Re-Examining the PC-as-Appliance Model
There have been several instances where I have written something along the lines that all users really need from their computers is a toaster. Just plug it in, turn it on, and it works. No configuration, no installing.
Applying that kind of model to a PC with any operating system has thus far been an impossible goal to achieve. Even if a device actually had all of the software a user needed, those needs could change, and very likely some of that software would break. Or need updated.
Macs come close to a toaster model, with Linux right there, given the security and automated update features available. Windows? Right, that's our laugh for this week's column. But "close" is still a long ways away. Even the pre-loaded Linux machines being sold out on the market now fall short of a "plug-in-and-forget" operating scenario.
This week, however, I begin to wonder if such a goal is worthy after all.
I raise this question, not because I think it would be impossible for a Linux PC to achieve if developers really put their mind to it, but because I wonder if being a toaster is a really good idea. Maybe there always needs to be an ability to poke around inside a PC's guts to fix or improve it.
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