I just read a post from Microsoft U.K that indicates they just released a SharePoint Server for Search packaged on an Appliance. It certainly is an nice looking box:
At BA-Insight, the 2003 model of Longitude was also packaged as an Appliance:
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Our experience with packaging software as such was mixed, depending on the size of the company that we were dealing with. Small and mid sized organization really valued the Appliance model. The plug and play nature of the installation was particularly appealing to firms that are resource constrained. Larger firms on the other hand, are amply staffed and often standardize on a hardware vendor. Many still are trying to reduce the number of servers they need to manage, and are trying to virtualize.
We now offer both the Appliance packaging as well as a software only version. The Appliance still sells very well in small and mid size companies. It's also ideal for Proof of concepts.
I'm surprised Google has yet to announce a software only version of their enterprise product. I did hear while I was at the Enterprise Search Summit, that they were testing it with a large client, but it's only a rumor at this point.