day 95
| twitch 7: internet tv |
Fig. 6. I-Man will become livid once he gets an Internet TV
changed. WebTV introduced its $330 Internet surfer set-top box. More like a TV than a computer, the WebTV-designed Sony box contains a high-performance (112 MHz) MIPS processor, 4 MB of RAM, and a 33.6Kbps modem. Couch potatoes don't need to know anything except how to point and click with their TV control unit. Everything is provided right out of the box. Buy your WebTV from the same CircuitCity that sold you your TV, take it home, plug it into the telephone, TV, and power outlet, and flip the switch. Bonga-Boom! I-Man is wired as never before. Easier than setting the clock on a VCR recorder, all you do is enter your credit card stats, and you are automatically connected to an ISP. Surf all you want for $20/month. Peter Cristy of MicroDesign Resources writes, "Intel is vulnerable to Information Appliances." In a show of software economy insight, Cristy presses, "technological changes introduce new stable states in the economic and industrial infrastructure. WebTV and their marketing and manufacturing partners have set out to demonstrate that there is a market for web browsing without a PC." In other words, forget about Wintel. Turn your head away from Netscape, Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, and the rest. For $300 bucks during Christmas 1996, you will get everything you need to go online. Next year the gadget will become part of your TV, and it won't cost a thing! Forget vid-games at $200 each. They simply become obsolete too soon. Buy a new TV from Sony or Philips, add the WebTV channel to your cable TV bill, and you are set for life. So the line goes. |
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 Daily Dose Index |