Prices aren't the only things being dropped

Wal-Mart discontinues selling green PC in stores

Posted by Jerome Woody at 1:27 PM on 12 Mar 2008

Read more about: green living | green products | consumerism | Wal-Mart | tech

Remember the gPC? It's Everex's $199 "green" Linux computer, the one Wal-Mart stocked up on during the last holiday season. Well, it seems the "experiment" is over, with an unsatisfied Wal-Mart putting those famous price-cutting scissors on their plan to sell the cheap PC in their stores.

According to the AP, Wal-Mart concluded that their middle-American consumer base was not hip to the gPC's Linux-based operating system. However, seeing the appeal of the computer to a more geeky clientele, Wal-Mart will continue to sell it on their website.

Why should anyone care? Far as I know, this was the first mass production of consumer electronics with some green features (low power consumption -- not enough to make it completely green, but a start).

I know what you're thinking: "If it's just the OS they didn't like, why not slap Microsoft Windows on it?" Trust me on this: putting Windows on a green computer is not a good idea.

For story: Prices aren't the only things being dropped
9 Comments | Post a Comment

Can somebody explain to me why that is?

How would an operating system impact the longevity of computer hardware? Just curious. Not defending Windows. They just didn't explain why and I don't get it.

Do people run out and buy a new computer just because their directory gets tangled up?

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 2:13 PM on 12 Mar 2008

Green Computer

I don't think the issue with people was not buying the computer because it was a "Green" computer but rather because a computer is a large investment and who wants a low quality one from Wal-Mart? People like reliable names when it comes to computers

Sam.

by salmoncreek at 6:23 PM on 12 Mar 2008

ASUS eee greener; Wal*Mart suspect...

Wal*Mart's actions and the subsequent press barrage are highly suspicious.

In 1995, Corel software went on a very public project to convert all their office software to run on java -- which at the time was a threat to Microsoft's entire architecture. 6 months later Corel announced that java "just didn't work". Many suspected a hit job (Corel did this again later with other technology).

I don't mind that Wal*Mart decided to pull one cheap computer from it's shelves (and to keep selling it on walmart.com, their website), but the press releases in every major media outlet just minutes after the official announcement were highly suspicious. The titles were all of the "Linux is dead" variety and appeared in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and many other national and local papers.

Meanwhile the real threat is the ASUS eee which is short circuiting the PDA, iPhone and PC markets by providing a portable machine that most consumers can actually use. It's small enough to carry, low powered and long lived on its battery -- and it runs Linux.

Texeme.Construct(function(x)=Participation(x))

by jabailo at 6:44 PM on 12 Mar 2008

BioD - I'm not an expert but..

my understanding is that Windows OS upgrades generally have very limited backwards-compatibility with older machines. If you want to stay current on your Windows OS you'd need to buy a new machine every couple of years. New versions of Linux/Unix (and Mac OS) are apparently much more forgiving of older hardware.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

by spaceshaper at 8:31 PM on 12 Mar 2008
[ Parent ]

bits

The WallMart PC was interesting, but I expect that walk-in customers didn't get that any pc wouldn't be Windows. Or perhaps they didn't picture what part of their old PC was Windows.

Notebooks in general though are going to have a lower total system power requirement (beware CPU-only quotations, that's the biggest chip, but not the only chip, and doesn't include the disks or display).

I'm happy with my Eee PC, but I think these are early adopter times. There are some rough edges with Asus' Linux update process. You might want to watch how that works over time.

BioD, on the upgrade thing MS is aggressive in adding in new features. This gives them a common marketing cause with PC makers, video card makers, etc. Unfortunately those same additions expand Windows beyond the ability of relatively recent hardware.

On the other hand, the hacker-developer community for Linux has a different value network. Many of them run older PCs ;-)

by odograph at 8:51 PM on 12 Mar 2008

Green == Efficiency != Windows

Windoze is bloated and uneffective, an obscene waste of computing power. It is all marketing, not sane technology.

But "Linux" is catching up well with Gnome and KDE desktop environments. Dunno why this stuff needs eons to start up and even needs time to exhibit menu icons - on a GHz box. Looks like they need to mimick Windoze to make the dummy user feel comfortable and not get surprised by any comfort, speed, or effective windowing.

But if configured right (e.g. Fvwm2 window manager) it can run smoothly on a 200MHz box.

by 314159265 at 3:10 AM on 13 Mar 2008

Labelling

On the other hand, the hacker-developer community for Linux has a different value network. Many of them run older PCs ;-)

I am a 'developer' and I dual boot my PC with Suse Linux 10.3 and Windows XP.

My PC is a brand new 64bit AMD X2, 2G, ASUS motherboard with a hot of the press nVidia 8800GT.

Texeme.Construct(function(x)=Participation(x))

by jabailo at 5:47 AM on 13 Mar 2008
[ Parent ]

Watch the Green Lights

How would an operating system impact the longevity of computer hardware?

Ever watch the LEDs on a Windows machine...blinky blinky blinky.

Take a look at a Linux machine...quiet as a mouse.

The Windows memory management scheme is flawed, archaic and broken. Add in all the "phone home" built in spyware and your computer is doing 3x the work it has to just to run.

Texeme.Construct(function(x)=Participation(x))

by jabailo at 5:49 AM on 13 Mar 2008
[ Parent ]

devs

I am a 'developer' and I dual boot my PC with Suse Linux 10.3 and Windows XP.

Really? Which packages to you contribute to?

I had a package in some of the distributions at one point, but that was ... jeez, ten years ago now.

by odograph at 8:37 AM on 13 Mar 2008

ADVERTISING POLICY

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have an account, log in. If you don't have an account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.