I used a Netpliance i-Opener as my main system, bridging the time between selling my B&W G3 400 PowerMac and ordering a PowerMac G4 Dual 800.

I got in before they changed the terms of service, so paid $99 and done. Upgraded it to a WinChip 2, added a serial port, ethernet, and a little HD for storage. Good times, that summer.

There's an amusing story of the company calling and trying to get me to pay out due to the binding contract they told me they had retroactively applied to all sold units. lol

https://bytecellar.com/2013/04/23/i-opener-the-internet-appliance-that-was-made-to-be-hacked/

#Netpliance #iOpener #WinChip #X86 #IDT #CPU #retrocomputing #maybe #internet #internetappliance #windows98 #blog #blogpost

Remembering my i-Opener. Was a fun grab and hack early on, before they changed the TOS. ;->

#PC #iopener #internetappliance #ihacked #vintagecomputer #maybe #windows #WinChip #iPaq

Did anyone else happen to score back around 2000/2001 with a $99 Netpliance i-Opener "internet appliance" PC? It cost the company $300-$400 to produce, with their profit to be made from the monthly dial-up service. But...their original TOS for the purchase was not binding to that service.

It was an interesting opportunity that turned out to be a good bit of fun. ;-> It could be nicely expanded, I came to find.

https://bytecellar.com/2013/04/23/i-opener-the-internet-appliance-that-was-made-to-be-hacked/

#computing #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #hacking #hardware #PC #WinChip #projects