simPC - Your Grandparents' New Computer?

trs9000 writes "The Register has a blurb about simPC, an "idiot-proof" PC set to debut in May of this year. It seems like a step towards a thin-client world, though it is aimed primarily at the elderly. For about $400 for the box and a $13-per-month subscription, users get a box with a propietary OS and software preinstalled for online banking, spam filtering, virus detection and online storage. What users don't get is the ability to install software, burn CDs or download large files. Initial release is only for the Netherlands and Belgium."

Re:That's an easy call

[mister_tim]

but it'd be nice if I could patch Granny's Mac over SSH.

You can.
ssh in, then:
softwareupdate -l to list available updates.
softwareupdate -i [name of package] to install the one you want.
reboot (or shutdown -r) to reboot.

Re:Or

[EnronHaliburton2004]

Assuming that the software you want is on mac, which is pretty doubtful.

The Mac has plenty of decent software, especially software that the elderly would be using (online banking, email, web browsing, watching movies).

Maybe it doesn't have a terrific array of games and specialty softare, but somehow I don't expect Granddad to be hosing down aliens with a flamethrower in Halo2.

Re:That's an easy call

[phillymjs]

Even easier,

softwareupdate -ia; shutdown -r +30

to install all available updates and reboot the machine in 30 minutes (adjust time according to how fast your connection is or to reboot when convenient for the end-users)

IMHO they need to add an option to softwareupdate to have it automatically reboot upon completion of all the installations, if a reboot is required by any updates.

~Philly

Re:idiot-proof

[emjoi_gently]

What about us 40 years olds who have to fix the damn teenagers PCs filled with spyware.

I don't know what my neices are doing, but their PCs seem to soak up spyware like a sponge.

Stop clicking on "YES" when those popups appear on websites, kids!

Re:That's an easy call

[cortana]

If softwareupdate doesn't return immediatly, and instead quits once the update is done, you can "softwareupdate -ia && shutdown -r now".

Live CDs

[jeif1k]

A PC with a Live CD (Knoppix, Ubuntu, Gnoppix, etc.) gives you something similar without being tied to a single vendor. You even get regular upgrades (subscribe to a CD burning service or have the kids burn the new CD every few months). It also comes with lots more applications out of the box.

Re:idiot-proof

[arivanov]

Teenagers will not take this one. Too bland sluggish and weak for their taste. Speaking out of experience as I have one in the house and quite a few in the office (circa 20-30).

The PC on the picture is LeX. http://www.lex.com.tw/ [lex.com.tw]. It exists in 2 major incarnations - 533 MHz C3 and 800 MHz C3. The first is fully passive cooling, the second is fanned. Both incarnations have subvariants with 1-3 10/100 Realtek or 10/10/1000 Intel Ethernets. Video is Cyberblade with shared RAM, audio and on-board chipset is Via. There is 3", 2", CF and disk on chip connector on board. The standard disk is a 2". Can take up to 512MB 133 SDRAM using a single low profile DIMM. DC to DC convertor on board, external 12V DC power supply.

The 3 interface variety make very good firewalls and routers.

The price quoted on the website is barely just above what Lex charges for the 533 with a minimal disk or flash and minimal RAM. This means that it is running either Linux or QNX.

The systems are nice, but I would not recommend them for use in anything but a dedicated server/system or a diskless terminal.

The reasons for this are:

• Bad cooling especially on the 533. If you add a disk the heat generation in the case is nearly always above the thermal throttle threshold. This makes the machine go sluggish even with minimal use.
• The video is quite sluggish and if pushed to higher frequencies takes a lot of the system memory bandwidth.

As far as spec is concerned the Lex is a very advanced typewriter with a reasonable audio (all proper mini-ITX VIA motherboards have a better one). It crawls when used under Linux 2.4, 2.6 is passable but still slow. BSD 5.x is quite good as it seems to take advantage of the thermal throttle in a better way. Windoze is barely standable. It should also run QNX and a few other suspects.

Re:Or

[dn15]

contrary to what people would have us believe, many products for the Mac don't "just work" but require lots of fiddling, driver downloads, software updates, and weird configuration options, that translates into many hours of work for the kids.

That's funny, of all the hardware I use on my Mac, the scanner was the only one that wasn't automatically recognized and configured by the OS. I can't imagine what kind of freaky peripherals you must be using that required hours of fiddling, downloads, and software updates... or much of any driver installation at all for that matter. I guess YMMV, but in my experience "what people would have us believe" is the truth.

Re:hmm, don't know about this one...

[koi88]

why not just go for the el cheapo special from dell or someone and then install Linux on it?

I tell you why the Mac Mini is better suited for your grandmother:

• iMovie
• iPhoto
• overall better quality
• easy-to-install software (my grandmother CAN install software on her iMac, yet I don't think she could do on a Linux-box)

No offense meant against Linux, it's a great OS (while I prefer BSD, which is dying, and MacOS).
Yet I think Mac OS and Macs in general are more granny-compatible

Re:And isn't this the name of that Indian computer

[jpkunst]

Een simPC is een makkelijke en veilige computer met een lage prijs.

"A simPC is an easy and safe computer with a low price".

(Unelegant, word-for-word translation.)

JP