gametheoryman's Profile

I agree with Hugmup. Standing alone, Apple will never offer such a product. It cannot make much money for them; Apple only makes products where they see a substantial profit as a possibility. Offering a thin-client notebook could come along as a component of some system that could make substantial profits, though I don't see this happening soon. I call this other product iHome, and it would include the following features: -- capabilities of latest generation 4-core (or 8?) Mac Plus -- an amped-up Xgrid, so multiple users could use it simultaneously -- fast, or faster, Airport Express Base station, and fast Ethernet, so it could communicate quickly with multiple users -- fastest video capabilities -- large storage, say 1 TB plus -- Apple TV capabilities -- Tivo capabilities IHome would be designed to work specifically with thin-client notebooks that each have a cheap processor, a monitor screen, a keyboard, plus fast communication and video display capabilities. The client would download all but the simplest tasks to iHome when at home, and to the cloud otherwise. More capable clients would also work, and they would download fewer tasks. iPhones, iTouch, and iPods would also interact with it. This setup would substitute for, say, four independent machines in a household. Expensive processor power and storage are used much, much more efficiently, as it would be in the cloud. Almost all tasks would be done much faster, though, than when using the cloud, the cloud's biggest disadvantage. $3-$4K for iHome plus $500 per thin client is cheaper for many families than independent notebooks for each. No telephone landline needed either. It would offer an experience for combined computing, games, music, telecommunication, and high definition video that no one could match. Add an iSMB version with 8-16 cores, and users see an improved experience both at home and at the office, and slower cloud computing only when traveling. Much less expensive than standalone machines at work, too. All the pieces Apple offers now, except for the amped-up Xgrid and the thin clients. Other Unix systems have something close to those two, as well.