In theory, thin clients are more cost effective, but because fewer are manufactured, maybe they end up costing more than mass-produced computers that are not as “thin” but offer more capabilities, flexibility, ports, should you ever need those options?

For example, Lenovo has a thin client, the IdeaCentre Q110 that screws into the back of a freestanding LCD, which means you would barely notice it–and nearly silent too. Looks like a repackaging of the “Wyse” machines they sell. But after some research, I found it doesn’t have a wireless antenna. Little shortcomings like that, makes you wonder what else is missing that could catch you off guard.

Do you think it’s possible to accomplish “thin” computing without buying the device advertised as thin? Or are thin clients more attractive precisely because they only do what is necessary, with less electricity than their feature-laden cousins?

Thin Software

I follow Red Hat’s stock and I think it’s a good bet to own it, and up and up it goes. But what I noticed, when this stock is mentioned by enthusiastic stock analysts, VMware ($VMW) is typically mentioned somewhere in the next paragraph. I could be wrong, but seems to me VMware rides Red Hat’s coattails when it comes to stock hype.

Granted, I never had to set up a large network for a large organization, but I reduce it down to bits, bytes, lines of code. Why introduce yet another layer of complexity to “virtualize” an entire computer at a time when everyone is moving to web apps?

Yes, it’s hard to build interactive, graphics-intense, web-based (Web 2.0) applications, such as video editors and 3D modelers. But this is the trend for many years now. AJAX, LAMP, HTML 5, Google Chrome, Google Docs, applications now arbitrate online. I’m sure you can think of web apps you use that already outperform and out-maneuver their desktop equivalents. Use web apps and you don’t have the overhead of a “virtual” simulation. Why simulate without a good reason? In my opinion, VMware sounds like a crash test that doesn’t need a dummy.

(Republished by MarketGuru.com, InternetEvolution.com, Covestor.com)

My biggest complaint with netbook keyboards, most of them require a Function key to get to “Home” and “End” which makes Shift-Home and Shift-End into Shift-Function-Home and Shift-Function-End. That’s totally unacceptable in my opinion.

Also, most netbooks’ screens don’t have enough pixels in the vertical–most of them only have 600px in the vertical. Again, not really useful for real work. My other big complaint: netbook manufacturers don’t advertise external display resolution/color-depth specifications. Sure, I see a port on the back, but does anyone really want 1024×600 pixels again on the big 23″ widescreen LCD waiting at home, at the office?

These aren’t insurmountable obstacles, technologically speaking. Some of these netbooks have acceptable screens, some have acceptable keyboards. None have both. I think the mistake is consumers and manufacturers see these devices almost like disposable playthings.

Any way you look at it, shrinking laptops or adding features to netbooks, our computers continue to shrink in size while increasing in power. The ideal then, at least in the short term, is a netbook-size computer you can easily carry with you, that of course comes with the necessary sacrifices while on the go (ex: small screen) that is faster than yesterday’s laptop, plugs into that gigantic 1080p (or larger) LCD on your desk, and connects to all your favorite peripherals. Your favorite wireless mouse, your favorite keyboard, your favorite speakers, etc.

Touchpads and CPU-warmed keyboards were (are) still annoying, but good enough for the era of laptops. But in 2010, with more cheap netbooks out there (with cheap keyboards, cheap LCDs) we will want keyboards and mice and external displays on our desk again, like we did back before laptops in the 90s. This is why I think Logitech ($LOGI) looks like a good buy right now.

There’s already some hope for Google Chrome OS. An OS that’s not even released yet.

Eric, it’s “DoubleClick” not “DoubleClicks”.

I’ve lived long enough to watch operating systems come and go. Does that make me a pessimist? I read this on MarketGuru today, a new stock market social network:

I think any bet against a Google product not working well is a risky one. Google has got such brand admiration that anything they launch will be adopted quickly. Just look at all the hype around Google Wave.. which looks like a pretty lame product to me.. but people are standing in line for invites. As for red Hat – as I understand it they wrap up Linux in a set of tools that makes it easier to use. I think Chrome OS could give them trouble. Then again, Chrome will bust the OS market wide open creating plenty of opportunity for everyone.. Interesting times, no doubt :)

I figure my response there is worth posting (with some modifications) here on StockmarketSoup.com:

Google cancels projects all the time, like that 3D world that didn’t work out. They can afford to be scatterbrained when they hold the key to Adwords.

