Netbox: Hardware Prototype

The basic features of netbox are to be able to access the internet and perform most of the tasks that a standard pc can whilst connected. This will include web browsing, email, download files, video messaging, voip, etc. However, the basic user may only wish to browse web sites or use email, and so we need to provide a hardware design that caters to the basic user. When designing the hardware, several considerations must be made.

• A non-threatening design - the hardware does not have a multitude of sockets or ports that will intimidate the user.


• Is it easy to set up?


• Is it easy to use?


• What additional features will be used, e.g. USB ports, memory card readers, webcam, etc.


• Where will the additional features be placed?

We want the basic netbox to be as plain looking as possible, to provide an unintimidating user experience. We feel it is important to keep the front of the box with just the essential features, i.e. power button, and anything else hidden out of sight. However, additional features need to be readily accessed, so we decided to put these features on the front of the box, but hidden by a flap.

In order to provide easy setup, we have reduced the number of cables needed to a bare minimum. The essential cables will be a power supply and a television/monitor connector. We have decided to make the netbox connection to a phone line wireless. This means that the user will connect an additional modem directly to their phone socket and this will talk wirelessly to the netbox unit. This should mean that netbox is easier to setup overall. Another consideration is the cables, especially in terms of size, shape and colour. The cables need to be easy to connect and so each cable should therefore have a unique colour and shape, and also be of a reasonable size to allow someone with reduced mobility/sight to use.

Netbox should be plug and play, i.e. once it is connected and switched on it takes the user directly to the browser and they can go from there. There should be no maintainence issues, e.g. anti-virus software, etc, so we decided that each netbox will come with a fixed amount of server storage space, as opposed to having an in-built hard drive. This will provide a worry free user experience.

The additional features we decided on were usb ports, so external devices can be connected. We also wanted memory card readers, as a lot of users will have digital camera's, which they may want to send pictures and such via email. These facilities will be placed on the front of the box to enable easy access for the user. We wanted only the device connectors to be located at the back, so once it is connected, it will not need to be moved. We wanted to build in a webcam into the box itself, however, this means that the box will have to be put in a prominent position in order to talk into the camera. This will probably be impractical, as most people will probablt store the box under their television, near the floor somewhere. We have therefore decide to bundle a webcam as a separate unit within the netbox package.

The initial prototype is therefore shown below: