Vizio Plans To Undercut The Market For All-In-One PCs

The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by betterunixthanunix · 2012-01-08 12:25 · Score: 4, Interesting

Aside from rounded rectangles, is there anything else that looks similar to an Apple product in the picture? Has Apple been marketing truncated-pyramid shaped computers lately?

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Palm trees and 8

Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 12:46 · Score: 5, Insightful

There is that minimal keyboard that looks like it would be hell to type on if you have any sort of speed. That's very Apple.
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by bonch · 2012-01-08 12:47 · Score: 5, Insightful

If you really think that the only thing that makes it similar-looking to Apple products is "rounded rectangles," then you're intentionally being obtuse for whatever reason. There comes a point where it's obvious that other companies are liberally borrowing from Jonathan Ive's design shop at Apple.
Vizio's PC concept looks like this. The keyboard looks just like Apple's flat keyboard introduced a few years ago, the trackpad is a clone of the Apple Trackpad, and though it's less of a copy than the others, the screen is certainly reminiscent of an iMac, especially taken as a whole with the rest of the components.
I'm not surprised at all that, with all the design work Apple puts into its products, it is going to try to protect that work from knockoffs. Not only is this taking advantage of design work done at Apple, but if the products turn out to be low-quality or problematic, their resemblance to existing Apple products ends up damaging Apple's brand as well. I realize Slashdot comments tend to have an Apple slant (to put it mildly), but come on, this is completely obvious "inspiration" from Apple.
I think what really goes on here is that some people just don't want to give Apple credit for anything, and they hate when people do credit them, so when comparisons between designs are pointed out, it pisses them off and they make snarky remarks about "rounded rectangles."
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by viperidaenz · 2012-01-08 13:13 · Score: 5, Interesting

You mean that TV shaped thing in the picture from the company thats been making TVs since 2002?
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by AngryDeuce · 2012-01-08 13:22 · Score: 4, Insightful

My question is, at what point does a particular design go from being something proprietary to something obvious for it's function? For instance, when does "rounded rectangles" go from being a style feature to a "of course the corners are rounded, what else are they going to do with them, make them pointed?" When does a particular size go from a "design style" to "duh, of course it's going to be about the same size, it is intended for the same function"?
Personally, I have no problem with design being proprietary, but when it requires competitors to actually produce inferior products and impede on their functionality to avoid just looking too much like another product that it is directly competing with, it doesn't seem right to me. Of course tablets are all going to be about the same size, people have about the same size hands, more or less. Every chiclet style keyboard looks basically the same, every trackpad is going to look basically the same, every tablet is going to look basically the same, every smartphone is going to look basically the same. A manufacturer shouldn't be forced to put physical buttons on a touchscreen device just because Apple's touchscreen devices don't have any, or point the corners of their tablet just because Apple's are rounded, or not bevel the edges (that would just be uncomfortable to hold for anyone, I mean, come on), or any of the other silly things that I've heard come out of these patent lawsuits...
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by Shifty0x88 · 2012-01-08 13:37 · Score: 2

OMG, thank you!!!! I have been thinking the same thing as all of these companies started to sue each other over whatever they can think of (OK, well Apple is leading the pack on that one)
I believe they are stifling competition because no one is allowed to have products that look anything remotely resembling Apple's. Now I do agree they are sexy designs(as always), but at what point can you sue over such things.
My TV looks like just about every other TV, but you don't see TV companies suing each other. (or do you, and I'm just misinformed?)
I mean, how much different can you get, before you provide an inferior product or experience?!? Which no one will buy and no one will like and continue to use.
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 13:39 · Score: 5, Funny

