I think there's "something" here. To summarize the answers to the question I've seen so far:

1. File/print server. Very real use-case.

2. Control motors, device controllers around the home that can be connected via USB.

What if a 40$ computer had wi-fi connectivity? What if one couples it with wi-fi sensors such as http://www.aginova.com sells and wi-fi enabled device controllers. What kind of apps one can build given such as combination?

Now, first one is obvious and clearly valuable use-case. What about the second one?