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

[helgetu <h.schaefer@tu-bs.de>]

Hi all,

As though following this discussion at a computer newsgroup I would like to
follow the idea of some others:

What might be the purpose of this $300 machine?
What kind of task does it need to be prepared for?
By what features might it be sold? (What is the difference to existing systems
ranging from gaming consoles to standard PC?)

While scanning through all the answers I picked out one topic pointed out
several times:
it has to be userfriendly - that thing must be some sort of
plug-it-in-and-there-you-go...

I consider that it should be some kind of entertainement-station looking like
the typical audio-hifi-stuff. There has to be the possibility to run all kind of
media: from CD, DVD, to internet-based-information (including connectivity for
VCR, TV, ...).

Concerning  the OS I am not sure if something capable of what I am thinking
already exist: the GUI must be designed the way that even the unexperienced
generation of my parents (~ 60 years) will be able to use it from the beginning:
Putting in some media must make the thing behave like the very same machine they
are used to. A DVD-movie must change the display to some kind of "VCR"-display
with touchscreen-buttons and moveable-regs ...
Or feeding it with a electronic lexicon must change the display ... to some
e-book like view, where it is straightforward to turn around "pages" or flipping
over to the relevant part of the book.

Saying it short: fit it to the typical living room equipment, close to the TV.
Prepare for all kinds of computer periphals and home equipment (coffee-maker,
fridge ...). Integrate phone, fax, mail, sms.

To be discussed,
Helge