...Although manufacturers have tried,
and mostly failed, to turn computers into fashion statements for years,
the tide may be changing, say Brown and others in the PC industry. The
catalyst for change looks likely to be the popularity of digital music,
digital video recorders and DVD movies, which has carved out a place
for the PC in the home entertainment pantheon as a vault for pictures
and other media.
As a result, the PC should gradually adopt the design flair of the
consumer-electronics world....
The growing popularity of wireless networks, which make devices easier
to move around the house, is also prodding the trend. "Wireless networks
enable a platform. Clients become more varied and interesting," said Bob
O'Donnell, an analyst at research firm IDC.
In addition, declining PC prices continue to make it easy for
consumers to justify having a second or third home computer. The $199
PCs being sold
by Wal-Mart aren't going to new users, Brown said, but to experienced PC
owners. Via's chips are used in these low-priced Microtel computers,
sold on the retailer's Web site...
