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Thin clients have been on the horizon for a number of years as a means of cutting costs and complexity. They haven't really caught on because the thin client wasn't all that much cheaper than a full-blown pc.
Fact is most workers don't need a PC workstation. Your average person needs a web browser, spreadsheet and word processor plus a place to store files.
The PC with the horrendous weight, complexity, and unreliablity of a Microsoft o/s has cost corporations billions.
PCs replaced "dumb" terminals. Support cost of a terminal was essentially zero. Sure you needed a bunch of people to support the mini or mainframe environment behind the scenes but that bunch grew many fold to support zillions of servers and desktops.
Now corporations want to get back to the more centralized model to reduce complexity and cut costs. The universe expanded and now wants to contract.
Sure the engineer or CAD user, artist, or other specialized workers need a full-fledged desktop computer. These are the exception, not the rule.
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