ComputerWorld: Linux 'Appliance' Serves Music Samples at [Wherehouse] Stores

Thanks to BR for this link.

"Retailer taps open-source operating system to let shoppers hear any song on any CD

"If Linux's brightest future is as a one-task "appliance" server, Wherehouse Entertainment Inc. is providing a glimpse of that future.

"The music and video chain is testing a digital system that will allow customers to hear 45 seconds of audio from every song on every CD in the store's inventory, rather than listening to only preselected CDs on a rack.

"In a report last month, Dataquest, a unit of Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Group Inc., projected that sales of Linux will be strongest in such task-specific roles..."

Complete story.