August 26th, 2008
Is LogMeIn the route to laptop Linux?
While pursuing a Linux laptop for review I happened upon a press agent who pointed me to LogMeIn.
This, he said, is what will make laptop Linux a mass market.
LogMeIn is a service for reaching another computer, a descendant of LapLink, which I covered two decades ago.
The press agent’s idea is you get a Netbook with the simplest possible open source stack. All you need is Internet access and a browser.
You point this Netbook to LogMeIn, and use it to access your own desktop back at the office. You do all your work that way. You use all the Windows or Mac applications you have now, but the device you use them on is basically a terminal.
The company also offers back-up, management, and mobile support services. It’s a complete SaaS service.
In some ways nothing changes. In some ways everything changes.
If you need to give a presentation, you just run it remotely but I don’t know of many podiums with broadband access.
OK, there are still a few bugs in the system. But how far can this take the Linux laptop market?
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
| 08/26/08
