Terminals

[REDDFOX321]

Following the trends in the computer industry, does any one else believe that we will be going back to terminal computing? I do for the following reasons:

1) The internet. With a growing reliance on the internet I think that we will see cheaper computers ($200 or less) made solely for reaching the internet to do things like taxes, shopping, checking the news etc. These computers may not even have a hard drive, they may only be able to connect to a remote server with the OS on it.
2) Internet speed. With the technology transportation of DSL, Cable, and T1 lines it would be easy to operate a terminal computer with the capabilities of the computers we have now. What I mean is we will be able to operate the functions of the remote server through the terminal with minimal lag.
3) Palladium. Microsoft and some other companies are planning on making it difficult for us to do WHATEVER we want to do on OUR computers. They will be placing new chips and software in computers to determine if you are doing anything illegal. It will erase pirated software or mp3's on your system, and it will not allow programs written by yourself or others to run on the system without a special certificate that is published by Microsoft. It will probably make connecting to a computer running a different OS pretty dificult because the other computers would not have these certificates. This is just a small move to take control from you , the user. The next step will be to sell you cheaper terminal computers that connect to their servers (seeing as you cant do anything you want with your current computer, theres nothing to lose) and letting them have complete control of all your information.
4) Economics. A large percentage of the lower class cannot afford a computer. With bargain prices at $200 dollars a computer you would be cheap not to get one!

any feedback would be appreciated, tell me what you think

Anyone?

[bballad]

IMHO thinclients in the home will not happen untill broadband is universal and cheep. Most people have a computer but very few of those have access to, or a desier to pay for broad band, untill that happens thin clients wont work on a mass scale