iOpener

From: Allison J Parent <allisonp_at_world.std.com>
Date: Fri Mar 24 18:32:32 2000

<>BTW the CPU seems to be 200 MHz, not 180 MHz. But it still gets only
<>about 80 BogoMIPS, pretty slow.

The winchip is about slow as pents come. Pentium with MMX at 180 is
much better.

<I heard last night that Netpliance is making modifications so that people
<can no longer do this... they are apparently losing a LOT of money selling
<the machines, having expected to recoup it in the service charges...

No one has seen one and there is commentary both ways from Netplience.

<Can someone confirm this... and maybe confirm the change that they
<have done (which I understand is simply removal of the cable connector
<for the drive).

Removing(not putting it in really) the connector is about all they could
do with a production stream like that otherwise the cost to manufacture
and all goes out the window. To me that does not constitute hacker
proofing as putting one in is trivial and I might get to put in in the
right side of the board even.

In any case it would take a major effort to change something in production
more than trivially, I've had to push that at DEC and elsewhere, it was
hell. The other half os the current hacker words for it is that it's a
great box even as is and they'd give their mother one. Loosing that good
will to a few thousand hacked units at most would be costly in the long
term. They have gotten a lot of VERY positive free press and it could
become negative fast if they tried something too nasty.

<Oh, and supposedly back-ordered units will have the mod...

We shall see, I'm waiting.

Allison
Received on Fri Mar 24 2000 - 18:32:32 GMT