With the exploding number of small offices and remote offices needing secure Internet services, and the continuing dearth of skilled technical support, the Internet appliance market looks good. According to our tests, absolutely. Whether Sam gets help from headquarters' technical staff or from his teenaged daughter experienced in building a user Web site on AOL, an Internet appliance will give Sam all he needs for light to moderate Web, e-mail and file services.
Style helps too, as the cube look remains cool after three years.
This combination earned Qube 3 the Network World Blue Ribbon award. But Rebel NetWinder 3100 gets plenty of style points as well, and offers almost the same administrative depth. InstaGate EX2 and Celestix Aries Server Appliance work well but lack the extras mentioned for Qube 3 and NetWinder. Toshiba's new Magnia SG10 hit the streets too late to be included in our tests, but it takes direct aim at Qube 3, with nearly identical features, disk capacity and price range. Two years ago IBM bought one of the early Internet appliance companies, Whistle InterJet, and has withdrawn the product from the market while it reconfigures the service bundle that includes the appliance as part of a long-term Internet services contract.