That statement was used to describe some slow computers. But remember, back in 1995, what we consider as super slow today, was super fast. Those were the Multimedia computers. But wait... 16MB of RAM? 150MHz Pentium?!! You have got to be kidding me. But back then, slow computers were those running on pure DOS, so faster computers that can display graphics, music, text, videos and animation would be labelled as Multimedia Computers.
But nowadays, multimedia desktop computers are mostly multimedia computers. Technically, every desktop PC that we have or even laptop or cellphone can be classified as a Multimedia Computer. Face it. They can all play sound, display graphics, do animations bla bla.
Nowadays, the true Multimedia Computers would be the ones that are able to let us do what we want, and that involves, no-lag Internet, fast downloads from Multimedia websites, the ability to play smoothly the latest PC games and a super cool and nice Operating System Interface. If not, even if the computer plays sound and graphics and animation, it will still be labelled as crap.
What type of Multimedia Computers are we looking at today? Well, 3.0 Ghz(dual core or single-core), 1GigaBytes of RAM, a 128 MB or higher video card and TV Tuner card. Maybe even with a good graphic card as Nvidia GEforce or ATI Readon. What about handhelds? The Nokia Nseries for example. They are just like a computer, able to play movies, play games, browse the Internet, snap photos...
Perhaps you are already reading this page and saying that the above specs are too old for a Multimedia Computer... haha. That's how fast the tech guys are moving.
Written by Josh T
September 2007