Oracle Corporation CEO Larry Ellison announces in 1997 his intention to replace the PC with a low-cost device called the Network Computer (NC). The NC is billed as being as simple as turning on a TV or answering a telephone, all for less then $500. Due to incompatibility perceptions, the interest in the NC unit never comes to fruition. Sales come up about 99 million units short of Ellison's 100 million unit projection.

'It's a blackboard. There is no spell-check.'