Talk to Fred Meyer, CEO of start-up Cast Iron Systems, about his company's data-integration product and you picture a shrink-wrapped cardboard box with a few software CDs inside.
Instead, his company makes something that more resembles a server or router, which can be slipped onto a rack in a corporate data center.
That product design choice is not by accident. Selling a hardware, rather than software, product gives Cast Iron Systems, which announced a fourth round of venture funding on Monday, an edge over rivals, Meyer said.
This is an interesting concept. Let's take it to its logical conclusion: With the advent of flash memory, tons of USB connections on PC, and high performance, one can imagine an increasing number of "programs" actually coming in a more physical form. No more installing to the hard drive. You just plug it into your computer or network or whatever and the software is "just there" ready to go.