uh, yeah. It is a well known FACT that TV is just an acronym for AppleTV. Also, surprised no one has mentioned this. Ever notice how the layout on most keyboards is the same as the layout on Apple Keyboards? Rip. Off. It is an ever more well known FACT that QWERTY is Martian for Apple. There are a billion ways to design a keyboard but they all come out rectangular just like Apple. Key sizes pretty much the same as Apple. Even the SAME LANGUAGE AS APPLE!!!!!! They all use the "keystroke" which is the term that high-energy physicists at the LHC have used for centuries to describe touching the brilliance that is Apple products. Most damning is this Vizio product is made from Aluminum. How many things in your house are made from Aluminum. One thing? Two? Most tech products not made by Apple are made from Lead and use molten lava for electrical wires.
It's gotten so bad even general appliance makers are ripping off Apple. Went in my kitchen and saw that my refrigerator was not only rectangular but also made from brushed stainless (like the iPod) and used the English language!!!! And the sink was made from the same exotic Apple exclusive materials as well. And obviously Kohler ripped off Apple's trademarked ease-of-use. All I do is lift the handle and it magically knows what temperature I want my water. Probably ripped of iOS for the sinksoftware as well. Where are the GPL whiners to defend Apple? Nowhere, that's where. And my sink also, not my favorite part honestly, has the same "walled-garden" type block as iOS. Try as hard as I can, but I still can't get the thing to give me soda or beer when I want it. That's really all Android based sinks have going for them. But in the end it's OK because I need Apple, er, Kohler to protect me from evil soda and beer. Don't want to cross the streams. (Copyright Apple).
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by dreamchaser · 2012-01-08 14:24 · Score: 2

You have to drink an awful lot of that KoolAid to think that looks like an Apple product, aside from it being 'glitzy and shiny'.
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by grahamd0 · 2012-01-08 14:49 · Score: 3, Funny

Hunt and peck? That would be an improvement. I've known several "creative" types who refused to touch a 2 button mouse.
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by Nemyst · 2012-01-08 15:06 · Score: 4, Funny

Corners should have spikes on them... You know, just so you can run them through particularly annoying fanboys.
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by nedlohs · 2012-01-08 19:21 · Score: 3, Informative

http://www.vizio.com/lcd-hdtvs/va26lhdtv10t.html
http://www.vizio.com/lcd-hdtvs/vx240m.html
They aren't copying Apple, they are copying Sony: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-NSX-32GT1-32-Inch-Featuring-Google/dp/B004BBA6B2 (who very well may have copied Apple, but that's beside the point).
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by Joce640k · 2012-01-08 20:11 · Score: 5, Funny

Ohh, I don't think speed is an issue. These are Apple users. Hunt and Peck is plenty of speed.
I remember the iPad launch and Steve Jobs describing the iPad keyboard as "excellent".
I'll miss Steve ... he was one of the greatest stand up comics in history.

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Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-01-08 21:06 · Score: 2, Funny

they're garbage
Well... at least your "argument" was succinct.

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Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by anonymov · 2012-01-08 21:59 · Score: 2

How is this is just like this except for "it's a keyboard and it's thin"?
Re:The Curse of the Rounded Rectangle by jo_ham · 2012-01-09 00:52 · Score: 2

Sheesh. *Everything* is somehow Apple's fault, right?
It can't possibly be a design decision to make it fit in with the rest of the products Logitech makes, right?

Good for them. by Nyder · 2012-01-08 12:25 · Score: 4, Insightful

Cheap computers are a good thing for the poor people. computers might suck, but at least it will allow some people to get online.

Not that you can't find a ton on craigslist or anything.

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Be seeing you...

Re:Good for them. by Osgeld · 2012-01-08 12:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

a local thrift store had a compaq pentium I machine that booted up to a 98 bluescreen and wanted 100$, and some dumb shit bought it. Meanwhile across town at the habitat for humanity reuse center (and this like 5 min away, ... small town) they were selling 2ghz p4 pizza boxes for 5 bucks each, and they sat there for months.
poor people for some reason often have a skewed vision of a good buy, that 100$ computer HAD to be good, and those 5$ computers were useless shit, point being its often better to direct them away from ripoff list cause they will plop down 600 bucks for that mac G4 that some douche thinks is still the sweetest thing on the planet
Re:Good for them. by mrclisdue · 2012-01-08 12:57 · Score: 4, Informative

