<s>
The	O
Network	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
(	O
or	O
NC	O
)	O
was	O
a	O
diskless	B-Device
desktop	B-Device
computer	I-Device
device	O
made	O
by	O
Oracle	B-Application
Corporation	I-Application
from	O
about	O
1996	O
to	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
devices	O
were	O
designed	O
with	O
minimum	O
specifications	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Network	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
Reference	I-Device
Profile	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NC	O
brand	O
was	O
mainly	O
intended	O
to	O
inspire	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
desktop	B-Device
computers	I-Device
from	O
various	O
suppliers	O
that	O
,	O
by	O
virtue	O
of	O
their	O
diskless	B-Device
design	O
and	O
use	O
of	O
inexpensive	O
components	O
and	O
software	B-Application
,	O
were	O
cheaper	O
and	O
easier	O
to	O
manage	O
than	O
standard	O
fat	B-Protocol
client	I-Protocol
desktops	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
commoditization	O
of	O
standard	O
desktop	O
components	O
,	O
and	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
increasing	O
availability	O
and	O
popularity	O
of	O
various	O
software	B-Application
options	O
for	O
using	O
full	O
desktops	B-Device
as	O
diskless	B-Device
nodes	I-Device
,	O
thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
,	O
and	O
hybrid	B-Device
clients	I-Device
,	O
the	O
Network	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
brand	O
never	O
achieved	O
the	O
popularity	O
hoped	O
for	O
by	O
Oracle	B-Application
and	O
was	O
eventually	O
mothballed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
"	O
network	B-Device
computer	I-Device
"	O
is	O
now	O
used	O
for	O
any	O
diskless	B-Device
desktop	B-Device
computer	I-Device
or	O
a	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Firstly	O
,	O
prices	O
of	O
PCs	B-Device
quickly	O
fell	O
below	O
$1000	O
,	O
making	O
the	O
competition	O
very	O
hard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Secondly	O
,	O
the	B-Application
software	I-Application
available	O
for	O
NCs	O
was	O
neither	O
mature	O
nor	O
open	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
simply	O
insufficient	O
for	O
the	O
delivery	O
of	O
executable	B-Application
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NCs	O
ended	O
up	O
being	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
very	O
'	O
dumb	O
terminals	O
 '	O
they	O
were	O
intended	O
to	O
replace	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
proprietary	B-Application
backend	O
infrastructure	O
is	O
not	O
readily	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1990s	O
era	O
NCs	O
are	O
often	O
network-booted	O
into	O
a	O
minimal	O
Unix	B-Application
with	O
X	B-Operating_System
,	O
to	O
serve	O
as	O
X	B-Protocol
terminals	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
Network	O
Computing	O
standard	O
,	O
the	O
Network	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
Reference	I-Device
Profile	I-Device
(	O
NCRef	O
)	O
,	O
required	O
that	O
all	O
'	O
NC	O
 '	O
appliances	O
supported	O
HTML	B-Language
,	O
Java	B-Language
,	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
,	O
JPEG	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
key	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
many	O
NCs	O
did	O
not	O
use	O
Intel	O
CPUs	B-General_Concept
or	O
Microsoft	O
software	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	O
and	O
Intel	O
developed	O
a	O
competing	O
standard	O
called	O
NetPC	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
HDS	O
@workStation	O
was	O
stated	O
to	O
ship	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
June	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Acorn	B-Device
Network	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
was	O
Oracle	B-Application
's	O
initial	O
reference	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
NC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
development	O
was	O
subcontracted	O
to	O
British	O
company	O
Acorn	O
Computers	O
,	O
who	O
adapted	O
its	O
own	O
to	O
create	O
NCOS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1997	O
Apple	O
announced	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
NC	I-Device
,	O
its	O
attempt	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
Pippin	B-Device
into	O
a	O
network	B-Device
computer	I-Device
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
1997	O
,	O
Steve	O
Jobs	O
discontinued	O
all	O
Macintosh	B-Device
clone	I-Device
efforts	O
,	O
effectively	O
killing	O
the	O
Pippin	B-Device
,	O
although	O
key	O
components	O
of	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
NC	I-Device
technology	O
were	O
inherited	O
by	O
the	O
original	O
iMac	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
developed	O
the	O
JavaStation	B-Device
,	O
a	O
JavaOS-based	O
NC	O
based	O
on	O
SPARC	B-Architecture
hardware	O
,	O
initially	O
similar	O
to	O
Sun	O
's	O
range	O
of	O
Unix	B-Device
workstations	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
the	O
later	O
reference	O
design	O
,	O
the	O
Network	O
Station	O
used	O
a	O
NetBSD-based	O
NCOS	B-Operating_System
booted	O
over	O
a	O
LAN	O
from	O
an	O
AS/400	B-Device
or	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Network	O
Station	O
supported	O
local	O
execution	O
of	O
basic	O
applications	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
and	O
console	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
X	B-Operating_System
capability	O
was	O
also	O
implemented	O
to	O
allow	O
both	O
locally	O
and	O
remotely	O
run	O
applications	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
practice	O
,	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
real	O
applications	O
meant	O
that	O
this	O
was	O
little	O
more	O
than	O
a	O
hardware	O
X	B-Protocol
terminal	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	O
Network	O
Station	O
was	O
originally	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
architecture	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
final	O
few	O
models	O
used	O
Intel	B-Device
Pentium	I-Device
processors	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
idea	O
behind	O
the	O
NC	O
can	O
be	O
seen	O
as	O
existing	O
in	O
contemporary	O
times	O
in	O
the	O
system	O
of	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
and	O
in	O
particular	O
ChromeOS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Wired	O
magazine	O
,	O
Daniel	O
Roth	O
claims	O
that	O
the	O
failure	O
of	O
the	O
network	B-Device
computer	I-Device
eventually	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
large	O
contribution	O
to	O
this	O
transition	O
was	O
attributed	O
to	O
Eric	O
Schmidt	O
,	O
once	O
the	O
CTO	O
of	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
,	O
a	O
proponent	O
of	O
the	O
network	B-Device
computer	I-Device
,	O
who	O
eventually	O
became	O
the	O
CEO	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
is	O
a	O
large	O
purveyor	O
of	O
cloud	B-Architecture
technology	I-Architecture
,	O
"	O
most	O
notably	O
Google	B-Application
Docs	O
and	O
Spreadsheets	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
