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Apple Needs a Terminal computer

P

phgreer

macrumors regular
Original poster
Often in the office we just need a place to access e-mail or scan documents and nothing else. Is there a way to set up a terminal to login to another computer and use the apps there? It would be great to have nothing but a flat monitor and network box where you could plug in scanners, cameras, etc. or access the apps on another computer as a user. It's kind of overkill to have another computer loaded with all kinds of apps and stuff you are not going to use in one location.

A simple place for visitors (i.e. board members,etc.) to login for e-mail would be good.
 
I was never quite fond of “pure” Terminal servers, but the last time I saw one (beyond a POS); it was back in the hay-day of the Token-Ring.

I think that’s what one of the purposes of X-serve is, beyond being a file server. You have a cheep, low-end Mac on one end, and it provides access to files and multi-instance applications. All in all, a terminal Mac would need some processing power. Video and peripheral processing would have to be done with in the box and if your going to do that might as well add memory and a HD so that speed is and power are not dependent on external bandwidth.

Slightly off topic-
It might be that “iPliance”s (internet appliance with few or no local apps.) will eventually rule the day. No big fee for using M$-Word or any other application, just log on and access it from one of their servers and get billed a small sum. For those that believe that piracy is costing them enormous sums of money, this is a dream. Such dreams are often heralded with the benefit of, “All upgrades are free and constant”. For those that like using a computer with the licensed OS and applications unhindered by an umbilical cord, it is a nightmare.
 
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