#1

Comet PMC boxes … and thebirth of Mac-mini appliance

Bob Riddle

University of Michigan Medical School

#2

COMET PMC Box

•Comet PMC•Standalone box•No support (more or less)•Hard to buy (export stuff)•No DHCP•Security by obscurity•It costs $3000 & lots of patience•It works …•It works …

#3

… wish I could buy a DVTS appliance for about $500

• What if it was affordable

• What if it had a recognizable user interface?

• What if it was ready for prime time?

• Of course it would still require breakout box, echo cancellation equipment … the same stuff all video conferencing stuff needs …

#4

What could I do with a Mac-mini?

•Only 1 firewire port!

•Means you’ll need two of these boxes

•or you can try it with a firewire hub!

#5

#6

#7

Some other Mac-mini notes

• You can run the WinXP DVTS client and render output on the VGA monitor

• The hardware still costs ~ $500• You’ll need to pay for Windows, but

DVTS software is free• You can both send/receive from single

Mac-mini