A Replacement for the i-Opener? 98
kenh writes "For years my father has gotten along the Information Superhighway with just an i-Opener and an Earthlink account. However, the internet has moved too far ahead for his burned-in-ROM browser to be useful to him anymore, and dial-up is a bit slow these days. While investigating various options (Apple Macintosh, Knoppix Linux/Ubuntu Linux with USB key file storage, WebTV) I didn't find any that were very appealing, for a variety of reasons. Right now, I'm looking for something that has: dial-up support, no update/anti-virus/etc pop-ups, and no software 'update' downloads, support for PDFs, Flash, Javascript, and other features necessary to accommodate more modern websites. The i-Opener was 'foolproof', and if things went wrong, you could just shut it off and try again, Everything I see today lacks that ability (to varying extents)." What decent i-Opener replacements, if any, exist today?
Why buy a new one? (Score:3, Informative)
There are generally a few on eBay that are sold as hacked if you don't want to go through it yourself. Buy a hacked one, sell the old one for someone else to hack.
I use to support these things while working for Earthlink/MindSpring. They're not that bad after you put Linux on them. I've thought of buying one myself just to throw in the corner for a stats setup for my network, computers and hosting servers - just don't have the time.
VMWare (Score:5, Informative)
iMac G3 (Score:5, Informative)
At the college where I do tech support we have a number of instructors (especially the older ones) who are not technologically inclined, but they need to do their grading on our web site, so they need a device that runs a modern web browser supported by our portal software. We're an art school, so we have a bunch of old G3-powered iMacs sitting around, and that's what we give them. Install OS X on them (they'll all run Panther; the oldest ones can install Tiger using a utility called XPostFacto), set it to auto-run Safari or Firefox when the machine starts, and voila: a generally trouble-free web browsing system in a friendly-looking package. Even a leisurely 233MHz G3 is fast enough and 128-256MB RAM should be plenty for web browsing. (Bump it to 320 or more if you want to also install NeoOffice.)
You didn't say why you'd eliminated a Mac as an option, and this pretty much meets your requirements. Yes, OS X does have a Software Update app that periodically prompts the user to install the latest security fixes and requires him to click some license agreements for them, but if you have to disable that to avoid confusing/annoying Dad or because he's on a slow dial-up line, it'll probably be OK (certainly moreso than an un-updated Windows machine). Firefox's updates might be annoying but they're quick and easy. An iMac isn't instant-on (especially not a G3), but if you let it Sleep instead of shutting it down it will be.
Pepper Pad (Score:5, Informative)
We've designed the Pad and its software to be an appliance. The user never needs to interact with the underlying OS, although it is an option for those who want to. While we do provide software updates on a regular basis, the Pad can be configured not to get them.
Disclaimer: I work for Pepper.
Re:Quick fix (Score:3, Informative)
Appliances for browsing the web like i-Opener and MSN-TV (formerly WebTV) are basically dead.
Re:replacement? (Score:3, Informative)
You can even set up what DF calls a "thawed space", where pop could store the
When the PC needs updates, son can come over, thaw the machine, update the software, and freeze the PC again.
We use it in my place of work for several laptops that get checked out to students. They complain about losing doucments they create, but if they'd read the freakin' desktop background (which warns them to use a USB key, a CD-R, or the thawed space), they wouldn't have that problem.
I don't know how much this software would cost for an individual (heck, I don't even know how much my employer paid for it), but it would do what he is wanting. There should even be a demo available at the linked page so the submitter (or anyone else, for that matter) can test it out before they buy.
AMD Personal Internet Communicator (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.amd.com/us-en/ConnectivitySolutions/Pr
There's at least one on ebay for $150.
Re:2 solutions (Score:2, Informative)
They even have a completely fanless computer [damnsmalllinux.org].
(I am in no way affiliated with the DSL team unless you count recurring donations)
Re:Why buy a new one? (Score:4, Informative)