Re: Indrema dead

[Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.net>]

Mads Bondo Dydensborg wrote:
> 
> In case you have not heard, Indrema is now dead.

I think it's been obvious that they weren't going to make
it for at least the last six months.
 
> Too bad - I would have liked one of those boxes.

Yes - it is a shame to see any company fail - especially
one brave enough to go toe-to-toe against M$'s Xbox contraption.

However, in the end, machines like the Indrema and X-box are
basically just somewhat inferior PC's that are priced cheaply
by virtue of making you buy overpriced software to run on them.

Both of those machines are 600 or 750MHz Pentiums - pretty slow
by present standards - and looking VERY outdated by the time
those machines are a year or more old.  The graphics are based
on nVidia GeForce-3 chips - up to date today - but again, they'll
be well behind the curve a year after launch.

Too little RAM, smallish disk drive - totally non-expandable -
horribly artificial restrictions on what software it can run,
no proper windowing system, no floppy, no printer port...the
list is long.

There are LOTS of ways to sell people cheap PC hardware:

  * Lock yourself into 3 years of overpriced, S-L-O-W ISP
    access and knock $400 off the price of your PC.
    (Nearly every PC retailer is doing this)

  * Get a cheaper-than-usual PC with locked-in ISP access
    that forces adverts down you throat and the throats of
    everyone you email. (Several people tried this - but they
    all seem to have gone belly-up)

  * Get a cheaper-than-usual PC that forces you to pay a
    monthly 'subscription' fee. (This is essentially what
    TiVo does - although it's not obvious that TiVo is
    in fact a Linux PC).

  * Buy a "games machine" (that's really a PC) that's funded
    by charging the software manufacturers an extra $10 to
    $20 licence fee for the privilage of bypassing the
    interlocks that are placed into the Operating System.
    (X-box and Indrema)

All games machines are sold this way - the manufacturer
intentionally sells the hardware at less than production
cost and gets the money back by charging BIG $$$ for
'certification' of new software and for 'licensing' on
every copy of the software sold.

Most games console manufacturers also charge big bucks
for development systems...Indrema planned not to do that.

-- 
Steve Baker   HomeEmail: <sjbaker1@airmail.net>
              WorkEmail: <sjbaker@link.com>
              HomePage : http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
              Projects : http://plib.sourceforge.net
                         http://tuxaqfh.sourceforge.net
                         http://tuxkart.sourceforge.net
                         http://prettypoly.sourceforge.net
                         http://freeglut.sourceforge.net



---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: linuxgames-unsubscribe@sunsite.dk
For additional commands, e-mail: linuxgames-help@sunsite.dk