Did Acer accidentally invent the Cloud workstation?

An intriguing report on German news site Heise.de on Monday unveiled a cheap monitor that includes built-in PC functionality. The Acer DX241H is an if not standard 1920x1080 pixel HDMI monitor, nevertheless it as well features an operating system running on top of an ARM Cortex-A8 chip -- the same processor commonly found in cell phones and tablets. All this comes in at around just $400, even though that price would likely be significantly lower if the product reaches the United States.

Acer is touting the DX241H as a monitor that happens to have browsing built in, just like some monitors have simple computing functionality built in that lets them display pictures on memory cards, for instance.

However, the prices of all-in-ones tend to be on the high side; you'll struggle to find one for less than $600, for instance. By and large they're designed to be stylish and compact additions to homes, taking their lead from the Apple iMac. The business market is largely untapped as of yet though I've seen a handful on desks here and there.

However, I'm not sure these complaints would be realistic with a cloud terminal. A cloud desktop computer could be an in every respect solid-state machine, and we know from past experience that solid-state innovation rarely fails.

As for upgrade possibilities, the reality is that it's rare for businesses to change hardware within computers. It's just not an efficient use of staff time and PCs are treated as commodity items, to be used until they die and at the time disposed of. Any upgrades are limited to RAM or, even less frequently, hard disks. In many cases all-in-one PCs manufacturers make the RAM easy to upgrade, and if the computer is used as a cloud terminal next running out of storage will not be an issue. Nothing other than the OS is stored locally.

Of course, all of this is pure speculation -- fantasy, even. Businesses are however wary about working within the cloud, and there's no sign of an end of the security deadlock that's stopping many businesses moving over to the cloud.

It's fun to see how lots of different computing technologies are converging for the moment to made cloud computing a opportunity, otherwise a reality. As they said in "The Six Million Dollar Man," we have the research. Now, how we use it is down to how quickly we can abandon our prejudices.