[ Thanks to Matt for
this link. ]
“Even within the ranks of PCs, this differentiation has started
to pick up steam. Both iTronics and Panasonic have built profitable
businesses selling ‘ruggedized’ laptops that can handle extreme
abuse but are limited in form factor in terms of upgrades and other
interior changes.“And Sony has focused marketing efforts on differentiating the
VAIO laptop as a multimedia specialist. ‘Someone wants something
that’s really comfortable. Somebody else wants something that’s
really mobile,’ says Roger Kay, vice-president for client computing
at tech consultancy IDC.“This trend could spell trouble for Windows, says Raduchel. He
believes that makers of specialized devices and systems with PC
capabilities but not the PC label will increasingly prefer Linux
and other open-source operating systems that they can more easily
customize and tailor to their needs. In the near term, Linux is
more likely to conquer the new world of products that have the
capabilities of PCs than it is to take over laptops and desktops
themselves. ‘There will be more Linux PCs in households than people
imagine, and people won’t know they are Linux PCs,’ says
Raduchel…”