Network Computer

However, due to the commoditization of standard desktop components, and due to the increasing availability and popularity of various software options for using full desktops as diskless nodes, thin clients, and hybrid clients, the Network Computer brand never achieved the popularity hoped for by Oracle and was eventually mothballed.

[citation needed] The failure of the NC to impact on the scale predicted by Larry Ellison may have been caused by a number of factors.

[1][failed verification] Thirdly, the idea could simply have been ahead of its time, as at the NC's launch in 1996, the typical home Internet connection was only a 28.8 kbit/s modem dialup.

NCs ended up being used as the very 'dumb terminals' they were intended[citation needed] to replace, as the proprietary backend infrastructure is not readily available.

[6] Acorn made use of local partner companies ANT, Icon Technology and Design Edge to fulfil their contract.

By the end of 1997, Steve Jobs discontinued all Macintosh clone efforts, effectively killing the Pippin, although key components of the Mac NC technology were inherited by the original iMac.

[citation needed] The IBM Network Station was originally based on the PowerPC architecture, but the final few models used Intel Pentium processors.

A large contribution to this transition was attributed to Eric Schmidt, once the CTO of Sun Microsystems, a proponent of the network computer, who eventually became the CEO of Google.