Re: Re: MISC personal computers

[dcr@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dan C. Rinnert)]

dirnfir,dirnfir@usa.net writes:
>    Does anyone think that a personal computer with a MISC CPU would
>would popular?  That is, a machine designed for home use, with a GUI, a
>Forth-based OS, and all.  I guess what I am asking is: could MISC one
>day supplant the PC as the dominant computer in the home? :) I am very
>interested in this subject.


Yes, but only if done so within a relatively short span of time.  Electronic
typewriters are now word processors that can perform functions that
previously required a computer.  Telephones, pagers and other communication
devices are gaining Internet functions, which previously required a computer.
 I imagine one day your microwave may even have a built-in recipe database. 
The result is that, in the not-so-distant future, the demand for what we now
label a "personal computer" is going to be less than what it is today.  Many
people that today have a computer for surfing the web will one day have
dumped that computer in favor of their telephone/web browser or cable TV/web
browser.

Of course, to completely reverse what I've just said, if there were a
compelling reason for a personal computer, people would still buy them.  One
compelling reason would be price.  If a computer can perform many functions
and have a lower cost than purchasing these independent "modules" (i.e. web
surfing TV, pager with eMail, microwave with database), then people would buy
it.  This naturally leads us to the another compelling reason, software. 
There needs to be quality software for a personal computer, and it needs to
be easy to use.

I would suggest that a MISC PC needs to be available at under $250.  A
sub-$500 MISC PC would likely not fly.  A used Mac or Windows-based PC can be
purchased for that price, and with the rapid turnaround in technology, a
sub-$500 used machine is still fast-enough for the average user.  Plus, there
is widely available software for it.  People will gravitate to what they
perceive to be better or more flexible rather than what is.  As proof of
this, just compare the marketshare of Windows-based PC versus the Apple
Macintosh.  All the software the average user will ever use or need is
available for the Mac, but more people buy the Windows PCs because there are
more programs available for it, even though they'll never use 99% of those
programs.  Plus, their friends have PCs, they use them at work, etc.  We
should learn this lesson, because MISC PCs will face the same prejudice.

An open source operating system for the MISC PC is unimportant.  This only
attracts the computer geek population, and there are not enough of them to
sustain a platform.  The average home user, the person that has no interest
in compiling or writing modifications to the operating system, is the target
audience.  That is, of course, if the goal is to become the dominant home
computer.  If the interest is only in selling a few hundred or few thousand
MISC PCs, then target only the geeks.  You'll be the next NeXT; geeks will
love and adore you, and no one else will care.

But, on the other hand, you do need to target the computer geek market to get
the momentum going.  But, you entice them with hardware, not software.  What
is needed is an open hardware design for MISC, a MISC motherboard.  Something
anyone can build.  Something the hardware geeks can build themselves, and
something the software geeks can buy from the hardware geeks.  The objective
of the open hardware design is to make available a completed motherboard to
the software geeks, so that they can simply plug in RAM, hard drive,
keyboard, mouse and monitor and start writing the software for it.

The MISC hardware design should be easily expandable.  Users should be able
to add additional CPUs as easily as they can now add RAM.  Ideally, a MISC PC
should be plug and play and hot-swappable.

Once the hardware is in the hand of the software geeks, sure, some can get
together and write an open source operating system for it.  But, the ones
that will get the momentum going are those that will write a commercial
operating system for it, and the ones that will write the software for that
commercial operating system.  If a MISC PC can be sold for $250 (and still
have a good profit margin), you can bet that the people writing the
commercial operating system and applications for it will market the heck out
of it.

And, for those that want the open source operating system, they can buy the
hardware, download LinuxMISC (or whatever) from the Internet and install it
on their MISC PC.  Everyone else can use the commercial operating system(s).

Again, the most important factor in creating a MISC PC that will dominate the
home market will be getting a functional MISC motherboard in the hands of the
computer software geeks.  If you build it, they will come!!!

Anyway, that's my two cents.

Dan

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