Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!limbo!taylor From: lindsay@watnow.waterloo.edu (Lindsay Patten) Newsgroups: comp.society Subject: Re: Age of the Hand Held Message-ID: <1519@limbo.Intuitive.Com> Date: 4 Dec 90 07:33:29 GMT Sender: taylor@limbo.Intuitive.Com Organization: University of Waterloo Lines: 18 Approved: taylor@Limbo.Intuitive.Com Peter da Silva notes: > Rather than a pendulum swing back away from local computing, I consider > the X terminal an abberation caused by the poor factoring of computation > and bandwidth requirements in the X protocol. On the other hand the X terminal can be viewed as an easy to use interface to centralized resources. Not everyone wants to deal with all the hassles of running their own workstation. I can stick an X terminal on a prof's desk and they can use it immediately with minimal support required. A lot of people are willing to pay someone else to deal with administrative chores and minimizing the complexity of the remote (user) system helps. I certainly don't want a completely centralized system but I do think there is a huge mass of people out there that want the simplest possible system sitting on their desk with someone else dealing with tech. stuff. Lindsay Patten Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com