[wplug] linux embedded appliances?

[Tim Lesher]

On Thu, Jan 22, 2004 at 11:14:36AM -0500, Drew from Zhrodague wrote:
> 	Symbol is experimenting with Linux for their devices, but I 
> haven't followed them in a while. They don't seem to be doing anything 
> useful with their technolgy, 'cept making really obscure niche products 
> that (apparently) very very few people want.

Yeah, we only sell wireless devices to niche players like Pepsi, UPS,
Home Depot, JC Penney, CeBIT, Avis, MGM Grand... :-)

Seriously, the main reason you don't see Symbol in the wireless world
as much as you see Linksys, et al, is that most of the customers (like
the above) don't use our stuff in "sexy" ways like WiFi hotspots, etc.

Plus, at least in their minds they have lots of good reasons to keep
their infrastructure hidden (retail aesthetics, believe it or not, is
a big one, as is security).  

And it's not used much in SOHO/home
markets because it's a lot more expensive--it's optimized for
installations of several thousand devices (think big-box retailers),
not ones and twos.

-- 
Tim Lesher <tim at lesher.ws>
http://www.lesher.ws