Habitat for Humanity (dot org will resolve) often give stuff away, never mind just having $5 Pentium 4s.
They'll take donations, too.
cheers,
Re:Good for them. by Baron_Yam · 2012-01-08 13:15 · Score: 4, Interesting

While some people just can't catch a break, or have suffered from lack of opportunity... people who are poor long term often have related poor decision making skills. Whether that's genetic or due to poor parents teaching them the wrong things, I'll leave to the social scientists.
You'll see a surprising number of fairly wealthy people play the lottery - one ticket here and there. You'll see an equally surprising number of poor people play the lottery, dozens of tickets at a time. You'll also see them maxing out credit cards and going to paycheque cashing stores, seemingly without realizing that if they'd just hold off for ONE paycheque, they'd have 10-20% more money to spend. I know a guy with a bottom-end job who is very modest in his purchases, and keeps socking most of his money away. 20 years later, he's a freakin' LANDLORD to some of his former coworkers, and he built it all on a minimum wage job. It can be done.
Seeing a poor person get taking isn't surprising, but when they're fleecing themselves and the person profiting *isn't* trying to take advantage of them, what do you do? Give up on the adults and hope for the best for the kids.
I say this as someone whose extended family has both middle and lower income families in it.
Re:Good for them. by hedwards · 2012-01-08 13:27 · Score: 4, Informative

I find that hard to believe an economic system like that is called communism. In order for a capitalist society to exist, at least in the type that the US is, you have winners and you have losers. Most of the winners had quite a bit to start with and most of the losers didn't have much to start with.
This whole notion of upward mobility hasn't been true in at least 40 years. Sure you get some people that manage it, but the money that would have gone to making that work out is now being siphoned directly to the richest Americans.
Re:Good for them. by Solandri · 2012-01-08 14:30 · Score: 4, Insightful

In order for a capitalist society to exist, at least in the type that the US is, you have winners and you have losers.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of capitalism. Economics is not a zero-sum game. In a capitalist society, you have big winners and you have small winners. Every transaction is made because both participants feel it is advantageous for them to make it. If either party feels a transaction will make them a "loser", they simply will not make the transaction. Failing to be a big winner is not losing.

If you're consistently generating losers, that points to a problem either in your implementation of capitalism (e.g. overly broad patents prevent competition from introducing and lowering prices for flat, rectangular computing devices), or in the people (lack of education/information, or irrational decision making).
Re:Good for them. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 14:47 · Score: 3, Informative

Yes, the people and implementations are flawed, not the theory. The theory is beautiful and perfect. Why can't reality be more like the theory?
Why don't we take capitalism to its fullest extent and just give one guy all the money. The only way that you get the game to reset is a 100% estate tax. Otherwise oligarchy/fascism/plutocracy is inevitable.
"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
Re:Good for them. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 15:34 · Score: 4, Informative

I don't think you understand what a zero-sum game is. Zero-sum games occur when winners win exactly what losers lose. If economics was zero-sum no growth would EVER be possible, by definition. Anything gained by expanding producers would necessarily be lost by someone else (other producers, probably).
And capitalism has no requirement that there be any losers at all. It doesn't preclude losing situations, but in a strict market capitalist system, any transaction that is KNOWN to be a losing proposition will never go forward. Every transaction that does go foward in such a system.. has no known losers. Both sides expect (and generally do) to come out in better positions than when they went in. Which is why they went into the transaction in the first place.
Re:Good for them. by timeOday · 2012-01-08 16:23 · Score: 3, Insightful

Economics is not zero-sum. Neither is it infinite-sum. If it were, there would be no competition. In reality, a company that is doing fairly well can be driven out of business by another company that is just a few percentage-points more efficient (winner-takes-all).
The principle of voluntary transactions is much less significant than you make it out to be. Freedom is no more valuable than the best option made available to you. Only children and fools are placated by making their "own decision" from a range of options that are all bad, and all designed by the other party to benefit themselves.
Consistently generating losers is the natural outcome of unregulated markets - that is, monopoly.
Re:Good for them. by cduffy · 2012-01-08 16:35 · Score: 2

