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The Dawn of the Post-PC era?
An anonymous reader writes "The "Post-PC" era may be near at hand, according to the findings of a recently completed market study conducted by eTForecasts. The study projects that Windows CE-based devices may outsell Windows-based PCs within 5 years. According to the report, Microsoft has made "tremendous progress" in positioning its Windows CE and derivative operating systems for use in a broad range of handheld and mobile devices such as PDAs and Smartphones, and only embedded Linux is poised to represent a major long-term across-the-board competitor to Microsoft." The Register has another story about the study.
Just the thought of having a handheld be my primary pc makes me WinCE
Don't you know the post-pc era happened 7 years ago? Isn't everyone running java thin client machines? Heck, I do all of my office work through my web browser using Corel Java Office.
It's going to be great fun watching the marketing guys build their PowerPoint presentations on their cell phones.
So how do you propose we make a handheld with a 17" display? Seems mutually exclusive to me, unless you build in a projector and carry around a 17" flat white surface to guarantee you have an acceptable surface to work with. Or maybe you could pull a roll-up OLED display out of the bottom like one of those old style spring-loaded window shades. Perhaps if they can fix the splitting-headache problem with LCD glasses, you could build the handheld into that, as long as you don't mind the hot processor burning "AMD" into your forehead.
In the past WinCE blue screens were pretty rare, but now that many PDAs have color displays it may be more common.
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
I just threw out my punch card reader last week.
Jason
ProfQuotes
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I predict that in 500 years organic handhelds will finally replace pc's. They will have bioluminescent backlit displays and be powered by human farts.
And yes, there will be a headphone jack.
If you mod me down the terrorists will have won
Courtesy of snpp:
"Did you know that disco record sales were up 400% for the year ending 1976? If these trends continues... AAY!"
This post was generated by a Cadre of Uber Monkeys for Monkey-Man2000 (603495).
Especially since we haven't even hit the PC era yet.
After all, my independent studies show that there continue to be more pencils sold worldwide than computers, so we're obviously still in the Pre-PC era.
For my Nintendo Game-Cube, I have seven sets of cables that let me play at the unimaginable resolution of 4500x3000 in over 8 billion colors. I also have a keyboard and mouse that I have specially modified to plug into the Nintendo Game-Cube's US_B ports. With it, I have earned more than 1000 frags (that's "1000 kills" to you new-bies) in games!
The answer is that the "Post-PCs" will be replaced by a brand-name snack cake. This will happen for two simple reasons: 1. WindowsCE devices are easy to throw. 2. While it would be easy to throw a twinkie, they are usually eaten instead.
A pricey Microsoft-certified pile of smashed up plastic, glass and solder, or a tasty treat in your tummy? You decide.
--- What?
PC's in any form will not be replaced by anything that cannot beat it in gaming quality. Until my palm can play a Quake, a Half Life, or a Freelancer BETTER than my pc, I'm not unplugging.
Well, not every uses their computers to waste time. It's only a small percentage of...
*I realize the irony that I am saying this while posting on Slashdot*
Oh, ummm.. nevermind.. Carry on with your computer gaming.
--Drunk as in Beer