The New Internet Computer (NIC) was a

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

-based

internet appliance An Internet appliance is a consumer device whose main function is easy access to Internet services such as WWW or e-mail. The term was popularized in the 1990s, when it somewhat overlapped in meaning with an information appliance, Internet com ...

released July 6, 2000 by

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

's and

Gina Smith Gina Smith (born November 11, 1957) is a Canadian equestrian. She won a team bronze medal as part of the Canadian Equestrian Team in dressage at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, together with teammates Cynthia Neale-Ishoy, Eva Pracht and A ...

's New Internet Computer Company. The system (without a monitor) sold for US$199. The NIC boots from a CD-ROM with a custom Linux distribution developed by Wim Coekaerts. It has no hard drive and no way to install additional software. The system's only nonvolatile storage is 4 MB of flash memory. Ellison planned to sell 5 million units the first year, but fewer than 50,000 units were sold. The company shut its doors in June 2003.

PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tech ...

ranked the NIC as the ninth worst PC of all time.

References

External links

Internet Appliance Eliminates Hard Drive
J.D. Biersdorfer, New York Times, September 28, 2000

Steve Lipson, Oracle Magazine
Linux and the New Internet Computer
Billy Hall,

Linux Journal ''Linux Journal'' (''LJ'') is an American monthly technology magazine originally published by Specialized System Consultants, Inc. (SSC) in Seattle, Washington since 1994. In December 2006 the publisher changed to Belltown Media, Inc. in Houston ...

, February 2001 Personal computers {{compu-stub