Instant on computing is something I’ve been interested in for a long time, ie the ability to have a fixed function workstation that does what I need (and only that) which is always instantly available after powering on, like a TV.
I’ve never been able to build this myself because the raw materials always prevented it, primarily the BIOS startup time. But Asus are just about to ship a new motherboard with an embedded Linux in firmware based on SplashTop. This means that the OS is there almost instantaneously after powering on, with a fixed set of apps which are initially a browser and Skype. You can then boot a disk based OS from SpashTop, but often you won’t need to just to use a browser and hopefully soon, Acrobat.
The downside is the cost of the motherboard as its a premium model and full size, but if this principle could be extended to a mini-ITX form factor with a tiny case and low power then it would make a great home appliance using web based office tools and picture editors etc.
I’m keeping my eye on this, not for this implementation, but what I might be able to do real soon. There’s a brief intro video here:
