RE: Prometheus

It failed miserably then, but who knows now!

That's news to me.  From where I saw it, the box succeeded admirably - just
not in the arena where IBM first intended it to sell.  But that's nothing
new - read the history of Post-Its for a classic example!
  
The P02 was developed because the original portable was a big hit in (among
other places) Italy where it was sold as a small business solution to
customers who didn't want an unreliable network of PCs.  The P02 had more
"oomph" than the original portable and sold well.  

It was discontinued because the Risc machines came out and with them models
like the 150 and 170 that had a low enough price point that an entry-level
Pnn was not a requirement.  Also the widespread growth of the internet meant
that BPs (the original target of the portables) could do demos of their
software over the internet at a good speed without needing dial-up.

Your comment re hosted services is exactly the solution that IBM have taken
with the revitalized schools program and it looks like it will work well as
they will all be up to date and will not have to worry about PTFs etc.

I wonder if Prometheus isn't more of a grass-roots approach than a schools
oriented attack.  Get modern machines in the hands of the folks like us who
live and breathe this stuff. 

Jon Paris
Partner400

www.Partner400.com
www.RPGWorld.com