ping!
CHeap sells. But OTOH it does expose a lot of people to linux.
$200 ? wow
Everex.. used to see that name on stuff way back when..
This has to be temporary. Can run a Word Processr, but not a game?
Wal-Mart's Little Linux PC That Could
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Ubuntu has gained a lot of attention for its capabilities as a desktop Linux distribution for the masses. But it probably took a Wal-Mart to get it attention for the right reason: an affordable OS that can do what people need it to do.
Even though Wired cited research that sneered at the "unsophisticated" Wal-Mart shopper buying the Everex machine because it's crammed inside a big case, Everex seems ready to keep those buyers using an OS not called Windows, by providing 24-hour tech support via a toll-free call.
That's an important piece of the puzzle. If Everex can keep buyers happy and returns out of the initial batch to a minimum, they can push another 10,000 out to shoppers. Maybe more. We have to wonder what the magic number will be that prompts some kind of response from Microsoft.
darn.. the power of capitalism.
With the gPC you can surf the web, send and receive email, work with word processor and spreadsheet documents, chat with friends, keep a blog updated, edit photos and pictures, even burn DVDs thanks to the built-in DVD burner. About the only thing that your average home user won’t be able to do with this PC is play games on it.
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I’ve never been a gamer,, the rest makes it sound like its worth checking out, next go-around..
Last year Wal-Mart and “MEGA-churches” were going destroy America and the world—did we miss something!?!?
Thoughts?
I personally believe the majority of the people who buy them are going to pump them full of warez and put them in the family room for the kids.
Soon 9000 knuckle dragging mouth breathing slugs will return their PC’s to Walmart because they “don’t get that linus thang”
...research indicates that Wal-Mart shoppers are so unsophisticated they equate physical size with capability.
So many jokes, so little time...
My 6-year old uses Ubuntu. It’s great.
It is still a good price for the components, but you can't throw away the case and put it in a tiny mini-ITX case.
Walmart is increasingly becoming a deciding factor of consumer buying trends solely on their pricing strategy, currently the trend of direction in the HD-DVD vs. BluRay format wars is now tipping in favor of the HD format with the sales strong of $99 HD-DVD players.
I think the article misses one point. Only a company the size of a Walmart could withstand Microsoft’s pressure. It will be telling if Walmart signs an agreement with gOS to be there sole distributer of the gPC.
I may use a computer but I know little about their hardware and even less about their software. I just want to FReep with them. (Hmmmmmm .... that sounds almost lewd.)
As a bonus they add 24/7 Customer Service from North Korea. 24 hours on hold, 7 days a week.
“Even at the low end, however, image is everything. The gPC is built using tiny components, but put inside a full-size case because research indicates that Wal-Mart shoppers are so unsophisticated they equate physical size with capability.”
Don’t you just love it when they talk computer?
I have a PC running Ubuntu with nearly the same machine specs. Paid $50 for the used computer and wiped the drive. Ubuntu came in the mail for free. It was an easy install and works great. I added Wine so I could some Windows apps and Flash things on the web.