The Videotile had an LCD with pen input and a fast ATM connection to the network. At the time, network computer was commonly used as a synonym for a thin client; VNC is essentially a software-only (i.e. virtual) network computer.

In 1999, AT&T acquired the lab, and in 2002 closed down the lab's research efforts. Following this, several members of the development team (including Richardson, Harter, Weatherall and Hopper) formed RealVNC in order