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If Linux is the ultimate hermit crab operating system -- born without a home but able to live well in anybody's hardware -- then it'll be fun to see how well Linux lives in the funky form factors provided by Acme Portable Machines, Inc.
Acme's hardware is built for places where the practical outweighs the pretty by ratios that verge on the absolute: server rooms, factory floors, military aircraft, medical facilities. They make KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switches that slide on rails into racks and control multiple CPUs (among many other connected things). They make kiosk PCs. They make tower CPUs with the dimensions of portable sewing machines, featuring flat screens and keyboards that open out the side and slots inside that hold to eight full-size cards.
But perhaps the most interesting items are Acme's portable systems: luggable workstations that look like scary briefcases and boast features like "flame resistant" cases. Acme calmly calls its EMP "a robust lunchbox computer built using heavy duty metal to provide tough, go-anywhere unit ideally suitable for harsh/severe environments and mission critical applications." Jim Thompson of Netgate calls it "the ultimate LAN party box". Shown above is the EMP-370.
Acme Portables' primary market is OEMs, but you can see and buy their good directly at acmeportable.com.
- Doc Searls