Chrome OS Resistance

Privacy. They already collect and scan all your personal email (Gmail) and your surfing activity (Adsense “interest based” advertising) and there is resistance. But the operating system is a bigger deal for most people, and for businesses privacy is often a requirement. I found this EFF quote from 2006, I think it fits here:

Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google’s search logs, it’s shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers,” said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. “Unless you configure Google Desktop very carefully, and few people will, Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index.

Outages. Is your data trapped in the cloud during an outage? Is your software crippled if your connection to the web fails?

Commitment. Google Gears, Google Desktop, did they ever catch on? Not really. I couldn’t even find an app (that worked) to check my Adsense earnings. Take iGoogle for example, does anyone use it? If you read the fine print, Google says something like: “We are not responsible for these apps, use them at your own risk.” Why should you trust a 3rd party app developer with your data if Google doesn’t even stand behind the apps? Operating systems and browsers take years of commitment, even if you have a superior product. I checked my stats last night, Chrome has 5% for last week, and MSIE is still #1. After all these years, Firefox is still way behind IE.

Predictions

Yes, Wave gets hype but I think it will fail (like Google Chat) because nobody knows what it is, or how to explain it, not even hardcore tech geeks. From what I’m hearing, it sounds like a Wiki with extra AJAX. (Edit: I didn’t realize Google Chat is now integrated with Gmail.)

Probably Google Chrome OS will be a nice solution for some consumers if it’s ad supported and they can give away netbooks for free with a data plan. But what about the machinist who needs Windows drivers for his tools, or the architect who needs Autocad, etc.

Even if 90% of the needs of most users are taken care of if you can provide them with an office suite, an email client, a browser, and a media player, then there will still be a remaining 10% of their needs, potentially critical needs, that are not met. Unfortunately these remaining 10% are spread across a wide spectrum of applications: thousands of applications running the gamut from games to specialized accounting software for French farms, via Italian encyclopedias, German tax software, child education software, banking software, in-house software representing years of development, etc. It is the availability of all this software that makes Windows so compelling and its monopoly so strong.

Red Hat

Red Hat is not just a wrap. Red Hat is the #1 contributor to Linux and I believe they supervise/authorize a lot of the code changes. So even if you’re using another flavor of Linux, I believe most of the code is from Red Hat. They’re able to outpace Microsoft because it’s open source, essentially free labor supervised by Red Hat, paid for by other companies, like IBM, adding something like 20,000 lines of code each day. If you are a business or government and you need a proven, secure operating system that won’t crash, right now Red Hat is your best choice.

The Brussels-based World Steel Association is forecasting that apparent steel use will have shrunk worldwide by 8.6 percent, to 1,104 million metric tons, by the end of 2009, after declining 1.4 percent during 2008. http://j.mp/4cU0Nj

“Industry conditions have become more difficult as nonresidential construction continues to weaken,” Heasley says, as shipments of joist and deck products “remain off significantly from earlier years.” “Obviously, the nonresidential construction weakness is going to remain into 2010, the fourth quarter as well and into 2010,” says Heasley. http://j.mp/4EfAGb

TOKYO, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd (5423.T), Japan’s biggest construction steel maker, said on Monday it would cut its November steel prices due to weak demand, a sign that the recovery in steel demand is losing momentum. http://j.mp/B1GbM

China is rolling as much steel as the next eight producers combined. http://j.mp/3a0DLa

China’s steel demand will likely grow 19% this year, but growth could drop to 5% next year as support from Beijing’s stimulus measures wanes, the association said. http://j.mp/4k7JMi

How is Microsoft a competitor to Red Hat?

This question was asked at a recent Red Hat Analyst Day. I was not there, I heard the podcast.  The answer, from what I can remember: Microsoft is a competitive target only where Red Hat has a superior product.  For servers.

