From Software Futures, a sister publication.
If you thought the Network Computer (NC) came from Oracle head honcho Larry Ellison’s stable, think again, says Bruce Anthony, system hardware chief engineering manager for integrated workstations and systems for the AS/400. Anthony had been working on a replacement for the dumb terminal that half his customers still have. They’re staying with terminals because PCs are too costly and complex. Anthony didn’t know it, but by accident he’d invented IBM’s thin client, the $700 Network Station, a slick black box to run a browser and not Microsoft Windows. For a while it looked as though it was destined only for AS/400 customers. Then Ellison piped up about the NC. Before Larry talked out, we couldn’t get any attention. Then suddenly we could. In April we showed a prototype to Bob Dies. He then dragged us to a senior management meeting with Lou Gerstner. And hey presto, his Network Station is of interest to the rest of the company, including the PC server division. In fact, it is of so much interest that the company has trashed its other contender for the NC developed by its Somers, New York PC division.
By Susan Amos
Anthony believes there’s a market for this diskless device, due to ship at year-end. He estimates there are 15 million AS/400 green screens around the world and around 30 million ageing 286s and 386s hooked up too. He’d be quite happy to ship a modest 35 million Network Stations, he adds, and has had inquiries from a big insurance company, who wants to plant the Station on every desktop to wrest back control from end users. The Network Station is, however, not for everyone. Anthony is a realist. He knows there are techno-freaks out there who love turning knobs and dials, who will want to run Windows 99 or whatever Microsoft decides to bring out next. His machine will not win over these PC bigots, but could prove attractive to some current AS/400 users.
