InfoTech: back to the future with shared computer on Linux

Perhaps a word of explanation: in the dim and dark days of the mid 1980s, we didn't have Windows or Mac. In fact, most of us didn't have a desktop computer at all. We didn't have hard disks. Our "floppy disks" were 5.25" diameter and held a maximum of 256k data. When the smaller 3.5" not-so-floppy disks became available and held a whole megabyte, that was seriously good.

In the UK, the Amstrad 1512 broke ground - and it cost GBP500. It was called the 1512 because it had 512k memory. It had two disk drives: one for programmes and one for data which saved a lot of switching and also the risk of over-writing the software disk by forgetting which was in the drive. And it had a mouse.

For a world full of office workers who got an electric typewriter with some odd-ball editing function, the PC was a revelation.

But elsewhere, companies such as Wang were selling dedicated word processors on mid-range computers. That's what the big law firms used when they were not using MultiMate on their IBMs or Word Perfect on whatever it would run on. The arrival of desktop machines like Superbrain and - most importantly - the IBM Personal Computer : the PC. The Amstrad ran Wordstar and - most importantly - it ran combined programmes such as Lotus Symphony (based on the dominant 1-2-3 spreadsheet and Ashton Tate's Framework - based on the dominant database engine but where it really scored was with an excellent Word Processor and a fantastic programming language called FRED. Incredibly, it is still available but now, instead of running on DOS, it now includes its own operating system. The only thing that differentiated Framework from later (and not so good) office suites running on Windows were the lack of a simple set up (each module had to have printers, etc set up individually) and no copy and paste.

But the PC was expensive and meant more machines to maintain. And so many businesses put a mini-computer in the corner and ran dumb terminals. The Motorola 68000 chip was a favourite CPU. Costs? Shed loads: GBP2,500 for a machine with a 10Mb (yes, Mb) hard disk (GBP700 to upgrade to 20Mb) - but at least it was SCSI (totally cutting edge) and an operating system called BOS (for Business Operating System) which (here's the point of this rambling) was a cut-down version of Unix.

So, fast forward to today. You can buy a decent specification PC for about GBP200 - which, in real terms is roughly what it would have cost to buy a Mars Bar in 1986 - well, maybe not but you get the picture). Put Linux on it (free). And then spend USD60 on a new product from Userful Corporation. Actually, Userful Multiseat 4.0 is the latest version of software that already runs three quarters of a million seats and by far the cleverest. Network cables? Nah. Switches? Nope: connect up to 11 PCs through USB ports. According to the company "It reduces hardware costs by up to 80% and energy costs by up to 90%. At $59 per seat (educational), Userful MultiSeat is the lowest cost computing solution available with the features and performance of a full desktop computer."

Using dumb terminals such as HP t100, Wyse E01, MCT MWS 8820, and DisplayLink the primary advantage is that there is only one machine to maintain. And with no moving parts or ports at the operator end, users can't steal data.

So there's just one small issue: the company refers to its USD59 price as for educational use. Its marketing material including its website is remarkably coy about what the rest of us will pay.

Gosh, sitting at a Wyse terminal: how very 1980s all over again.