Computer Aces

A friend and I built a “hackintosh” over the past week. We cobbled together some spare parts, and took on the arduous task of making it all work.

The only problem was this: the 350watt PSU (which had fairly glowing reviews when it was produced) wasn’t enough. One CPU, one video card, one hard drive. (To be fair, I wasn’t using a SATA drive, so there was a whole power rail that was unused.)

The concept that I was pushing the PSU past its limits on a machine that was several generations removed from the current era of computing made me wonder - how much power ARE we using?

CPUs have made serious strides in reducing power consumption, but the rest of the machine hasn’t. Video cards that require 200watts. Stacks of hard drives. All expected for power users, but what about when we’re NOT gaming, or compressing our digital media, or creating the next wave of independent digital entertainment. What about just listening to music, or checking our email? Chatting with friends via IM? We don’t need a quad-core supercomputer to do that.

I’ve been involved with a couple of low-power computing programs in the past, like the Efika Open Client. Plagued with hardware limitations and sub-par hardware support, these projects never got much farther than a couple of isolated business deployments as little more than thin-clients, and developer toys. Power usage on the system was amazing, however - 1 watt to run the system, minus video card and hard drive (yes, you could run a headless, diskless system, although nobody would want to for any kind of desktop use). Addition of video and a non-flash local drive usually bumped the power usage to about 12 watts - still pretty amazing.

The performance of the system however, was abysmal for anything you would do on the internet nowdays. The hardware limitation of 128MB of RAM made it impossible to run most common web browsers without having to resort to incredibly slow virtual memory on the hard drive.

Most of this was remedied for the Efika by the release of MorphOS 2, which introduced a light, fast, Amiga-inspired (and somewhat compatible) desktop OS to the system. However, this solution comes at a price - about $260 for the OS, not counting the original cost of $150+ for the base system itself. Software support is limited, as you’re running applications designed for an operating system that most of you (or your tech friends) have never even heard of.

Next was Zonbu. They introduced a relatively low-power computer with a very attractive form factor as an initial low cost purchase. Their trick however, was the subscription you must purchase from Zonbu for the use of the computer. This subscription did include system software upgrades, as well as upgraded security and software applications for the Zonbu machine. The underlying system was based on Linux though, and many begged the question “Why pay for something that I can get for free?”.

Zonbu responded well, stating that you’re paying for the constant maintenance, attention to security upgrades, customization for the Zonbu environment, and the online storage space that was a part of the subscription package, providing a safe place for your documents and other data to reside in case of a hardware crash. Unfortunately, people didn’t bite.

Enter CherryPal. They offer a small, low-cost computing package much like Zonbu, with the exception that there is no subscription fee. Total power usage is 2-3 watts, which seems unrealistically low until you read the specs. It uses a low-power embedded PowerPC cpu, not unlike those Apple used in earlier Macintosh computers, although with much upgraded memory and video capabilities. CherryPal also introduces a concept that may be foreign to many - “cloud” computing. There will be a few standard applications installed on the system - such as Firefox - but your heavier apps will be running in the “cloud”, a farm of servers dedicated to running applications and crunching data, sending their output directly to your CherryPal PC. You have 50 GB of storage space in the cloud, so all your data is safe from hardware crashes or power outages.

All this aside, how does this benefit us, the users?

First off, the obvious improvement of decreased power consumption. Many power companies in the US charge for power in a bracketed scheme. The first so many kW is so much money per kW, the next xxx kW to yyy kW is so much money per kW, etc. The amount of money per kW increases as you move from bracket to bracket, increasing the amount you pay in a decidedly non-linear manner. Using a 2-watt computer to do most of your casual computing instead of a 200-watt computer might be the difference between one power usage bracket and the next, saving possibly hundreds in power costs.

The second major improvement is the “cloud” itself. For any serious work, you’re using a network of powerful computers to accomplish your task, instead of a single comparatively underpowered workstation. For example, you connect your camera and upload a set of photos, and need to remove red-eye, crop, and color-correct the photos. All the work is done elsewhere, on a set of powerful computers dedicated to the tasks such as these. You don’t need to purchase expensive software, or an expensive computer to churn out good-looking photos.

I’ve mentioned that the CherryPal PCs are low-cost, however I haven’t said what their selling price is. Think of the cheapest “decent” computer you can think of. The cheapest computer that you would use. How much did it cost? $400? $500?

The CherryPal PC is $249. No subscription, no contracts, just pure everyday computing. Shipping begins tomorrow, November 4th. 11/11/08 UPDATE: The CherryPals, to my knowledge have not been shipped. I and several others involved in the pilot project have had no communication in regards to the device’s status, despite our attempts to reach them. I’ll update here when I know more.

11/12/08 UPDATE: CherryPal units HAVE shipped according to schedule, they have been filling some large volume orders from the UK and Africa. If you do decide to snag one as a result of this article, entering  ”CPP240″ in the coupon area is supposed to get you a $10 discount. I’ll post a new blog when mine arrives.

Note, I’m not an employee of CherryPal in any way. I believe strongly in the principles of “green” computing, or “just enough” computing. It’s like having a fuel-efficient scooter to commute to work or to go visit friends with, instead of driving your V10-powered supercar around all the time. My CherryPal PC is on its way, and I’ll be writing about the entire experience of using it. Keep an eye here for my thoughts on CherryPal’s entry into low-cost, low-power computing concepts. No bull, no hot air, no fluff, no semi-related conceptual discussion.

I’ll be posting my experiences and reactions as a normal everyday user, and as the high-tech power user. Both viewpoints should give a well-balanced look at this new dawn in ubiquitous computing.

I didn’t talk to you there, but I did listen to you and the others with you at the Houston launch.

I had already convinced myself that I would not install Windows Vista or install it on my kids’ PCs (we have 8 in the house including the central file server). In fact, I was close to abandoning MS altogether which would have been quite a migration for me. Please bear with me as I don’t get to tell my story much.

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