Re: "get taken by an industry set up to rob you blind" -- a line of credit with a credit union is the better / more responsible choice in that case. Granted, it's very few credit unions that have actually put effort into marketing to the same segment that payday lenders target, but it has been done.
Speaking to your specific example -- the city I'm in has crappy mass transit, yet I have a friend who fills shifts for a local chain of stores with no car and she gets around by bus just fine. A car can be awfully convenient, sure, but the number of people who genuinely need one to keep their jobs vs the number of people who think they need one to keep their jobs... well, the former is a smaller set than the latter. (Personally, I tend to the multi-modal thing -- transit+bike, which helps a great deal with the last-mile problem).
Re:Good for them. by unimacs · 2012-01-08 17:31 · Score: 3, Informative

In order for a capitalist society to exist, at least in the type that the US is, you have winners and you have losers.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of capitalism. Economics is not a zero-sum game. In a capitalist society, you have big winners and you have small winners. Every transaction is made because both participants feel it is advantageous for them to make it. If either party feels a transaction will make them a "loser", they simply will not make the transaction. Failing to be a big winner is not losing. If you're consistently generating losers, that points to a problem either in your implementation of capitalism (e.g. overly broad patents prevent competition from introducing and lowering prices for flat, rectangular computing devices), or in the people (lack of education/information, or irrational decision making).
For a transaction to occur both parties have to have something that the other wants. It could be an object of some sort, a service, or a form of currency. If you have little (you're poor), you are at an inherent disadvantage. You can certainly still provide some sort of service, but if there are millions of other people as poor or poorer than you, they may be willing to exchange their services for less.

Further complicating the problem, - what if machines are introduced that can perform the service for even cheaper? It doesn't take machines to wreak havoc on the system though. What if the potential buyers of said service collude, and agree that none of them will pay any more than a paltry sum?

The more you have, the more you can control the nature of the transactions and the exchange rate. The less you have, the more you are at the whims of those that do. This is playing out every day. It has nothing to do with patents or irrational decision making.

Playing a simple game of Monopoly bears this out fairly quickly. It's not hard to grasp.

It's been a while, but 10 or 15 years ago, economists were freaking out over the tight labor market. It was driving up costs and was bound to lead to trouble. You know what? There were still lots of people unemployed. Capitalism depends on having a supply of employed people, - i.e. losers.
Re:Good for them. by drsmithy · 2012-01-08 17:35 · Score: 2

Every transaction is made because both participants feel it is advantageous for them to make it. If either party feels a transaction will make them a "loser", they simply will not make the transaction. Failing to be a big winner is not losing.
Of course, you can make the same statement about a condemned prisoner choosing whether to die by hanging, firing squad, or lethal injection.
Re:Good for them. by wbr1 · 2012-01-08 18:07 · Score: 2

Poor people also have a habit of buying from rip-off places like Rent-A-Center, where a $300 laptop will probably cost you $1000 in the end. We as a society know the underprivileged make poor financial decisions (or have them thrust upon them by need), yet we still allow the Rent-A-Center and payday and title loan, and check chasing scam companies to prey on them. It's a shame.

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Silence is a state of mime.
Re:Good for them. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 21:28 · Score: 3, Insightful

