£99 Itona TC23 work PC could make tech practical jokes and timewasting a thing of the past
Manchester-based VXL Instruments has announced their cheap Itona TC23 “thin client” desktop computer, which they claim could make the standard desktop PC a thing o the past.
“Thin client” is just IT speak for taking most of the expensive, powerful guts of a computer away, and giving it a decent network connection to a powerful central computer which delivers all of the software it needs, stores files, and maintains security centrally.
From an IT perspective, this £99 computer is probably a good idea. It runs either Windows CE or Linux, and uses Citrix to access central applications. There’s no need for noisy, hot hard drives and the other paraphernalia that goes with a PC, it’s ultra-quiet, is the size of a hardback book, requires no backup, is more reliable, more secure and consumes around £40 less electricity than a PC each year.
But hang on — if all this stuff is now being centrally managed, how are we going to play geeky practical jokes on our colleagues, like messing around with desktop pictures and control panels. And just how much will IT departments know about our surfing habits?
OK, I’m not really that bothered, seeing as I work from home on my own computer, but these are very important questions.
Ahh, but there are two USB slots on that picture, so still the potential to load a few exciting viruses onto the machines and infect the whole network. Cool!
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