AOL (Re: [thelist] Netscape 6 loads page twice)

Aylard JA (James) jaylard at equilon.com
Thu Dec 7 12:17:02 CST 2000


> Can AOL actually create a consumer friendly internet appliance - that
could
> replace 50% of the home PC's? I certainly think so.

	Yeah, maybe. Who knows? My suspicion is that new appliances
developed for a targeted use (such as email appliances) will probably fail,
while existing appliances with a proven usefulness (e.g., game consoles,
mobile phones) that add internet capabilities will succeed. But as I
understand it, those appliances aren't likely to use Netscape 6, but some
subset of the Gecko rendering engine.

> Do we really need all the overhead (and potential points of failure) of a
> windows OS for Web browsing, email, and possibly word processing?

	The problem with this, in part, is inertia. If someone could create
from scratch a brand new way of doing things without freaking everyone out,
you might have a successful argument. But people tend to continue to do
things in the way that is familiar to them. And right now for many people,
using a computer with a Windows OS is what they're used to.
	The other problem is that a computer is mighty flexible, turning
your argument on its head. If I want to play a game, I've already got the
appliance; if I want to write an email or a thesis, I've already got the
appliance; if I want to browse the web, I've already got the appliance. And
it works pretty well for all of these uses. Why do I want to buy a separate
game appliance, word-processing appliance, email appliance, or web browsing
appliance?
	A computer is extremely extensible, and can also become a sound and
video studio, a graphic-design studio, a print shop, a reference library,
etc.	I certainly do *not* foresee the death of the OS as we know it any
time soon -- maybe some day, but not in the next few years. Besides, by that
point, the Netscape / IE argument will be moot.

James Aylard




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