Network Computers are Across the Chasm
by Lou Greer, VP, Corporate Commnications, Network Computing Devices
Every new paradigm of note goes through a stage of media hype and controversy. At some point, it becomes old news and the technology needs to stand on its own merit or not, as determined by the marketplace. Artificial intelligence didn't survive this transition, but network computers did.
In fact, as the hype died down, the last two major hold-outs from the paradigm shift boarded the bandwagon and made major announcements in support of NCs. Hewlett-Packard joined IBM, Sun, Oracle, Network Computing Devices and others by announcing their thin clients, and Microsoft announced their agreement with Citrix to deliver multi-user NT and they further announced their own thin client Windows terminal.
The activity at Networld+Interop'97 was very different from 1996. Potential customers knew what network computing technology was; they wanted to talk about how to adopt it, how to effect pilot installations and the like.
Why did NCs make it across the chasm? It wasn't the technology alone; it was technology plus a change in computing needs and behaviors. Network computing is a computing model that effectively helps people deal with today's computing challenge: access to information, often called the fourth wave of computing.
Experts estimate that as much as 98% of computer usage is focused on access to or manipulation of information. This is a far cry from previous waves which were data creation in the 1960s, data storage in the 1970s and processing in the 1980s. They all had one thing in common, though, advances in technology that enabled these important stages. The same is true for the fourth wave.
According to Steve Auditore, President of Zona Research, the technology advances that enable the fourth wave -- access -- are desktop technologies like the network computer, software advances like Java and the browser and standards.
Standards? No one specifies the electronic mail system any of us uses, nor do they specify the server or desktop computer that generates our mail. Yet, when I send you a message or you send one to me, we receive them. Why? Standards -- not standard processors, nor standard mail software, but networking standards.
The result is a desktop model by which we can access any application on the corporate network and on the Internet from any desktop. UNIX, Windows, legacy systems even Java can run on the same screen at the same time; and you can share data and graphics among the applications, regardless of the application operating systems involved. Some network computers, like the Explora and HMX from NCD, can display full motion video and audio.
Network computers have crossed the chasm from an interesting idea to an emerging technology because they solve the access problem that today's users are dealing with, and they do it cost-effectively with lower administration and support costs, no desktop upgrade requirements and with high security.
Network computers have crossed the chasm from an interesting idea to an emerging technology because they solve the access problem that today's users are dealing with, and they do it cost-effectively with lower administration and support costs, no desktop upgrade requirements and with high security.
When the hype dies down, success is dependent upon delivering something that users value at a competitive cost. Network computers have passed the test.