Ah, the Boston Tea Party, a watershed event in the history of the United States and the independence of this great country. Just uttering the two words tea party together will make anyone aware of US history think back to ships over two hundred years ago in the Boston harbor with crates of tea leaves floating in harbor.

So it is logical that MIT, a Massachusetts based university would use TParty as the name of its new initiative in cooperation with laptop maker Quanta. What is this initiative you ask? To develop the next-generation of computing.

According to this TechWeb article, TParty’s goal is "to create new systems for the development and seamless delivery of information services in a world of smart devices and sensors. This will require reengineering and an extension of the underlying technical infrastructure, the creation of new interfaces, and exploring new ways of managing and accessing information."

OK, I have to admit, this is a generic announcement. Not much meat to sink your teeth int. But with backers such as MIT and Quanta – the company that manufacturers OEM laptops for the likes of Apple, Dell, IBM and HP – you have to wonder if these companies aren’t capable of contributing something revolutionary to computing.