Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC | Hacker News Reader

Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC

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42 pointsrbanffy46 comments

One can buy Android devices (like the MK802) which cost $50 and are similarly sized with similar functionality. Doesn't seem like a big stretch to build an image for one which just connects to a remote desktop.

Dell wants to become a "cloud" company. Get a free computer, pay for the virtual instance.

Pano Logic [1] tried something like this for the Enterprise virtual desktop market and failed [2]. Maybe some of them ended up at Dell and want to take a shot at the consumer market.

1 - http://www.panologic.com

2 - http://www.infoworld.com/d/virtualization/vdi-startup-pano-l...

So, what does the world start to look like when fully functional PCs are so cheap that instead of buying a PC and getting free software it becomes the other way around?

I tough about your statement for a minute, and I didn't like what I imagined for a single second.

I'm not so sure. The Apple induced resurgence of paying for software due to lower pricing has resulted in what I feel is a phenomenal leap forward in emphasis on usability and design. Some might argue this is the most important thing we should be optimizing around: how do we get the most usable software for the least money?

Would this work like Remote Desktop or VNC or something? If the USB stick has built-in wireless and bluetooth, it would be a really neat toy to play with. That said, I doubt many people have a solid enough home network for something like this to feel as responsive as a Chromebook. Not only would the USB stick need to function as a very solid Wireless N adapter, but you'd need a DOCSIS3 modem, a high end N router, and most likely a 50Mbps connection or faster. That's $200+ of hardware and a $70-120/mo connection.

This is what I have wanted.

I really, really want cheap disposable computers which I can plug into a keyboard and large screen, and save files on something like tarsnap.

Give me that and I'll be buying them by the handful.

why buy more than one? can you please elaborate on the use case a bit more?

I can give you a simple example: I live in the capital of my country during the week, and on weekends I always go to my grandparents house. Mobility is a big issue for me, and since I don't have a car, I can't go moving around my laptop on a public bus. That's it. Instead of having to buy another PC for "my other home", I could simply plug one of these and BAM, problem solved.

I guess, but "one of these" will fit in your pocket.

Why exactly can't you take your laptop on a public bus?

Not to be rude, but he may be living in a country where it isn't exactly safe to be carrying around something like that without having it stolen.

Exactly.

Public transportation it's really dangerous.

Plug one into every screen you have. The network is the computer.

Only it didn't end well for those guys...

Interesting but sounds like vaporware considering there is almost no technical specs given and a "too good to be true" price point. None the less, I hope Dell builds some cool products in the near future.

Pricing it at $50 makes perfect sense if they intend to charge a monthly fee for access to the "Dell Cloud OS" service. It's a worthless little stick without a subscription.

$50 loss leader pricing plus a ~$19 per month (first ~3 months free!) OS service could be a very good way of monetising cheap hardware.

Similar devices already exist.

(http://liliputing.com/2012/06/74-mk802-android-4-0-mini-pc-f...)

Dell probably have good deals with their suppliers, and are hoping on volume, and so could bring the cost down to something where $50 makes sense.

I very much doubt this is Dell's primary hope for righting the ship. It might be an skunkworks / "interpreneurship" effort inside of Dell --- but I'm sure it's not the only thing behind Dell's thinking about why it might be better to take the company private.

A company with $4.5 billion of operating income isn't exactly capsized.

The bold plan here is probably way more about the service of doing hosted PCs than this particular piece of hardware which is IMO a niche product at best. It's probably a safe bet people will continue to do more of their computing on SmartPhones, tablets, and other non-PC devices but many will still need access to a PC for different things. They may not really want to buy a PC they only use 10-20% of the time. Paying for access to one available in the cloud on any of your devices is a great solution. Not a new idea of course but if they make it a mainstream service it's something that could be successful in the post-PC world.

“[gives users access to] Windows, Mac OS, Google’s Chrome OS, Dell’s custom cloud solutions, Citrix cloud software, and even Google’s Chrome OS.”

They seem really excited about Google's Chrome OS.

I wonder if it supports Google's Chrome OS?!

I like this idea, if it's done right. The device could run Android or Chrome OS, and use something like XenApp to provide virtual applications. Most consumers need only a web browser 95% of the time, so Chrome OS is perfect, for the other 5% they can use virtual applications. Citrix already has a client called "Citrix Receiver" for Android and Chrome OS that allows Windows apps to "run" on the platforms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So4UPP3K93g

How would peripherals work? You plug it into a TV and it boots, but how do you interact with it? How can Dell guarantee a good user experience with all those different operating systems they have to support? Aside from a thumbdrive form factor, what would this thing offer that a netbook or a tablet PC could not?

The impression I got was that the machine has USB ports.

So, a competition to the Raspberry pi?

I'd love something with the following specs:

* sub-$50

* USB powered

* USB stick sized

* Plugs in to a monitor via USB

* Auto-suspends when removed.

* Auto-wake upon insertion

If you are able to live with less than 50 mA, you can power the thing off an HDMI connector.

I don't see myself using it. Anyone willing to buy these? Any particular user group which might be interested.

I imagine people travelling light would fine these to be quite useful.

Not very. It is something else you have to carry, in addition to your phone and/or tablet.

I want my phone to be that device. It has all that i do everyday that isn't code. Drop my phone next to a capable display and keyboard And I want to be ready to get my pics documents and the like.

To be honest this is what I thought/ hoped the whole windows metro was going to be between phone/surface/desktop. I guess I will wait and dream for apple to innovate this.

Maybe, if they can get access to a suitable display, keyboard, mouse.

A 50 dollar computer that you can take anywhere you want? Are you kidding? How about every big company's customer service center? $50 stations for every employee? They'd be silly not to use it.

Just a random idea there. I'm sure there's hundreds.

huh?

still need a monitor and peripherals, this is just a USB stick.

what makes people's brains shut off whenever such PR is posted?

While my brain has most certainly been switched off for quite a while (prepping for a 3 week holiday!) I can assure you that $50 is cheaper than what they currently have, computer-wise. It's also less maintenance heavy.

You forgot to mention that you also need to pay the people sitting at said computer, buy their desks, hire their office space, pay their managers, their manager's managers and your own brand new sports-car.

Those are also things that are totally unrelated to the cut in costs you gained by swapping the computer for a fifty dollar stick.

Enterprisey types can already buy "Zero Clients" and "Thin Clients" similar to this from Dell for around that price, before you add in the cost for the monitor/keyboard/mouse.

I think the idea is to convert that into something the consumer market could use.

I've seen HP ones before, but they were around $300, maybe $250 I think. That's a couple of months ago though.

Regardless, $50 sounds dirt cheap.

Thin clients ride again. How much will Dell charge to run your instances?

Yes this is what I don't understand, are they expecting to charge a subscription fee or how will they maintain revenue from a one time $50 computer.

Why build a "USB"-based device. Just make an Android/iOS app.

Because Dell is not a software company? They might as well get into designing clothes.

EDIT: Obviously a hyperbole. But that seems pretty damn arbitrary.

It looks like they want to be one regardless. Their USB computer with hosted VMs will need tons of custom software support.

An interconnect protocol-sized PC?

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