Five Feet of Dynamite

Take a look at the computer you’re using. Imagine what it would look like if you took away all the peripherals- the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse if you’re using one. The computer doesn’t need those things to run, that stuff is just for the humans. Also take away the CD/DVD drive, the USB toys you have plugged in and all the cables. What you have left is the CPU, the Central Processing Unit. Now imagine squeezing that CPU with your hands to make it as tiny as possible. Mold it into a neat little box. Behold, this is the Plug Computer.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. is a company in the business of digital storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions. They’ve come up with something so revolutionary, they’re not even sure just how much it might change the world. Marvell debuted the new Plug Computer 3.0 this week at the International Consumer Electronic Show. I almost can’t wrap my head around this device:

It’s tiny. The picture above is pretty close to actual size.

It’s energy efficient. Most computers consume between 95-650 watts. The Plug Computer is only 3 watts.

It’s powerful. 2.0 GHz of processing power. Yowza.

It’s roomy. 2GB of flash memory for storage and 1GB of system memory.

And it’s cheap. The Plug Computer 3.0 isn’t ready for the consumer market just yet, but it should retail for around $49 per unit. (You can buy a SheevaPlug right now for $99.)

Ok, so what. It’s a computer processor that I can plug into my wall like a night light. There’s no screen, and no buttons. Why would anyone want this thing?

This is the kind of product at CES that I might have completely missed. If it wasn’t for Guy Kawasaki sitting on the panel at the Plug Computing Pavilion, I probably wouldn’t even make it over to the Marvell booth. It’s easy to be seduced by the likes of the Intel booth, or the cool helicopter Drone controlled by an iPhone. The Plug Computer isn’t much to look at, but I now realize its potential is quite astounding.

From left to right: Guy Kawasaki, Rob Enderle, Jon Van Bronkhorst, Marek Mokryn, and moderator Paul O'Donovan

Why the Plug Computer matters

Panelist Jon Van Bronkhorst said at the conference, “Storage is the root of everything we do.” Yes, of course the Executive Director of Product Marketing for Seagate would say that, but he’s right. Over the years, the majority of us have come to rely on computers to store everything from family photos to banking statements. Computers have become the most important medium for keeping record of our lives.

But for a lot of people, our most important computer files are stored away on a home computer. This makes it really difficult, if not impossible for some, to access those files while being away from home. And even when you are home, those files are susceptible to damage or permanent loss if anything were to happen to the hard drive.

There’s no reason the average consumer would buy a Plug Computer right now. What Marvell has created is essentially a blank slate. It’s a platform that other developers and programmers can build from. Software is really going to be the driving force for the Plug Computer’s wide-scale adoption. Can you imagine what the iPhone would be without Apps? “Paperweight” comes to mind.

At the panel discussion, Guy Kawasaki reflected on what it means to be an Apple Evangelist, and how the Plug Computer is designed with the same spirit of innovation and commitment to developers. “If you give engineers a really rich platform, the tools, and the marketing promise… you’ll be amazed at what they create,” he said.

An alternative to the Cloud

“We like to call it your personal cloud,” said Bronkhorst. The Plug Computer can be used as a simple and cheap personal home server, giving you secure access to any of your files 24/7. All it takes it just plugging it into the wall.

The Plug Computer will appear as a mountable drive from your laptop, just like a USB flash drive or a camera does. It’s an “always on” device, and it can be password protected. It uses Ethernet and Bluetooth to connect to other computing devices, serving both data and applications, and its accessible from the internet. The Plug Computer runs on Linux, the most popular open source operating system.

With this device, a personal server environment can be a reality for common computer users. Marek Mokryn, a marketing director for Marvell, was also part of the panel, “Imagine what if most servers are not in the web, but in the home?”  Mokryn explained that the Plug Computer can be the means for a content delivery network to your home, a center for all multimedia and connect to many common devices like the iPhone and Sony PS3.

And impressively, a network of Plug Computers is completely scalable. You can have one, ten, even hundreds of Plug Computers working in unison. The processing power and storage capacity increases incrementally with each additional unit. It is completely feasible to build a supercomputer right your own home, if you really wanted that.

More than just storage & web accessibility

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at The Enderle Group. Enderle pointed out that before the Plug Computer, processors and memory had been expensive. Now that cost isn’t a limiting factor, there’s really no telling what developers can create with this platform. Enderle believes that the Plug Computer can manifest very practical solutions for home automation, automobiles, health, safety, entertainment and beyond.

Imagine that the computer in your refrigerator communicates with your plug network and sends you an alert on your mobile phone that you’re out of milk when you’re near a grocery store.  Or perhaps a small computer on your mountain bike detects that you’ve had a serious fall, and it connects to the plug network to alert your doctor and calls 911.

The capabilities of the Plug Computer are only limited to the developers’ imagination. Marvell had produced a website, PlugComputer.org, which houses the Plug Wiki and Plug Forum and serve as informational resources for developers.