Shana Smith (Editor: Nancy Stubbs)
A couple of years ago, in the summer of 1996, there was a new concept out -- a device that would connect us to the Internet for $499, or some figure less than $500. $500 was the magical number for network computers (NC), and it was attractive, considering that no new computer sells for anywhere near that range. And why was the industry able to trumpet its horn about producing such a cheap product? Because the product was going to be essentially a box that let the Internet servers do all the work. The theory of network computers insures access to software and applications, but the server has to store this information. It's the network computer that allows the user to gain access.
Today, the NC revolution has lost a bit of its glory; actually, it has suffered some major bumps and bruises. Like many products of the high technology field, it is learning the lessons of competition and standardization, and its producers (at least those who have remained in the game) have exchanged some of their innovative independence for survival.
TECHNOLOGY
NCs are one of the three types of ‘thin client’ products available (the other two are Windows-based Terminals, or WBTs, and Net PCs). NCs consist of three parts: client software, server software, and a network protocol. Although NCs can accommodate hard disk configurations, generally they share applications and store data on the server. Retrieving data from a server is a bit problematic, however, because of the congestion and bottlenecks that can occur when bandwidth traffic is heavy. More powerful NCs, such as IBM's Network Station 1000, are capable of doing data processing, thereby reducing dependency on the server and streamlining ease of use. NCs often require a Java Virtual Machine (a client-side software layer) to operate and typically run Java-based applications. Those who have seen NCs running on the JVM say the process is slow (Kanellos 1997).
As this technology has evolved, the boundaries between the different thin clients are beginning to blur. For instance, an NC is essentially a WBT with increased processing power that is based typically around Java rather than the Windows NT operating system (Kanellos 1997).
BUSINESS
The companies that are winning out in the NC market are those who are able to appeal to multiple applications and can support different protocols. In a December 1997 network computer rating done by Byte Magazine, the system that scored highest in combination of technology, price, performance, and features rating, was the Neoware @work Supra-66, which sells for $1,344. It runs an ICA-compliant server and client software, includes a Java-enabled browser and Java interpreter, and supports both legacy and Window System protocols. Following the Supra were Boundless Technologies Viewpoint ($799), NCD Explore 700 ($1,695), Wyse Technology Winterm 2310SE ($899), and Tektronix NC217 ($1,895). Note that none of these costs $500.
Network Computing Devices (NCD) and Intel recently signed a three-year agreement to collaborate on producing desktop devices based on the lean client systems guidelines outlined by Intel last December. NCD is adamant about using the ‘thin client’ terminology because of the negative associations with NCs (Bournellis 1998b). NCD is ranked first among thin client suppliers, followed by Wyse Technology. Last year NCD shipped over 100,000 thin clients, the majority of which were used to replace green screen terminals, older personal computers and the classic X terminal device that connects to Unix operating systems (Bournellis 1998b). Citrix is another important player in the ‘cross-culturalization’ of the network computer. Its recent licensing agreement with companies like IBM and Hewlett Packard will let vendors embed its Independent Computing Architecture protocol into their thin-client hardware. This architecture will give the network computers access to mainstream Windows applications (Jacobs 1998).
Companies who are sticking to the traditional Java-based NCs are facing the consequences or finding other markets. Oracle, after failing to build a strong customer base in the US, recently launched a campaign in Japan (Oeler 1998). Oracle's venture in Japan is supposedly more promising because most NCs are inexpensive, and they are shared machines. This last factor also helps cut back on spending, because users can reduce expensive Internet home usage in Japan and simply access the server from the office (Oeler 1998). Sun Microsystems stock has dropped from 50 to the low 30s since February, and many blame this drop on failing commercial prospects for network computers (Galante 1998). Sun systems are reliant on the Java-based language operating system.
APPLICATION
IBM's Network Station Series 100 (a 33-MHz PowerPC embedded processor with 8MB of memory, expandable to 64 MB), including the ‘thin client’ computer, server and client software, and adapter card, has dropped from $649 to $499. IBM attributes this price reduction to a maturity in the market, economies of scale and increasing production make NCs a cheaper alternative to PCs (Galante 1998). These cheap prices are at the heart of the initial NC vision. Information systems managers like the idea of cutting costs by using desktop devices that are cheaper than PCs and can be supported from a central location. This is particularly attractive to remote users because they can access applications and data from a server, which is easier to manage than far-flung PCs. ‘That approach can save companies up to 40 per cent on total hardware and software costs during a three-year life span, according to research by Gartner Group, Inc., in Stamford, Conn’ (Jacobs 1998).
Beyond the corporate environment, the cheaper prices have an obvious benefit to everyday consumers. However, it seems that consumer awareness of NCs is not high. According to a survey by Odyssey Homefront of 2500 homes, 60 per cent of the U.S. households own a PC. . Eleven per cent own two PCs, while a mere four per cent own one computer and plan to buy another (Bournellis 1998a). Intel conducted focus group tests within 400 homes. 300 owned two PCs and 100 owned one PC and were planning to buy another. 90 per cent of the respondents had some notion of the term networking. Their perceptions, however, were mostly negative and revolved around three issues: networking is hard to deploy, the network goes down all the time, and extra people are needed to run it (Bournellis 1998a). Some companies are working to showcase the positive aspects of networking and to dispel some of these consumer worries. IBM announced in February its participation, along with the City of Oakland, Pacific Bell and Bridge West Oakland housing, in a $1.2 million project to bring network computers and computer training to residents in a public housing development (Festa 1998). In this way, some of those 40 per cent of the people who don't own a computer can use an NC to build skills and find employment.
