It’s also supposed to be environmentally friendly, too! The idea’s pretty nifty. You get a Linux based machine with a 4 gig solid state drive, then for $13/month you get 50 gig of online storage plus automated system updates. If you pay $250 for the PC you can ditch the monthly fee (of course, you won’t get the on line storage). I may have to get me one of these.
“Intel-compatible” CPU? I wonder who makes it?
This looks pretty fucking cool, but can I install MS Word and other applications that aren’t included in their package? I am not willing to work on some other random word processor - I imagine this would be a barrier for many people. This is the only thing keeping me from trying it - I’m all up for smaller, easier, quieter and cheaper! What an awesome plan…
Can I install more applications?
You can download files and applications and save them in your Zonbu storage, but you cannot install applications on Zonbu. We provide you 20 world-class applications � more than most people ever need. *
Heh. 20 applications is more than most people ever need? Hell I use 20 applications before breakfast!
Nevermind. I was going to say you can do MS Word due to it being Linux, but now I see that you can’t do it because it won’t let you. Well, yet. Some nerd will figure it out soon enough.
More than most people ever need? Yeah, because most people use the exact same applications. I’m not going to want any of my own games or compilers or engineering and mathematical software. Sorry but that’s the deal breaker for me.
[Hijack]What exactly is an “environmentally friendly” PC? It’s not like my Dell machine is belching out smog of my IBM laptop clear cuts the rain forest.[/Hijack]
For a moment I thought you were gonna talk about this, which I am so getting if it meets the target price.
The Zonbu is at least a neat idea, though. Still, for a small price increase they could have improved the storage capacity so that you could use more conventional operating systems and programs (assuming the processor could handle it). The thinking behind it and the device linked above is similar to that underlying the OLPC movement (one laptop per child), which is a plan to make inexpensive computers with decent functionality available to students in developing countries. It’s an admirable idea, but I’m glad that they’ll use developments like that to market them in developed countries too.
It seems that jump drives have sparked a revolution in computer storage. I’ve wondered if spinning hard drives will go the way of the vacuum tube, but then I realize that flash is over an order of magnitude behind hard drives in storage capacity. Someday, perhaps.
In the meantime, I see Lord Il Palazzo still hasn’t heard that the REAL purpose of SETI at home is really to use that extra processing power to drive the AI powering killbots designed to systematically hunt down endangered species. Get with it, dude. 
Well, apparently you can run Linux on an old NEC Mobilepro. Supposedly, it works better with Linux (in terms of things like hardware compatibility) than the Windows CE it shipped with. You can pick one up on eBay for about $60 or so.
Defective Detective, supposedly, if you shell out for the $250 version you can intall whatever OS and software you want. However, I have to say that after using MS Word for 10+ years, I much prefer OpenOffice.
I have a question - does Zonbu come with any thing like keyboard or mouse or cables? I read most of the site but no real specifics came up except that you can plug in any USB device.
The Asus’ Eee PC 701 looks like some kinda fun! The estimated price is around $200 and for a highly mobil little device I think it’s the one for me.
Very cool news Tucker! Thanks for the heads up!
I don’t think that it does come with a monitor and the like.
It doesn’t come with monitor, mouse, or keyboard, but you can buy them extra from them if you want.
Really? I’m interested in what titles you use on a regular basis.
Between work, home and the studio I could come up with about 20-30, but as a common home user I could really only think of a few.
It’s not that hard at all. Among my most-used (daily-weekly, or near enough) applications:
Inernet:
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Netscape (Yes, three browsers, partly for testing web design, partly for other uses)
uTorrent
BPFTP
Pegasus Mail
Dreamweaver
SpamPal
JustPop3
DUMeter
McAffee VirusScan
Google Earth
Audio:
WinAmp
iTunes
FL Studio
Sound Forge
Last.fm
Video/Imaging:
Photoshop
Fireworks
Premiere
Encore
ConvertXtoDVD
MediaCoder
PowerDVD
Windows Media Player
Others:
Palm Desktop
ActiveSync
ObjectDesktop (a suite of enhancement apps in itself)
Nero Burning ROM
Microsoft Office (mostly Word and Excel; I have Outlook installed, but only because ActiveSync requires it)
These are 30 of my “core” apps – stuff that I would consider necessary to my normal activities. I’m not including games here, either – got lots of those, too.