Linux Ready for Prime Time?

[Devin Carraway]

While I greet the prospect with some chagrin, there is a strong possibility
that embedded devices, in the form of set-tops, tablets and other appliances,
may come to dominate the novice public.  Linux embeds well, it isn't tied to
any particular GUI, and it's more readily available to the developers of
appliance-type devices than, say, Wince, which carries royalty and
modification problems besides being as reliable and compact as its
predecessors.

There's also the prospect that AOL, which has the majority of the ISP
business, and whose customer base represent the largest quantity of novices
known to exist in the computer arena, is trying to turn the market to
set-tops, and the evidence suggests that they'll do so with a Linux-Mozilla
device -- so there may come to be hordes of AOL users on Linux and not
realizing as much.  WebTV has helped demonstrate some of that potential; it's
seen considerable success despite being a pile of shit in most technical
aspects, and certain HCI aspects.

-- 
Devin  \ aqua(at)devin.com, 1024D/E9ABFCD2;  http://www.devin.com
Carraway \ IRC: Requiem  GCS/CC/L s-:--- !a !tv C++++$ ULB+++$ O+@ P L+++