For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, a thin client is a desktop or mobile computing solution that has a CPU, a minimum of ram, and an embedded operating system or netboot capability. The benefit of a thin client is in applications where the clients are going to be very focused in their use, and it makes more sense to either run mission-specific applications off a server or login to another server or workstation for remote desktop sessions.
A friend of mine 10 years ago said that the future of computing was the dumb terminal (read, thin client). He stated that he felt in the future applications, media, storage would all be on the network, and all the end user would need would be a dumb terminal to interface with the network. I disagreed with him at the time, and still do. It may be some day that network speed and server based software will allow for thin clients to operate as invisibly as a workstation, but not today.
That, and people like a sense of ownership. You will never get video gamers and movie collectors to embrace digital downloads as a replacement for physical media.
So, aside from workplace solutions where end user activity is sought to be limited and hardware costs reduced, what is a good application for thin client computing?
How about wireless terminals for the home user?
I bet there is a good chunk of laptop users that never take their laptops out of their homes. The laptop functions as a second or third computer, and a means to have a computer where a desktop would be impractical. My wife browses the web with our laptop in our bedroom late at night. I use it when I’m sitting in front of the TV, or when my wife or one of the kids is using the workstation. Do we need a laptop? Not really. Windows and Mac OS X both support remote desktop functionality. A thin client would be perfect for our usage.
So where are the inexpensive thin client laptops? Not to be found. There are a handful of such solutions available, but their price is on par with low end laptops. Shouldn’t a gutted thin client with only the bare minimum hardware required to do the job be cheaper than a comparable laptop? One would think.
So what is responsible for the price disparity between laptops and thin clients? Have hardware prices dropped to the point that the missing hardware in a thin client doesn’t translate into a lower price for the end user? Is it a volume issue?
In a perfect world you could buy a 15.4″ thin client laptop for half to two thirds the price of a comparable laptop, and there would be sufficient market to sustain sales.
Have I missed something? Are they out there? If not, why?
