Late nineties, by Sun and some others. The PC booted locally, but everything else came off the network.  I think it failed due to lack of standards, though I'm just guessing.

Yes I think I remember that now.

Ya, I see it going that way as well... although hardware is pretty darn cheap these days. My wife just got a new laptop for 500 clams, and a nifty little netbook for 150. (CND dollars). And, she got rid of eight inches of reference paperwork with a Kindle, cheap as well.

That's the basis we work on at the museum. Hardware is pretty cheap so we just build huge servers.

Another thought on cloud computing: when a lightning bolt takes out my Internet feed, how do I access anything?

Yeh it worries me how much hold Micro$oft, and Google or Apple would have on our lives if we follow them into this line of marketing. The museum doesn't use the cloud because of this.

 I'll have to go to the drug store and actually buy the latest Playboy  ;-)

It's a long time since I bought one myself. Ah the internet.

Only reason I keep with M$ is gaming.

Problem with open source is the speed it keeps up with technology (slower due to the peer review nature of it's development cycles).

I like Linux and my toys pictured above have various flavours of Linux on them. I have modded my old x-box to that flavour of Linux. I wear a circuit board from the old memory stick (as a badge) I modded to be a USB converter, which led to a slightly embarrassing conversation with one of the M$ European directors a few months ago when I was at their office for a presentation. Whoops.

My job as a DBA mostly holds me to M$ SQL server, MySQL is too primitive compared to what I can do with M$ SQL 2k8. If the open source was comparable we would be using it (the cost savings alone make it more interesting), but MySQL needs so much other coding outside the product to make it even half comparable.

My problem is I'm an uber Geek.

I was seriously considering putting together a NAS (network area storage) on the basis of my 0.5 TB USB drive only cost me thirty nine quid. So I thought I could purchase a few and stick an adruino in as a controller.

See ICT is my obsession, my profession, and my hobby.

I used to use an RS232 breakout box to diagnose communication issues, but USB changed all that - it's a standard that has saved me a lot of troubleshooting time. I don't get what the adruino does... a programmable hub?  

Ah rs232 those were the days. BNC daisy chained network cards.

I was going to use the aduino to make the network connection and manage the usb connections.

It's not a real NAS but a fudge using USB hubs.

What Meekon said......

Quote

Ah rs232 those were the days. BNC daisy chained network cards.

I was going to use the aduino to make the network connection and manage the usb connections.

It's not a real NAS but a fudge using USB hubs.

What  I read.... "blah blah blah" 

I did see "Fudge"...I like fudge...chocolate peanut butter is one of my favorites, but pretty much any fudge will do as long as it's Good creamy fudge and not gritty...oh hell who am I kidding...I'll eat the gritty fudge too!

What Meekon said......

Quote

Ah rs232 those were the days. BNC daisy chained network cards.

I was going to use the aduino to make the network connection and manage the usb connections.

It's not a real NAS but a fudge using USB hubs.

What  I read.... "blah blah blah" 

Sorry Hominid it seems we're confusing the muggles.

I'm a fellow fudge lover...I like fudge...I used to go to lot's of English fairs and things for my work and I met lots of fudge people....they make fudge with Devon clotted cream and it's soooooooooooo fudgey...

Nice one cck I will get some of that there fudge and send it to you...may have to wait till next summer though...

Peace fudgey dude.

Oh yes Devon clotted cream fudge. Manna from heaven.

Wow...  This thread kinda took a hard left somewhere along the line.  To get back on topic for just a moment, anyone seen "Stick it"? 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430634/ 

It's pretty great.  JB is very Dudeist in it.  Oh and he's surrounded by some very um...  fit young women. 
All-in-all, very easy on the eye.  A feel-good story with something for everyone.