Internet Channel on Wii
You might not think your television set is the best place to experience the Internet, but when you don’t have a functioning computer, it’s better than nothing. This is the situation our friends in Alabama are experiencing.
I took a look at their computer today that had been sitting for a while since it was moved. After hooking it up, I discovered it was inoperable. Won’t even POST properly. We discussed options for replacement, and while computers have gotten cheaper, they are still expensive for the average family, especially in today’s economy.
One of the main attractions for a computer is, of course the Internet. Their Wii has Internet access, why not use that as the browser? Turns out, you can and it has a supported browser powered by Opera. The Internet Chnannel, as it is called on the Wii, is a one-time charge of $5. Hey, just about anyone can afford that!
The credit card was broken out and we were off to try it. Gmail worked, and so did YouTube. Could not go quite fullscreen, but the browsing experience and video playback was pretty nice. With the purchase of a USB keyboard, they’ll have a reasonable data entry experience as well.
It’s not going to replace a computer, but it might be an interesting experiment. I wonder how well Google Docs works. Can you use it on the Internet Channel? Maybe it will be worth spending $10 to find out.