If either party feels a transaction will make them a "loser", they simply will not make the transaction. Failing to be a big winner is not losing.
What a load of oversimplified armchair theory bullshit.
In reality, you often don't have a choice of not making the transaction! You cannot just say: "No, this apartment is not worth that amount of money, I'm not paying it!" Cause you would be homeless. In the winter. And dead in a couple of hours!
I've been there. No, there was NOBODY where I could go. No homeless shelter anything. I would have simply died.
Same thing with food. Or clothes. You can't just "not eat". You'd starve. Or run around naked. (Well, I'd love to, but you know, the cops are not that open-minded...)
The whole concept of the "free market" you Americans seem to have, is oversimplified theory like that from top to bottom. In reality, "free market" just is an euphemism for "lawless society". (With laws, the market is not truly free, now is it?)
And a lawless society always ends in the law of the jungle.
The strongest one bashes your head in, takes all your stuff, rapes you in the ass whenever he pleases, and enslaves you forever.
Which is EXACTLY what is happening in the US right now. Nearly all people there are slaves of "their debt". Nearly all products and services you can buy, are total rip-offs. Because they can. Companies get away with capital crimes with a slap on the wrist. And if you don't agree to their terms, you will die on the streets.
Yay. Hail the "free market"!
What you people don't seem to get, is that the point of the control your government exerts over companies, and the limits it imposes, is to support YOUR interests. The government's power is YOUR side.
Yes, I know in the USA this is not the case anymore and seriously fucked up. But it's still how it should be. It's the whole point of a republic, that the general citizens can exert power over the big lords again.
So what do you say... let's do a French revolution, behead some assholes, and make it a RePublic again?
Re:Good for them. by k8to · 2012-01-09 06:26 · Score: 2

re: biking in snow, it's not really that hard in most cities.
There are a wide variety of purchasable and homebrew solutions to ensure a good grip on snow/ice, from spike tires to zipties. From there it's a matter of ensuring you have sufficiently warm bike-appropriate clothes, and plotting a reasonable route.
In some large cities with heavy traffic and no side streets (new york city) this might seem a bit tough, but it's totally workable in most. My sister in law commuted all winter long in Ann Arbor on her bicycle. It was only a 4 mile route, but that covers what most people would need to get to work in the type of scenario the grandparent post raised.

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-josh

it has rounded corners by amoeba1911 · 2012-01-08 12:25 · Score: 5, Funny

I sense Apple lawsuit coming, Apple owns the copyright on rounded rectangles.

Re:it has rounded corners by getto+man+d · 2012-01-08 12:58 · Score: 5, Funny

FTA

...will go on sale by June at a “a price that just doesn’t seem possible,” he said, declining to provide specifics.
They're stealing one from Apple's pricing scheme too!
Re:it has rounded corners by smart_ass · 2012-01-08 14:34 · Score: 2

Visio not Vizio (for the charting software)

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Ouch ... did I just say that.

ARM? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 12:27 · Score: 2, Interesting

Am I the only one thinking that this might be driven by some cheap ARM hardware? Only way I can think of to achieve "a price that just doesn't seem possible" in an all-in-one computer.

Underengineered by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 12:28 · Score: 4, Interesting

Vizio products are terribly built. They're fine under perfect circumstances, but the insides are like a freshman EE student built them. Accidentally plug a USB drive into the firmware update port (which accepts a USB form factor)? New motherboard time. Live in a house built before 1978 and took an electrical surge? New motherboard time. And none of it is under warranty. All you can do is plead ignorance and hope for the best.

Re:Underengineered by dwillden · 2012-01-08 12:51 · Score: 2

Well your experience is different from what I've seen in their TV's and Tablets. And who puts any electronics directly onto the house power without a surge protector?

They may not be high end systems but they work. And they don't break the bank. Also most consumers are not opening the cases (as that usually voids the warranty) and thus don't really care what it looks like inside as long as it works.

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Re:Underengineered by bill_mcgonigle · 2012-01-08 12:53 · Score: 2

Flat screen TV's are all problematic on repairs (so says the guy who fixes my CRT's but does most of his business on flat screen warranties). Get the extended warranty, hope you get 5 years out of it.
On inflation-adjusted basis, they cost 25% of what CRT's used to cost, so 5 yrs vs. 20 years seems about right.

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Re:Underengineered by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 13:32 · Score: 5, Funny

In my experience, Vizio's products are very robust. An angry ex-girlfriend threw my 37" vizio LED TV on the floor and stomped on the back. The front bezel cracked off, but it still works perfectly. Pretty amazing for something so thin (the tv, not the ex).

Apothecary is laughing now. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2012-01-08 12:34 · Score: 4, Interesting

So there is going to be brutal price war in the PC market. And Apothecary wanted HP to get out of that business and was excoriated for it. Now what? Fate of HP (and other manufacturers who threw in their lot with Microsoft) is doomed. Not that I shed any tears for them. Not that any of the PC maker big execs showed any kind of leadership or foresight.

They agreed to every non disclosure clause from Microsoft, accepted tainted money to keep Microsoft's competitors out, missed every opportunity to set themselves apart from their competition by something other than price. Did any of these geniuses think, "What is the major complaint about the PCs? Lack of security. Let me pitch a line of PCs with Firefox front and center, with NoScript pre loaded. Throw in some OpenOffice free too" when it would have mattered, may be five years ago? Nah, they obediently kow-towed every line drawn by Microsoft and reduced themselves to mere purveyors of commodity boxes. When there is no difference between the brands qualitatively what happens? Price war, gimmicky sales tactics, pre-loading of crapware and nagware. Good riddance. Go die in a price war somewhere clueless idiots.

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Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 12:37 · Score: 3, Insightful

Never, probably. Very few whole concepts entirely vanish. There's movies and television, but stage plays still exist. There's television and MP3 players, but radio still exists. There's internet streaming, but radio and television still exist. There's e-readers, but print books still exist. There's laptops, tablets and smartphones, but desktop computers still exist.

Gimme a break by bogie · 2012-01-08 12:44 · Score: 2

Apple's the only one allowed to use Aluminum in their designs?

Btw they'll probably keep the cost down by using netbook cpu/gpus. So yea you can have a 27" iMac that does 2560x1440 with a quad core i5 for $1700 or a 27" tv set running at 1920x1080 with a net book stuck to the back for probably $800. Different strokes and all that...

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If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch

Re:Gimme a break by jo_ham · 2012-01-08 15:29 · Score: 3, Interesting

It's hilarious that Apple is being demonised in this thread for something they haven't actually done. They haven't said word one about the iMac-inspired design (Vizio's CEO quote: [we have] worked on [our] computer designs for two years in attempts to offer an aesthetic that competes with Apple Inc.'s popular products but at a lower price ), but everyone is quick to jump on it.
They're certainly not the first company to make an All-in-one that was clearly a response to the iMac, and thus far none of those other (and there have been several) designs have faced lawsuits.
In my opinion it looks ok - I'm not sold on the slender neck, since it feels like the screen might wobble around (although I'm sure it's actually solid).

Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by dgatwood · 2012-01-08 12:46 · Score: 2

And yet outside of a few hobbyists, the telegraph is defunct. The short-wave and long-wave radio bands are basically defunct. Analog TV is defunct. Celluloid movies are rapidly becoming defunct. ISA slots are defunct. It's not at all uncommon for a specific type of product in a larger class of products to go away if the replacements completely obviate the need for the original product. I see no reason why traditional desktops can't or shouldn't go the way of X terminals eventually.

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Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 12:46 · Score: 2, Informative

Desktop sales are already in a steep decline in the western world. People are moving to mobile platforms like smartphones and tablets.

Desktop sales:
2005: 35 million units
2008: 32 million units
2010: 25 million units
2014 (predicted): 22 million units

Mobile sales (tablets and smartphones):
2005: 66 million
2008: 126 million
2010: 170 million
2014 (predicted): 264 million

Desktops are becoming as irrelevant to computing as traditional windows PCs are to gaming in the face of consoles.

Was hoping for a MUCH bigger screen by unrtst · 2012-01-08 12:46 · Score: 4, Interesting

This is just more of the same. I was really hoping that, with Vizio being a big flatscreen maker, they'd just be slapping a PC on the back of them.

Many big LCD TV's these days have built in network media stuff (netflix, hulu plus, pandora, and loads of more minor players), so they've got some computing guts in them already. I was hoping they'd just up the power a little and bring out an integrated webtv type thing on 55"+ screens, and include a keyboard. If it ran like a real PC, they could even skirt the hulu plus issues (and similar from other providers) since it could be considered a PC. Toss in external storage device support (USB3 + gigabit network) and it'd be a winner.

