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Re: If you could design a $300 homecomputer today, what would you choose?

Subject: Re: If you could design a $300 homecomputer today, what would you choose?
From: jfk@askjfk.com (askjfk.com)
Date: 30 Jul 2001 10:07:32 -0700
Newsgroups: alt.amiga, comp.sys.amiga.advocacy, comp.sys.amstrad.8bit, comp.sys.apple2, comp.sys.atari.8bit, comp.sys.atari.advocacy, comp.sys.atari.st, comp.sys.cbm, comp.sys.sinclair
Organization: http://groups.google.com/
References: <9ikva3$ple$1@nereid.worldonline.nl>
Xref: archiver1.google.com alt.amiga:1679 comp.sys.amiga.advocacy:22251 comp.sys.amstrad.8bit:3983 comp.sys.apple2:11784 comp.sys.atari.8bit:7360 comp.sys.atari.advocacy:777 comp.sys.atari.st:14731 comp.sys.cbm:19269 comp.sys.sinclair:46558

Why buy a $300 NEW computer when for that amount of money you could
get a very good USED computer? If you added an office suite, a VGA
monitor connector and a printer to the Sega Dreamcast (which already
has a browser, modem and keyboard available), there's a cheap combo
with great games!

A decade from now $300 may be the standard price for a computer with
relatively new technology, but the price today is more like $800-1000.

Realistically, you would have to be able to produce a $300 machine for
about $50-70 to count in all the other costs, like shipping and
returns, so someone would have to think outside the box, so to speak,
to get the job done.

I do NOT think a monitor should be included with it. It adds weight
and cost. You go to a thrift store and there are lots of monitors
there. People also have TVs. The computer should have connections for
at least types of monitors: SVGA, RCA and AV for TV/VCR. People can
get whatever type of monitor they want.

I also think the day of the all-in-one desktop unit (the Apple IIc,
Atari 800, Commodore 64 etc.) should be revived if one wants to be
economical. Have a serial printer port, joystick/mouse port, the
aforementioned three monitor/TV ports, SCSI port. Built in would be a
33k modem and 3.5 floppy drive for data storage. I wouldn't include
CD-Rom. All the necessary stuff should be pre-installed to make life
easy.

There would have to be a GUI. Something tight that doesn't slow down
the new user. HD let's peg at 1GB and Ram at 64MB and figure the
processor is 333 MHZ -- good enought to make the Net move but cheap by
today's standards. The builder should work a deal with Lotus or
WordPerfect to put a low-priced office suite on here.

These $300 machine won't compete speedwise with their $800
counterparts, but are GOOD ENOUGH for most users. And as the $800
machines get faster/better, so will the $300 machines due to
trickle-down technology. Perhaps they will be five years behind the
more expensive machines in bits and bytes.

That's my biz plan.

Darren Johnson
Old Computers and Videogames at http://askjfk.com

Follow-Ups:
- Re: If you could design a $300 homecomputer today, what would you choose?
  - From: "sands-of-iowa" <sands@cableone.com>

References:
- If you could design a $300 homecomputer today, what would you choose?
  - From: "T.J.T van Kooten" <thomas@-nospam-worldonline.nl>

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