From my own observations, it seems non-business users are leaving MS Windows too. Who doesn’t want a lean Linux netbook? Red Hat can downplay desktop competition and focus on their superior server products, but I personally would like to see Red Hat’s Fedora sink its teeth into Windows 7.

Red Hat was just added to the S&P 500, recently upgraded by Goldman Sachs, and now runs NYSE’s Euronext servers:

With the combination of speed, cost, reliability, and functionality pushed to the limit, we have to out perform the competition in each category, and our competition is getting better all the time. Linux as an operating system has been the fastest growing with respect to these requirements, and we’re not limited by what’s in front of us. The quality of the Linux platform is greatly important to us and Red Hat Enterprise Linux has exceeded our expectations,

For the same reasons, foreign countries wanting to avoid lock-in will prefer Red Hat. Microsoft wants governments to think the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) is about the same–but Linux is free. If there’s something Linux can’t do for your country, right there is an opportunity to create local jobs.

Red Hat also thrives in a bad economy. Because companies want to save money? Also, I bet unemployed programmers contribute more time and code during recessions.

Fedora 11 is now an attractive option, in opinion, for people not able to, not wanting to spend money for Windows 7. And for people like me who had other complaints, like ridiculously long startup and shutdown times.

Linux vs. Windows — Desktop Applications

OpenOffice and GIMP are now excellent alternatives to Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Photoshop. I recently finished an accounting course and completed all of my assignments in OpenOffice–the professor had no idea I wasn’t using Excel. Opening Powerpoint presentations in OpenOffice is easy too. Same for .doc files.

GIMP is now the preferred graphics app among professional web designers–ask Sitepoint users if you don’t believe me. I started using Photoshop in the early 90s. Photoshop was the only game in town. I switched to GIMP in 2003 and never looked back. GIMP runs OK on Windows, but much slower.

As for Firefox, it’s faster in Fedora, more stable, won’t hang on big sites.

In summary, Fedora 11 with Gnome is a fast, attractive, secure, stable, intuitive alternative to Windows. I had tried Linux two times before (years ago) and the experience was frustrating. I had not burned a CD in 15 years and was a little intimidated just burning the ISO. But my fears were assuaged. And you only need Fedora’s command line (Terminal) about as often as you need it in Vista. Gnome is that easy.

Don’t underestimate run-of-the-mill desktop users. This is why OS/2 died. I believe in the long run our level of comfort with Linux adds to Red Hat’s bottom line. And with more people trying Apple products, newfangled mobile devices, Windows loyalty makes less sense. From eWeekEurope:

Other reasons why companies should re-think their stance on desktop Linux include a “more centralised approach to desktop delivery via various virtualisation and/or cloud computing options” and the “gradual creep of the Apple Mac into the enterprise” plus the “general backdrop of the economic downturn”, the report states.

Tech Ticker typically asks experts what they think about current events: How will such-and-such news affect the market? Howard Lindzon appears on the show a few times to answer these questions. In this episode he explains StockTwits, a catalyst of stock market Twitter talk.

I assume the shows are recorded back-to-back while the interviewee is available in the studio. Then the videos are blogged and open for comments. The comments aren’t that interesting. What do you expect from yahoos? The more intelligent viewers lurk silent and aloof–at least advertisers hope so.

The studio is probably somewhere in lower Manhattan, with people passing by in the background. I never ran with the bulls in Spain but that was my impression of Wall Street: you can’t stop moving for a moment as men and women in suits press forward purposefully. In stark contrast, Wall Street is literally abandoned at night.

In my opinion, the time is right for Tech Ticker, StockTwits and the like. As the Internet re-engineers the world with its feeds of ever-more-timely info. As hyperlinks blur geopolitical boundaries. As blog posts, Twitter tweets, miscellany updates inform our decisions. It’s a faster flavor of uncertainty urging us on. Through the night, through the weekend, through the summer with increasing fervor. It’s why StockmarketSoup.com exists.

Not much to announce yet, I’ll post more later.

Now on Twitter and Wefollow too. Tell your friends.

Making final PHP code adjustments as we speak.