Re: New console frenzy looms next year !

"Eric" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> I'm sure it is very cheap.  I've seen a few very inexpensive prefrabed
> mini-pc's that are just for this specific purpose as well.
>
> I didn't go out of my way to have my old Dreamcast work as web/email
> console.  Since I already had everything, figured might as well put it to
> use.
>
> A $10 browser for PS2/Xbox browser/email client would be very convienent
for
> many as well.
>

If you use only web mail interfaces then that would work okay, since storage
is kept on the remote server.  However,  at some poiont you might want to
keep an attachement  (beyond typical storage time on the remot server) or
print out an email.  At this point there is nothing the investment in the
console based broadband adapter and web browser software can do for you.

For browsing I could see it being handy, as long as you avoided the plethora
of websites with incompatible content for such a setup (limited memory, no
cookie storage, no plugin support ).   The list of incompatible sites will
just keep growing.

The xbox, with its similiar PC architecture and hard drive, would fare much
better, but then again you would need a keyboard for any kind of real
convenience.  You would still have printing issues as well, and any archival
would not be possible beyond memory cards. For the record, memory cards are
wayyy too expensive for this kind of storage. Again, we are talking about
stock hardware.

Nothing wrong with putting hardware to use, but I would not suggest anything
beyond a very minimal software investment before any leverage is lost.  But
in the right place it could be handy.

.02