86 compatibility (RISC sucks), the unholy mass of dust mites that are sure to end up it this thing the second you seal it in your wall (have you ever installed a light switch?), and the inclusion of IE (WTF? Wouldn't Firefox be easier to port to RISC?) break the deal.... OK, give me one for free and I'll be willing to go to the trouble of sticking it in my wall, but I won't buy one!
- gabtgurl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Nahhh with T-Mobile you "Get More!" not Dell! ;-)
- aaronamd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0a dell is not a real pc. and this is much smaller than a dell anyway.
- anonymonk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Is the "guess room" connected to Google? Wouldn't that be an unfair advantage?
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