Modular computing?
by Sven on Aug.17, 2007, under The Bad Shite
UNI is a new way of thinking about computers. Essentially you have a base station which is called ‘Think’. This is essentially the main core of a computer. However if you wish to write a DVD or save data to a hard disk you will need to plug the relevant module into “Think”. The devices communicate via the household powerlines at 200Mbps or via wireless USB at 480Mbps. The idea behind this is that you can upgrade, replace or add on only those parts that require it. From the pictures it looks like you can add USB devices, memory card reader and the like.
What I don’t get is that the modern PC is already modular. You can replace a DVD drive, memory module and so on, or add a new one in. I guess this is the simple way to do it but it does mean that your computer gets bigger each time you add something. Plus if you want to get an new module or replace one you are required to buy their brand. Smells a little of the Apple marketing strategy to me. I personally like to pick and choose as many components as I can. Being an Apple user I don;t have much choice most of the time and therefore I find myself stuck with these goddamn Matshita DVD drives thatthey think everyone wants. The only solution to replace those is to buy an external drive or just to simply live with it.
It’s an intersting approach but one that I think needs to be thought through a bit more to see if it actually makes sense to break a computer into stickle brick components.
