New Internet Computer Company Releases NIC 2.0 - page 2

New release makes connecting the device to the Internet easier.

According to Salort, uptake of the device has been high. Though he wouldn't give specific sales figures, he said the product has exceeded the company's expectations since its July launch.

"Response from corporate purchasers has been fantastic," he said, characterizing the overall response to the product from all quarters as "overwhelming." The most reponsive sector overall, though, has tended toward educational institutions, where the need for 'net-connected but inexpensive computers is high as schools scramble to wire their classrooms. Salort said home users place well behind corporate organizations.

Unlike the PR and financial fiasco faced by Netpliance over its response to hackers turning the i-opener into an inexpensive Linux computer, Salort said NICC has no stance on similar attempts to turn its NIC into something other than the designers originally intended:

"We live and breath Open Source," he said, "if somebody makes some interesting modifications, we'd love to see it."

NICC's relaxed attitude comes in part from the fact the company makes money off the hardware sales of the NIC's themselves instead of depending on lock-in to a particular ISP, which was Netpliance's ultimate downfall. Shortly before ceasing sales of the i-opener, Netpliance quadrupled the prices on the devices in a failed attempt to switch revenue models from selling Internet service to selling low-end computers.