iOpener
Company: Netpliance
Estimated Price: $99.00
plus $21.95 monthly service
http://www.netpliance.com
When Sheba, my daughter in Chicago, sent me an email message insisting she “MUST HAVE” an iOpener, I immediately became interested. She does not own a computer, but has occasional access to her friend’s Mac for a web-based email account.
At the iOpener website, linked from Netpliance, its parent company, I learned iOpener is the first genuine Internet appliance “NC,” or network computer. Imagine: an iBook without a CPU, a WebTV without a television, streaming audio without QuickTime, or America Online channels without AOL. I know, I’m not making any sense. Read on.
If you have a few minutes right now, look around the dozen iOpener links from http://www.netpliance.com, to help you understand the comments that follow. One of them, “In the News,” with URL http://www.netpliance.com/corp/news.asp, has reviews from many mainstream periodicals. The iOpener is BIG NEWS!
GENUINE OUT OF BOX EXPERIENCE
The carton is neither large nor heavy when it arrives via FedEx a day or two after placing your order. Unpacking takes one minute. Setting up takes two minutes, with help from the largest setup instruction card I have ever seen, 14 inches square. (This monster card makes a great mouse pad, if your mouse is as big as a dinner plate.)
Ready? You plug in the power unit and phone cord, turn on the monitor, wait a few seconds, and the iOpener sings a friendly chime before automatically logging in for your initial download of news, features, and email. There is no conventional hardware or software installation necessary, because “the network is the computer,” to use a trademarked phrase from another well-known computer company.
Send a few test email messages, order some goodies from the default shopping sites, use the web to read the latest issue of My Mac Online, relax to classical music from KING-FM in sunny Settle, and catch up on stock prices. Users have the choice of preset buttons to launch most of the content areas, or a mouse to access the same departments from the opening “home page.”
Spend the extra $$$ on an optional mouse kit, because the original pointer mechanism is clumsy, unless you have a specific physical need or preference for the keyboard pointer. I suggest you also purchase the recommended Canon BubbleJet $99.00 printer, but I didn’t have an opportunity to test one for this review.
WHAT’S WHAT?
Here are some of the iOpener specs and features:
The iOpener is not a Mac or a PC, and it is not a desktop or laptop computer. You really need to think differently. The “Getting Started Guide” is not a manual, because all user info lives inside the Help menu. If you’re familiar with using a computer and the Internet, you’ll become comfortable with the iOpener after a couple of hours. Total newcomers will need longer, but can easily be coached by a patient friend, with assistance from the built-in Help plus a Dummies/Complete Idiots’ style of Internet-for-beginners book.
HOW DOES THE %&*# THING WORK?
Yes, it works as promised, and I quickly became accustomed to using my iOpener for local and international weather, news, shopping, and music. The interface and network software are very impressive and well-designed. For a version 1.0 product, Netpliance is to be congratulated. It’s not as cute as an iMac or iBook, yet when people walk into my office, they always ask “What’s THAT THING, Nemo?” I explain the finer points of the iOpener, and want to demonstrate its nifty interface. But …
I can’t use my unit with any regularity, because my ancient phone dial-in line here in Tucson is “dirty,” meaning my connection keeps dropping out, and it takes forever to accomplish anything on the Internet. So …
Netpliance sent a review unit to Sheba in Chicago. Here’s her report, sent over several days:
Thanks, dad, for sending me an iopener. it’s cute.
Set up was easy (even for me and i’m a moron at those kinds of things). my connection is VERY FAST, probably because i am in chicago, and since it only does one thing (internet) there are no other applications running to slow it down. right? i am gonna time downloads right now, i will send another message when i’m done.
Times as follows: amazon load time 23 seconds for page, 3 seconds for specific music title. cdnow time 12 seconds for page, 4 seconds for title. got that? going to other non-commercial web pages is fast too.
Love the instant weather and news, the audio portion (radio) works great sometimes and not at all others; meaning it won’t work, then mysteriously, occasionally it just works. i don’t know what that’s about. something about buffering, whatever that is.
The shopping element could be VERY DANGEROUS, good thing i don’t have a credit card!!! also, i like the yahoo-type search engine, where you can search by question or key word or something else i can’t recall. of course all those weird questions i had that i always think of sending to the straight dope completely slipped my mind when confronted with that page. figures. more thoughts when I have them, so goodnight!
The cost is just right for somebody starting out, at $99 for the iopener. monthly $22 fee seems reasonable, especially since i’ll be using it every day.
Flat screen is terrific. keyboard good too. i’m using the mouse more than those custom keys, meaning i start each time from the iopener opening home page or whatever it’s called.
I haven’t spent any time adjusting the settings or preferences, because i’m not sure what to do. since i’m not having problems i’ll probably leave all that stuff alone for now, unless you say otherwise.
My apartment has only one phone line, so the answering machine comes first, then the iopener (always plugged in), then the telephone, one after the other. works great for all three. i keep the iopener power thing plugged into the wall outlet, but only turn on the flat monitor when i’m ready to use it. the “email ready” light is helpful. What a great idea!
Can I please keep it, dad? you offered (REMEMBER???) to pay for my aol service, well this is better! funniest thing is iopener is faster than my friend’s powermac and modem. I’m using iopener for normal internet web email, like before, and it works even better than from an isp account. I mean fast and easy!!
Tell everybody I really like it. anything else you need to know?
Well done, Sheba.
HACKING YOUR IOPENER
On another front, we have a long article from Wired News, with two paragraphs reprinted here, and the entire text available online at:
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,34977,00.html, entitled:
“An I-Opening Hack: $200 PC”
3:00 a.m. Mar. 16, 2000 PST
In mid-February, Las Vegas electronics engineer Ken Segler walked into his local Circuit City store, ordered a computer–and unwittingly kicked off a small phenomenon.
When his order arrived, he tweaked a simple connector cable and turned what was meant to be a closed Internet access “appliance”–the $99 Netpliance i-opener–into a fully functional, Pentium I-class PC. He published news of his discovery online and soon others were replicating his work.
SUMMARY
Rating the iOpener is complicated, because each group of users will respond differently to its hardware/software features. My general evaluation is positive, making it easy to RECOMMEND the iOpener to people who need either a “second computer” dedicated to the Internet, or who want a “first computer” that is an NC, being neither a Mac nor a PC.
Competition is about to become fierce for this market. Two years from now the Internet appliance NC landscape will be cluttered. I urge Netpliance to keep standards high. Without Sheba’s positive report from Chicago, I would give iOpener high marks for quality and a low score for connectivity. Based on her experience, My Mac feels the target consumers will agree with our rating of:
MacMice Rating: 4
John Nemerovski
nemo@mymac.com
Websites mentioned:
http://www.netpliance.com
http://www.netpliance.com/corp/news.asp
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,34977,00.html
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.