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The concept has been around for a while now - probably even at the root of the Web's early spinnings. No time to research specifics, but I remember there being a couple of sites - some even offering to pay - asking to donate idle CPU time to calculating complex mathematical equations and the like. Seeing that college was the first time my computer was hooked up to a high-speed line, it raises the obvious issue of bandwidth. Broadband penetration is soaring - something like 40 percent of US households by 2010 - but things like shared computing could significantly congest networks run by cable and DSL operators, where most people are still getting 1.5 mbps rates or so. Companies and schools will likely ban it, and the average American probably won't know enough to consider installing the program, or they will consider it a backdoor for spyware and hackerz.
Not a bad idea, but will computer makers resist? Will the nation's infrastructure get built up enough to adequately support what's needed? Does it pose security risks?
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