Meet "Ophelia," Dell's Plan To Reinvent Itself

redletterdave writes "Dell is reportedly working on a project codenamed 'Ophelia,' a USB stick-sized self-contained computer that provides access to virtually every major operating system — from the Mac OS, to Windows, to Google's Chrome OS, to cloud-based solutions from Citrix and Dell — all via the cloud. Powered by Android, Ophelia works just like a USB stick: Just plug it into any flat panel monitor or TV, and boom, you have a computer. Ophelia connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, and can connect to keyboards and other peripherals over Bluetooth. Not only is the computer portable and power-efficient, but to make it truly accessible, Dell plans to sell the device for just $50."

The "Cloud"

[TheGoodNamesWereGone]

I can't be the only one who's creeped out about this. All my data in "the cloud"... I know, I know, it's been going on for years, but me, I like my data on my own machine away from anyone else. The is just more devolution of the power of the individual & transferring it to others, who may not necessarily have the individual's best interests in mind. Keep your little machine Dell.

Re:Been Done

[Cryacin]

Yeah, even if this is useful as just a web browser, this is going to be a market changer.

Mac OS my a$$

[Radical Moderate]

I'm willing to bet very, very many internets that Apple hasn't authorized any Mac OS running from this device.
Not.
Gonna.
Happen.

Odd choice of name....

[Eightbitgnosis]

The first thing I think of when I hear the name is going insane and dieing in a river

Dell invented the diskless workstation?

[Lawrence_Bird]

It really is amazing how the IT industry continues to re-invent what was done decades ago.

Re:The "Cloud"

[hawguy]

I can't be the only one who's creeped out about this. All my data in "the cloud"... I know, I know, it's been going on for years, but me, I like my data on my own machine away from anyone else. The is just more devolution of the power of the individual & transferring it to others, who may not necessarily have the individual's best interests in mind. Keep your little machine Dell.

You may not be the only one who's afraid of the cloud, but for most people, their data is safer in the "cloud" than it is at home on their old PC that has no backups. It could even be safer against hack attacks if the provider keeps applications patched so no one is still running a buggy unpatched MSIE 6 on WinXP.

The cellular data bill

[tepples]

It's a lot less seamless over a celluar Mifi device, but still usable.

I don't see why this device wouldn't be usable.

I'm under the impression that the the cellular data bill (assuming the U.S. market, where Dell and Dice are headquartered) would make it cost prohibitive.

Re:The "Cloud"

[Osgeld]

even better, when they screw up and delete something they did not mean to, and go looking for it later, they have someone to blame

Re:Been Done

[pepty]

I'm guessing $50 gets you the terminal but there will be a monthly charge for the OS and applications cloud.

Re:The "Cloud"

[TheGoodNamesWereGone]

And better data mining techniques too. Anyone who believes that Dell or any other company doing something like this (Apple) won't leverage this level of control into dictating what the user sees is engaging in wishful thinking. Consheepmers might see the device as a convenience, but Dell will see it as a marketing tool & will be in total control of whatever information it provides. This whole movement away from PCs to handheld devices (tablets/smartphones) represents a paradigm shift away from local control & content creation, to remote control & content consumption. The Idiocracy has begun.

REALLY?

[ArchieBunker]

Sounds like a glorified WebTV device. Dell has been going down the shitter for years turning out trash hardware.

Re:Been Done

[LynnwoodRooster]

Everyone's heard of Dell. Only geeks MAY have heard of Raspberry or Sheeva. You don't have to be the first to a market to dominate or change a market - just the one who markets the best.

Re:Been Done

[93 Escort Wagon]

Everyone's heard of Dell.

Except, for the past seven or eight years, whenever they've heard "Dell" it's been preceded by "piece of sh*t".

Re:Odd choice of name....

[Ukab the Great]

Naming a product that's supposed to save your business after one of literature's most prominent suicides probably seemed like a good idea at the time.

Re:Been Done

[hsa]

You really think Dell will let you use that as a Web Browser? Think again.

It is going to be a dumb terminal that connects to Dell Services. These services will likely have a monthly/usage based fee.

There is no business sense in giving you hardware with low profit margins for your personal use.

Re:Or qemu and a garage sale tower

[GNUALMAFUERTE]

You are right, no sane enterprise will use cheap hardware and free software to run such a service. Imagine if google used nothing but cheap x86 hardware and free software to run their operation, instead of the huge IBM mainframes they have now.