DRIVING FORCES
What drives this industry is a very practical consideration -- computing powers and Internet access at half or even a quarter of standard computer cost. What causes problems is that no one wants to spend $500 to save on a computer that will be difficult to use and that could be obsolete in a few years because it is incompatible with other computer systems. Hence, while the pioneering notions of companies like Java, Oracle, and Sun could have provided us with a computer concept that is cheap and simple, the practicalities of technology still come to the fore. Users want what they already have and know (Windows compatible programs), and they will shape new technologies to conform to their purchasing power. ‘"Java could be the best, but it is an unknown," Ahmad Gramian, principal at CorpInfo Systems, a Los Angeles integrator, told CNET recently. "Typically customers are pragmatists. They like to follow"’ (Kanellos 1997). Hence, while many of today's ‘thin clients’ still call themselves network computers, they have moved away from a strictly Java-based operating system.
POLICY
‘The network computer has been [doomed] since [1997], when Microsoft announced it would create a multi-user version of Windows NT called Hydra designed to distribute applications to thin client devices from a central server’ (McGarvey 1998). Windows-based terminals (WBTs) using the Hydra software, as well as Citrix's Winframe system, both run on top of Windows NT. The above eulogy is for a Java-based NC, but we should only mourn the death of the Java operating system that runs it. Java-based vendors have changed their minds at the last minute about producing NCs, or they have been incredibly slow rolling out the product (after re-naming dates for distribution more than once, Sun finally and quietly rolled out its JavaStation this spring). While Mitsubishi recently decided to halt development of it Mon Ami NC (a portable device introduced at the 1997 JavaOne conference), other companies, like Toshiba, have not decided to extend the Java-based NCs to American sales. And Java's hopes for product development with IBM don't look too promising since the latter has already enjoyed measured success with its NC models that are Unix and Windows compatible (Davis 1998b). IBM announced in January that it is licensing technology from Citrix, which gives users access to applications when the Network Stations are used with Citrix's Winframe server software (Davis 1998a). Adding insult to injury, buyers are also backing out of agreements. Federal Express Corporation recently decided to go with Windows-based PCs rather than NCs, a disappointment to the floundering technology that had hoped to fill the 75,000-unit order (McGarvey 1998).
‘The NC was merely a symbol for a new computing model, one in which the network is the center of the universe’ (McGarvey 1998). When the platform was announced late in 1996, some of its champions asserted the NC would replace the PC. In a year's time it became clear that it was not going to happen. PC makers began incorporating some of the NC's best features, such as remote manageability for systems operators, and prices fell dramatically, undercutting its most obvious advantage. PC vendors were aided by NC vendors’ snail-like pace in getting product to market (Oeler 1998). These scaled-down PCs are especially attractive to consumers because they already have an existing software infrastructure, providing a viable alternative to the NCs lack of a widely compatible software environment (Miles 1998).
Net PCs have not killed the NC, though; they have simply made NC (‘thin client,’ whatever you want to call it) vendors become more savvy. While the PCs have taken on the appealing aspects of the network computers, so too have the network computers upped their capabilities, with more powerful microprocessors and higher memory capacity. The industry is already changing the problem of a standard operating environment by using server software that is Windows and Unix compatible. What will win out in the end will probably be the best combination of the PC and the NC. The problem then will be figuring out what to name it.
REFERENCES
Bournellis, C. (1998a) ‘Intel's balanced computing to network the home’, Electronic News, v44n2208, 2 March.
Bournellis, C. (1998b) ‘NCD inks thin client deal with Intel’, Electronic News, v44n2210, 16 March.
Davis, J. (1998a) ‘IBM moves to improve NCs,’ CNET, 15 January. Available HTTP: http:www.news.com/News/Item/0,4.18133,00.htm.
Davis, J. (1998b) ‘Java NC rationale not clear,’ CNET, 25 March. Available: file:///Cl/nstemp/0,4,20459,00.htm
Festa, P. (1998) ‘IBM to put NCs in public housing’, CNET, 2 February. Available HTTP: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,18737,00.htm.
Galante, S. (1998) ‘Sun feels pressure in NCs and Java,’CNET, 7 April. Available HTTP: http:www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,21122,00.htm.
Jacobs, A. (1998) ‘Citrix license deal moves NCs forward’, Computerworld, v32n4, 26 January.
Kanellos, M. (1997) ‘What exactly is a thin client?’ CNET, 18 November. Available HTTP: http://www.news.com/SpecialFeatures/0,5.164800.00.htm.
McGarvey, J. (1998) ‘Vampires, ghosts, zombies and network computers,’ Inter@ctive Week, 2 March. Available: wysiwyg://86//http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/print/890302/292803.html.
Miles, S. (1998) ‘Network computer sales low,’ CNET, 1 April. Available HTTP:http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,2069.00.htm.
‘Network computers ratings’, Byte, December 1997. Available: wysiwyg://10/http://www.byte.com/art/9712/sec10/art4.htm.
Oeler, K. (1998) ‘Oracle places NC hopes in Japan’, CNET, 31 March. Available HTTP: http:www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,19668,00.htm.