JohnTyra.com

A new computer called the CherryPal has been announced that uses only 2 watts of energy. In comparison, a typical incadesent lightbulb uses 60 watts of energy and even a high-efficency type-A lightbulb consumes around 15~20 watts. Is this the solution to our world’s energy and ‘green’ problem? Doubtful.

First, there is no ‘OS’ that the user is exposed to…instead, there is an embedded Linux backend which handles everything. The user is only shown a Firefox browser, good browser choice, which then becomes the operating system for the user as that is all that’s seen. Now it’s a inexpensive solution for only $250 when you look at the pricetag, but remember you’re only getting a 400Mhz CPU with 256MB of RAM and 4GB of flash-based storage. Wow, those are the same specs as my HTC pda phone…and I get an actual OS with mine. Also, when looking at the offerings from the Eee PC or even low-end OEM machines (like HP) for a mere $50 to $150 more, you’re increasing your power and performance by 1x to 10x for very little cost difference. However, you’re also increasing your ‘carbon footprint’ according to the more green minded individuals when choosing one of these other options.

But, on the positive side, you could install one of these almost anywhere and since your data is stored on the ‘cloud’ it automatically means it’s backed up and stored off-site, which is far above and beyond the average end-user’s data habits of today. Who knows where these might end up, especially if the price gets down to $99 or so for these CherryPal computers.