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By
Toby Beavers
pc-deck.com
Nobody
wants to talk about this but the Internet is stuck. New
studies show that Internet growth is stalling. Why? Only
46 percent of Americans have a PC in their home. Without
higher PC usage, the Net will have a hard time growing to
predicted levels.
Most
of us know in our hearts exactly why PC makers are having
a hard time getting over half the population to spring for
a computer. Home computers are confusing and time consuming
for many of us.
Your
new computer can develop a glitch within hours of purchase
and wind up being a dusty boat anchor sitting in the corner.
Experts
have recently started to predict that designers will solve
this problem by creating lots of “Internet Appliances.”
Instead of having to configure your PC’s e-mail program,
you will plug in your “E-mail Appliance” simply
designed to do one thing well.
You
can compare this to the original “House Engine”
that was supposed to run everything in the kitchen through
a complex system of ropes and pulleys (you’ll have
to ask your grandmother about that one).
Eventually
designers wised up and replaced the big one-size-fits-all
“House Engine” with today’s mixers, blenders,
coffee makers and more that do one job easily and well.
One
excellent example of how computer technology can be made
easy for the average consumer is the PC-DEC-IDM System 7.
It cleverly combines a powerful PC with a TV, letting people
do video conferencing, digitally edit video and audio, participate
in the stock market, and many more highly advanced features.
Designers
figured if people weren’t afraid to use their VCR or
microwave, the secret to getting more people to use computer
technology in the home would be to make it as easy as using
a VCR.
Watch
for computer technology to move in this direction at an
increasing rate. If your copy of Windows just crashed for
the second time today, this is good news for you.
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