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A dumb terminal with identical specifications to a full computer isn't a dumb terminal, it's a dumb idea. Dumb terminals haven't been economically viable since
by stonogo 4y ago
A dumb terminal with identical specifications to a full computer isn't a dumb terminal, it's a dumb idea. Dumb terminals haven't been economically viable since the 1970s; the common terminals (VT100 and successors, ANSI, IBM 3151, etc) are all smart terminals; they support line drawing features and so forth.
Chromebooks are the end result of making terminals smarter and smarter until they're just computers with artificial restrictions on which programs they can run. That's a valid product if you want to subject yourself (retail chromebooks) or others (school fleets) to such restrictions, but pretending it's innovative because you have to work around limitations you needlessly imposed on yourself is a bit daft.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y agoGoogle's done it to tighten up their walled garden experience for a subset of users, and messed with the general purpose computer while doing it. But, we can acknowledge the real reason what they're doing with Chromebook is interesting: security.
- type0 4y ago> ... with Chromebook is interesting: security. If you take away the keys to my home I will not feel more secure, nor be more secure - I will be more ignorant about security, that's it. The same applies here.