Except in this case, it could be, at best, called a "distributed mainframe." No big, honking iron there. Just lots and lots of cheap (and scalable) commodity servers. The concept I have in mind is indeed "thin" but not in the usual sense. The apps run local, at least as one option.
Of course, I could just move my data up to any of the online storage sites now. I use Box.net and you get a gig for free. Very nice interface. I signed up my .org to use this in place of an FTP server. $200/year for 15 GB with 20 sub accounts; I only need about 7 sub accounts now. You don't even need to give anyone a user name for d/l'ing files. Just shoot them a link. But yeah, ultimately, I think the future is non-local storage. I just prefer it local for now. > -----Original Message----- > >You can, except you don't need to carry around any data on a chip. > Just > >log in via any networked computer and access your files from a central > >source. For one example, just go to docs.google.com and give it a try. > > > >Best of all, it doesn't matter what kind of computer you are using. It > >works just fine with Macs, or Linux, or even Windows. > > Boy, that sure does sound an awful lot like a mainframe, especially > when you start talking about "thin clients." ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? Unsubscribe command: SIGNOFF COMPUTERGUYS-L * New address? From OLD address send: CHANGE COMPUTERGUYS-L YourNewAddress * Need more help? Send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************ * List archive at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ * RSS at www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml * Messages bearing the header "X-No-Archive: yes" will not be archived ************************************************************************
