NetPCs

[Nicole Hennig]

Has anyone thought about (or is anyone currently using) "NetPCs" instead of
regular desktop PCs or Macs in your library? We're planning for expansion,
and after see the "@workstation" from HDS at Internet Expo in Boston, I've
been thinking that these would be better to use as public workstations. Our
new online catalog will be a webbed OPAC, so all we need is Netscape on all
the users' computers. (We're phasing out our CD-ROMs in favor of databases
offered through the web).

Here's a quote from an article on TechWeb, if you want a more complete
description of a NetPC. This page also includes links to various types of
"NetPCs" from different vendors.

http://www.techweb.com/tools/netpc/netpc5.html

"Network Computers, interchangeably called the Internet appliance, the Net
PC, and thin client are designed with a relatively simple mission: to be
cheaper and easier to maintain and use than PCs,  and to provide access to
corporate networks and the Internet. They are cheaper because they don't
provide local storage, and lack the processing and video capabilities (as
well as the other bells and whistles) that are standard on today's PCs.
They are easier to maintain because servers control the software
management, including downloading applications as they are needed,
primarily using Sun's platform independent Java."

For more information on the workstations that I saw from HDS, see:

http://www.hds.com/

http://www.hds.com/@workFAQ.html


I'd love to hear feedback from anyone who's using or considering these. Thanks!

*********************************************
Nicole Hennig           *hennig at bose.com
Systems Librarian
Bose Corporation
The Mountain            *(508)766-6851
Framingham, MA 01701    *(508)820-4865 (fax)
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