Re: Diskless node vs. thin client (was Re: [school-discuss] linux distributions for low resource computers)

["James P. Kinney III" <jkinney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I tend to shy away from the mobile stuff because of battery replacement.
Don't get me wrong, I like the overall idea (each student grabs a unit
on the way in each day and they can take it with them anywhere on school
grounds) but the cost per compute ability is high, the eeepc is to small
for anyone but k-3 or maybe up to small 5th, and the continued cost of
batteries and replacing parts due to power cord mishaps is something
that maybe best avoided. Wireless bandwidth become problematic quickly
and it requires a higher level of engineering proficiency to setup and
maintain (I hope I worded that delicately enough :)
On Wed, 2008-06-04 at 17:25 -0400, Daniel Howard wrote:
> That's a great point about power Jim.  As I said, our 5th grade classes 
> with 1:1 are regularly popping circuit breakers, and the teachers hate 
> it that I won't let them use incandescent lamps, refrigerators, or 
> microwaves in those rooms; that's one reason why they want to drop back 
> to 2:1, space is the other, plus they finally decided that 2:1 met their 
> needs quite adequately.

Hmm. Refrigerators and microwaves in the classroom sound like a health
hazard and should be treated as such. I understand the teachers
practically live in their classrooms but they shouldn't. The classroom
is a stage and there is a teachers only area with a refrigerator and
microwave and they do have the time to go to it.
> 
> I still see thin clients continuing to drop in price pretty rapidly: The 
> Ncomputing X300 works out at about $70 per station (w/o the cost of 
> peripherals).  And I'm with Jim in that the multimedia aspect will solve 
> itself ultimately, and can be solved now with a lower client to server 
> ratio.

We are pretty close now to solving the multimedia issue. Companies like
VIA are actively cooperating with the Linux community to make ultra-low
power systems with hardware accelerated 3D graphics and video
decompression in a form factor that can still be bolted to the back of
an LCD monitor. 
> 
> The thing is, for a $250 diskless node or chubby client, plus $150 at 
> least for the LCD monitor, you're not far from the price of an ultra 
> mobile PC.  That solves power, space, and multimedia issues, plus adds 
> mobility.  If I was going to spend that much, I'd look seriously at UMPCs.
> 
> Daniel
> 
> James P. Kinney III wrote:
> > I'm adding another piece to this puzzle:
> > 
> > power and cooling are an issue that can make or break this equipment.
> 
> 
> -- 
> Daniel Howard
> President and CEO
> Georgia Open Source Education Foundation
> 
-- 
James P. Kinney III          
CEO & Director of Engineering 
Local Net Solutions,LLC                           
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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