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Technology moves at a lightning-fast pace. A brand new desktop computer has an average lifespan of two to five years, after which both its hardware and its software have become obsolete. For businesses and other organizations, this poses a significant challenge as they attempt to keep their IT purchasing budgets down while simultaneously trying to keep their infrastructures up to date. Enter the thin client -- either a repurposed desktop computer or a brand-new terminal device.
This was a good article in spring 2008 and it still is useful nearly a year later but the recession that took hold at the end of 2008 may well require a follow-up.
In the recession, the low-end netbook is thriving while the notebook has slowed and the desktop PC is declining. Thin clients and netbooks are very similar so I expect thin clients are thriving, too.
At the low end thin clients can be had for as little as $85 (slow CPU, small RAM). With the ability to buy a netbook for $99 these days, thin client prices are under pressure. Expect the cost of acquisition to decline in 2009. The same technology that permits netbooks to use so little power and the quad-core CPU to be so powerful can be turned to produce single-chip motherboards for thin clients that use very little power. AMD has been reluctant to jump on the netbook bandwagon and they have not produced a CPU designed for netbooks/thin clients but have instead produced a mid-range CPU. Intel has produced the Atom but do not want to antagonize OEMs who consume millions of high-powered chips. The downturn changes everything. Everyone must look to produce volumes of low-cost equipment.
Expect 2009 to be an excellent year for thin clients as many industries try to cut costs and Vista/Vista II do not satisfy the need for low-cost computing on clients as well as GNU/Linux on thin clients.
This market has regional variation. The netbook was hot in EMEA but cool in USA. Thin clients will follow the same pattern. Emerging markets and those not locked-in to one licence fee/one hard drive per seat will be early adopters. Those using web applications extensively are also candidates for thin clients. If you do not need a local hard drive why not use these huge hard drives on the server instead? Everything is coming together to make thin client computing the coming standard for the static desktop.
In the recession, the low-end netbook is thriving while the notebook has slowed and the desktop PC is declining. Thin clients and netbooks are very similar so I expect thin clients are thriving, too.
At the low end thin clients can be had for as little as $85 (slow CPU, small RAM). With the ability to buy a netbook for $99 these days, thin client prices are under pressure. Expect the cost of acquisition to decline in 2009. The same technology that permits netbooks to use so little power and the quad-core CPU to be so powerful can be turned to produce single-chip motherboards for thin clients that use very little power. AMD has been reluctant to jump on the netbook bandwagon and they have not produced a CPU designed for netbooks/thin clients but have instead produced a mid-range CPU. Intel has produced the Atom but do not want to antagonize OEMs who consume millions of high-powered chips. The downturn changes everything. Everyone must look to produce volumes of low-cost equipment.
Expect 2009 to be an excellent year for thin clients as many industries try to cut costs and Vista/Vista II do not satisfy the need for low-cost computing on clients as well as GNU/Linux on thin clients.
This market has regional variation. The netbook was hot in EMEA but cool in USA. Thin clients will follow the same pattern. Emerging markets and those not locked-in to one licence fee/one hard drive per seat will be early adopters. Those using web applications extensively are also candidates for thin clients. If you do not need a local hard drive why not use these huge hard drives on the server instead? Everything is coming together to make thin client computing the coming standard for the static desktop.
