backup & low downtime for home network

[Christopher Browne]

On Dec 5, 2007 9:22 PM, Robert Brockway <robert-5LEc/6Zm6xCUd8a0hrldnti2O/JbrIOy at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> Despite the many many advantages (including simplified backups and reduced
> management time) alot of people don't seem to "get" thin clients.  For
> people used to the workstation paradigm it can seem a strange idea.

The problem I have always had with the "thin client" approach is much
the same as my problem with automobile leasing.

Both *ought* to be enormously more beneficial to users than the
rapacious vendors allow it to be.

Auto leasing allows someone to get the tax benefit of depreciation, so
it *OUGHT* to make it a compellingly preferable way for individuals to
have cars to drive, but the leasing companies choose to use it as an
excuse to profit excessively, so it's NOT cheaper than buying.

Not too dissimilar, if I am buying an X term that's got wimpier CPU
and no disk and needs less case and less cooling and less electricity,
this *ought* to mean that the unit costs about as much as a videogame,
that is, somewhere about $200-$300-ish.

Reality is, instead, that once the vendors get thru with you, you've
paid $800 for it, and that's so insultingly more than a cheap
dueling-cores "full fledged PC" that I always decline to go this
route.

I was considering grabbing a PC recently to try some stuff out on, and
assortedly saw:
- I could buy some BestBuy/FutureShop "minitower" for ~$400
- I could build something comparable with better underlying hardware for ~$500
- I saw some nifty compact Acer boxes, but I'm not paying $850 for it...
I don't think this economic view is too terribly unusual...

It just feels like an insult to buy something that's smaller *and less
featureful* and pay quite a bit more for it.
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