From the introduction of user-friendly labels like "My Computer, " through the abortive "Microsoft Bob" project (an attempt to build an extra, easy-to-understand layer on top of Windows -- an interface for an interface, if you will), the software giant has been waging a war to get the geekiness out of its operating system.

CNN: Cutting Edge: Into The New Millennium

Eben Upton, the UK-based University of Cambridge professor and inventor behind the wallet-friendly PC, says he set out to create a computer so affordable that every child in Britain could have one.

CNN: Why everybody wants a slice of Raspberry Pi

He has no computer at his desk, just an Etch A Sketch on which co-workers can leave friendly messages.

WSJ: Patagonia's Founder is America's Most Unlikely Business Guru

Most providers of these small business-friendly servers distribute them through one of your neighbors, a local small business computer company.

FORBES: Are You Feeling The Pain Of Peer-To-Peer?

Experts tell me the landscape is shifting in patent law, with the American courts less friendly to this kind of tactic while in Europe it has become slightly easier to patent computer-based innovations.

BBC: Are patents good for you?