Jules Richardson wrote on "Digital Archaeology of the Microcomputer, 1974-1994

[Curt - Atari Museum]

How true, you look at all of these internet terminals that you see 
people hacking.   Many are hardwired to a service - like the Virgin 
Altantic internet terminals which need to have the BIOS replaced and you 
install your own embedded OS on to make then a vanilla system again.

Sierratel wireless internet is another one that comes to mind.   Imagine 
all those blackberries out there that could've become useless had RIM 
not worked something out.


Curt


Al Kossow wrote:
> > A couple of decades down the line I think we're going to have real 
> problems -
> > not just with computers, but with all sorts of modern gadgets
>
> We don't even have to wait that long.
>
> All of the consumer devices tied to backend services are a perfect 
> example
> of devices that are absolutely useless once a company fails. 
> Unfortunately,
> revenue models based on this model are on the increase.
>
>
>