Note: This document is copyright © Steve Jenkin 1997, 1998. It may not be
reproduced, modified or distributed in any way without the explicit permission
of the author.
Click, Click, You're on the Net
ACTEW and Netserver
If ACTEW is going to provide a digital subscriber loop to its 125,000 domestic customers, via powerlines, aka Norweb, UK, or optical fibre, there will have to be some sort of convertor box to adapt the transmission media to the in-home devices - telephone, TV, and internet.
The ACT has the capability to design and manufacture these - and a production run of 100,000 wil certainly pay for itself and provide a world class demonstration of the product and the regions capabilities.
What's my angle?
The netserver, a domestic, SOHO, small business appliance in the A$750 bracket, provides the full set of internet services - file, web, mail, print servers - that large companies have, but all in a single, integrated and pre-configured box.
It doesn't need any configuration or administration by the consumer.
This is internet access for the rest of us.
The internet makes the age of digital convergence - TV, telephone, fax, network services all down the same wire together at once - a reality now.
The netserver makes this access simple and accessible for every home and every small business.
Large companies can afford the costly, complicated network infrastructures they have that are maintained by a bevy of expensive professionals.
The netserver will also dramatically lower the cost of ownership of home computing
Network computers, NC's, can be connected at $350 - $750. The main costs are the monitor and video card.
an average life of 5 or so years, like X-terminals can be expected. Not the 12-24 months of PC's
the netserver is field upgradable with newer disks, peripherals, and memory
The rapid early sales of fax machines and the on-going steady sales of upgrades and replacements for them are the market model for this technology. It leverages from what people already have and know - PC's, phone lines, and the internet - and provides complex services transparently, the technology is easy to use and doesn't get in the way of the user.
Page Last Updated 07-Apr-98