News sites are buzzing about the new Everex PC going on sale at WalMart for $199, running Linux. It's new, it's daring, it's revolutionary... It's something WalMart tried five years ago.
In September 2002, they announced a line of PCs from Microtel, running Linux. Like the Everex machines, they ran Via processors instead of AMD or Intel and were chock full of open source goodies, but the Microtel machines ran Lindows while the Everex machines will run Ubuntu.
5 years later, the processor speed has barely doubled (from 800 MHz to 1.5 GHz), the RAM has quadrupled, the hard drive space has octupled, and you've got a "desktop Linux" that has had 5 more years to reach maturity... still for $199. In some ways, it's a much better deal than it was in 2002. But it's still going to be a tough sell for some people.
It's just funny to watch tech reporters who apparently have no sense of history proclaiming that this could be a "new price point for desktop machines." It ain't new, you hacks. The $199 Linux Desktop at Walmart is not new. It's a failed idea from 5 years ago that's getting ressurected.
Entries (RSS)