What to Do With a $99 Wall Wart Linux Server 346
Guanine writes in with a follow-up to our discussion a few months back on the SheevaPlug: 1.2-GHz ARM-compliant processor, 512 MB DDR2, 512 MB flash, USB 2.0, gigabit ethernet, in a package the size of a wall wart, for $99. Saul Hansell's Bits Blog in the NY Times talks about a few applications for such a device, whose price point Hansell claims will drop to $40 before too long. "The first plausible use for the plug computer is to attach one of these gizmos to a USB hard drive. Voila, you've got a network server. Cloud Engines, a startup, has in fact built a $99 plug computer called Pogoplug, that will let you share the files on your hard drive, not only in your home but also anywhere on the Internet. ... [Marvell's CEO said] 'Eventually you won't see the plug. We want this device to be in your TV, your stereo system, your DVD player.'"
Wall wart, not WalMart (Score:2, Insightful)
I had to read this several times to realize that the OP wasn't talking about something being sold at WalMart. Maybe Michael Robertson should add this to the Linspire line.
First Easy-to-Use Dev Kit (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:One application I would go for (Score:2, Insightful)
Or asterisk (www.asterisk.org) for a full PBX at home
Re:One application I would go for (Score:3, Insightful)
More RAM (Score:4, Insightful)
If it had more RAM it'd make a great web-development server. With only 512MB Ram, I think some SQL databases might be a bit much.
I'm thinking throw a USB external HDD, or maybe just a 8GB Flash-drive on it, and "let'er-Rip"
maybe also add a second USB port, so you can add a USB WIFI adaptor, though the GigaBit ethernet sounds nice.
I can also see using one as a low-end monitoring server (Nagios), or network print server.
Re:Wall wart, not WalMart (Score:5, Insightful)
You're not the only one. Scary, isn't it, how a corporation's name can get that ingrained in one's head that anything similar immediately looks like it?
I was thinking, "Well, that'll be kind of cool, if I can grab a $99 server computer at Wal-Mart."
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hackable devices everywhere (Score:3, Insightful)
Do you want to hack my TV, my stereo system and my DVD player?
You're close. "They" want to preinstall spyware and otherwise bend the product to their own purposes.
The smarter these devices get, the easier they can be used to subvert the interests of the consumer. And for some reason, we usually put up with it...
The makers of such time bombs should bear the full responsibility of intrusions through vulnerabilities found in their products.
They are counting on that. They know you'll just buy another one when your TV mysteriously slows down. You did with your computer, and those companies made a KILLING off of you. Why not the TV companies, too?
Re:These things are largely useless (Score:4, Insightful)
Sorry, you can get a router with half a gig of internal storage, half a gig of RAM, a 1.2GHz chip and a USB port for less than 99 bucks?
I call bullshit.
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:2, Insightful)
We had this discussion in February. mcgrew (92797) said:
I hope they sell them at Wal-mart. A Wal-mart Wall-Wart would be cool!
Imagine a beowolf cluster of OW!! OW!! STOP HITTING ME!!!
In fact, I was secretly hoping they'll recreate that particular thread here, word for word.
Re:Automatic FRIST POST generator? (Score:3, Insightful)
then people would race for "Second post"
Re:These things are largely useless (Score:3, Insightful)
It's more than that (Score:3, Insightful)
It's slightly more significant than that. It's a 1GHz ARM board with 512Mb of RAM for $100. That's maybe a 5th what you'd find in a SBC format.
Now, if only it had enough of the right kind of i/o ports to make hobbiest projects more appealing. 2x Ethernet and/or wifi would have been a good start.
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:5, Insightful)
Then I clicked around the Marvell site to try to find out how to buy it.
At $100, they should have a "BUY IT NOW" button on their site. They missed at least one quick sale from an impulse buyer here.
PogoPlug+Wifi+Webcam+LockerRoom (Score:3, Insightful)
=profit!!
Re:One application I would go for (Score:3, Insightful)