Related Web Works

[The San Francisco Chronicle]

News Business Commentary Sports Daily Datebook The Gate

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, October 22, 1996 á Page C4 © 1996 San Francisco Chronicle ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Infoseek]

ON TECHNOLOGY -- NCs Poised To Displace $2,000 PCs Computers outstrip consumers' needs

DAVID EINSTEIN

Less than two decades after it came on the scene, the desktop personal computer is already starting to look like a dinosaur.

It won't happen overnight, but within five years, I'd say, many consumers will be buying network computers (NCs) for a few hundred dollars rather than shelling out $2,000 for a cutting-edge PC.

Think about it. Why should you buy a technologically loaded computer when all you really want to do is send e-mail, surf the Web, do a little word processing and maybe play some video games?

Those are the things that most consumers use their PCs for. And network computers, as envisioned by Oracle's Larry Ellison and others, will let you do them for a fraction of the cost of a full-fledged PC.

In fact, today's PCs far outstrip the needs of the average consumer. Most software now available for Windows-based systems works just dandy on an entry level Pentium PC. The only reason you'd need a super-fast chip is if you design buildings or do other sophisticated number-crunching tasks.

The Internet itself has put the desktop PC in a precarious position -- because you don't need a powerful computer to browse the Web. In fact, a 2-year-old PC with a modem running at 28.8 kilobits per second should perform nearly as well as a brand new system with the same modem.

The network computer probably won't have a hard drive, a floppy drive or a lot of memory like a regular PC. On the other hand, you won't have to buy software for it. All the programs you use, from word processors to games, will reside on the network itself. (You also won't have to worry about upgrading the software.)

You'd think that PC makers would begin to see the light and start to think seriously about shifting toward a future based on network computers. But no! They're behaving as if they can sell newer, faster, more powerful PCs forever.

In a way, the manufacturers are stuck. In order to succeed in what has become a viciously competitive market, they must make sure they have the latest technology. That means the fastest new Pentium chips from Intel, the biggest hard disk drives and the most memory.

New technology is expensive, however, and it forces PC makers to keep the price of the latest and greatest systems above $2,000, if they hope to turn a profit.

Other electronic devices, such as televisions and stereos, cost less now than they did five years ago. But those technologies are not evolving at the rate that PCs are. As long as there are faster chips and bigger disk drives, the $2,000 price point probably will hold.

Suppose you're in the market for a new PC, and you don't like the idea of waiting six months or a year until the first network computers come out and prove reliable.

One option is to buy a new PC with a slower chip, less memory and a smaller hard disk. Such a system, available for as little as $1,000, should be more than ample if your main interest is the Internet. (One thing to watch out for: many entry level PCs come with 14.4 kbps modems, when you really need one that's 28.8.)

If all you want is Internet access, without any computing power, consider getting WebTV, which for under $400 lets you use your TV to browse the Web, send e-mail, etc. Or, if your kid has a Sega Saturn game player, you could get a new add-on that turns it into an Internet system (see Jon Swartz's article on this page).

Chronicle Search Feedback Chronicle Home Page The Gate Home Page

© The Chronicle Publishing Company