Chip maker ZF Linux Devices has developed an ultra-cheap PC and has
promised to license the design to interested ISPs for free.
Daniel Thomas.
ZF Linux produces a low-cost microprocessor called the MachZ and
said that, by using this chip along with the Z-Port blueprints,
ISPs can manufacture a PC for $250 (£170). It said the cost is low
enough to re-ignite the "free PC" schemes piloted by US ISPs last
year. The value of the PC was meant to be recouped through online
charges but the high cost of PCs made the schemes too expensive to
run.
ZF Linux said it has developed more methods to simplify PC
design than other companies and believes it will succeed for three
reasons: the Z-Port can be configured with a free version of Linux,
rather than Windows; it is licensing the PC design for free; and
the MachZ processor is an integrated "system on a chip" that cuts
costs by combining input and output controllers on the same piece
of silicon as the microprocessor.