But no... it's just another all-in-one monitor and another (likely underpowered) laptop. I wonder if the 27" model will at least have more than 1920x1280 resolution (ie. 2560x1600)?

Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by mirix · 2012-01-08 12:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

I think a big chunk of that is that even a 5 year old desktop is fast enough for most consumer tasks now, no?

The market is rather saturated with fast desktops, not like the leaps between 486 -> P1 > P2/3. There's less incentive to upgrade regularly.

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Sent from my PDP-11

Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by AngryDeuce · 2012-01-08 12:58 · Score: 4, Insightful

Desktop's will never die, not as long as they have the capability of being 10 times more powerful than their portable brethren.

When did everyone get this huge blind spot when it comes to what people do with computers? There are still people out there that do more with their computer than surf the web and consume digital media. People that need as much raw power as they can get for what they're doing have no choice but to remain on the desktop. Although laptops are now beginning to fill that niche (and even then, cheapo ones struggle), tablets and smart phones aren't going to fill that niche for a long, long time.

When tablets, smart phones, and laptops come out that are able to directly compete with their desktop counterparts in terms of raw power, productivity and potential, then I'll say the desktop's days are numbered. Until then, desktops aren't going anywhere...

Samsung SwipeIt by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 13:00 · Score: 2, Interesting

Samsung also introduced the SwipeIt a competitor to Apple AirPlay and probably the best name for a Samsung product ever.

Trolling.. must try HARDER by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 13:08 · Score: 4, Informative

Why do you even bother switching accounts to post in the same story?

The keyboard looks exactly like Apple's flat keyboard, and the trackpad is the Magic Trackpad that Apple started offering a year or so ago.

--it's not at all surprising that Apple is going to be proactive in protecting its design work.

But sites like Slashdot are full of Apple-haters who don't want to give the company credit for anything

bonch writes

The keyboard looks just like Apple's flat keyboard introduced a few years ago, the trackpad is a clone of the Apple Trackpad

I'm not surprised at all that, with all the design work Apple puts into its products, it is going to try to protect that work from knockoffs.

I realize Slashdot comments tend to have an Apple slant (to put it mildly), but come on, this is completely obvious "inspiration" from Apple.

I think what really goes on here is that some people just don't want to give Apple credit for anything,

Re:Trolling.. must try HARDER by LoverOfJoy · 2012-01-08 13:21 · Score: 5, Insightful

Looks like bonch needs to be more proactive in protecting his literary work. Overly Critical Guy is making a cheap knock off of his posts and selling it at a discount.
Either way, though, I'm not buying.

Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-08 13:10 · Score: 2, Interesting

There are still people out there that do more with their computer than surf the web and consume digital media.

Sure, but nowhere near enough to sustain an industry just for that. There are still people using Symbolics LISP machines too, but you don't see a vibrant industry producing new ones.

Just look at the decline in desktop sales and the rise of the mobile platform. You think that trend isn't going to continue? Desktops will be effectively dead within 20 years, 30 tops.

Disposable hardware, how cheap it is by DigiShaman · 2012-01-08 13:22 · Score: 2

Once again, proving how disposable hardware is. Got a virus? Need an upgrade? Throw it away and get a new one! The only thing of value is personal data such as pictures and documents.

The industry will eventually adopt two approaches with how data gets stored. The OS and Apps data will be installed on the build-in drive. All user apps will be stored on a removable drive. That can be flash, or a removable 3.5" HDD. If a drive isn't available, the OS prompts the user to install one so all local profile data can be redirected to it. Optionally, user data can be backed up over the cloud with an account provided. The idea being, if the PC turns into a boat anchor, you simply pull the easy-to-remove drive and toss the machine overboard.

We live in a disposable society. The numbers back it up. Don't get angry with me, I'm simply pointing out a known fact.

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Life is not for the lazy.

Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by viperidaenz · 2012-01-08 13:24 · Score: 2

Do laptops sit in desktop or mobile sales? Anyone at my company who hints at working from home gets a laptop. My house has 1 desktop, 2 laptops and 1 smart phone for 2 adults. In 2006 there were 4 laptops and 2 smart phones for 4 adults - 0 desktops

Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by Ayanami_R · 2012-01-08 13:33 · Score: 5, Interesting

This is ultimitley why PC sales are down. Good enough old systems coupled with a broke populace = no new sales. Take it from someone who fixes computers for a living. My sales are way up as more people are getting older systems upgraded or repaired because they're still fast enough, and cheaper than a new machine. Ultrabooks aren't going to do dick to spur sales, as they are too expensive (even at price points like 649 usd) and most customers I talk to plan to spend less than 500 when they absolutely need a new machine. Apple is running out of people that can afford their product, and with food and fuel expected to surge next year I am fairly sure they have peaked. If people have to choose between an idevice or food and a non idevice I think we all know which one wins.

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"Science is the power of man"

Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by AngryDeuce · 2012-01-08 13:45 · Score: 4, Insightful

Yes, but the desktop computer itself is not a particular technology. Telegraph is defunct but people still communicate long distance electronically. Analog TV is defunct but TV's are everywhere, Celluloid movies are on their way out but people still go to the movies just the same as they did 80 years ago.

With "The Cloud" we may see more people move to tablets and smart phones that serve as little more than a terminal, but desktops aren't going anywhere. Honestly, it's funny, but the majority of people I know with laptops use them in exactly the same manner as a desktop: sitting at their desk, plugged in, often with a standard wired mouse plugged in for good measure since most people don't care for trackpads. For all the portability, they unplug their laptop like once a month, if that, so it's a wasted feature. And tablets, I honestly don't know how people can do anything with them that requires more than basic text input or coarse pointer control. I've heard the anecdotal "I wrote an entire novel on my iPad and it was as easy as a keyboard!!1!!1!1!" but I honestly don't see how people can stand software keyboards, it's just way too inefficient for my expectations, I guess.

Anyways, my point is, as long as people are sitting at a desk using a computer, there will be desktop computers. Not everyone needs portability or a particular form factor.

Horrible Glass by robwmc · 2012-01-08 14:11 · Score: 2

They can undercut all they want but their glass is horrible. I bought one of their TVs and told everyone I had it stolen because I couldn't take the picture quality.

A price that doesn't seem possible by Arancaytar · 2012-01-08 15:14 · Score: 4, Funny

Do they actually say anywhere that they mean a low price?

Re:Wondering about desktop sales ... by jo_ham · 2012-01-08 15:22 · Score: 4, Insightful

I'm not so sure - they have seen year-on-year growth for the past 6 years, in opposition to the general trend of the industry as a whole (this is exclusively talking about OS X machines). The number of people who use a computer is extremely high, and Apple have been welcoming switchers for more than half a decade and still have plenty of room for growth. Plenty more affluent/well enough off people to consider the switch to Mac when they look at upgrading/replacing the old computer - especially now that it's even easier than ever to run Windows in a VM or dual boot if you still have "that one program" that you really must keep that is Win only.

I'm not sure they're close to a plateau yet.

Re:The quality is not that good by abradsn · 2012-01-08 16:23 · Score: 2

I for one welcome my all in one pc overlords.

Marketing/PR Bulls*** by evilviper · 2012-01-08 17:18 · Score: 4, Informative

PCs are already rock-bottom pricing with tiny margins. Visio isn't going to be able to do anything significant. Maybe their first units will be loss-leaders to try and get into the market, but that's about it.

Visio is already in the business, remember? Their Android tablet is pretty expensive, at $320 USD on Amazon right now.

The only unique and cost-cutting thing they could do would be to introduce PCs with ARM (or MIPS) CPUs, instead of x86. I doubt it, but if so, good luck to them. That still won't bring prices down significantly.

--
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant

Re:Bottom line by ajo_arctus · 2012-01-08 20:47 · Score: 2, Interesting

Not necessarily true, but I don't think they'll make much of a difference. They might affect Apple sales because some people will look at iMac (or, more likely, have one recommended) but then see this and think "hey, it looks similar enough, I don't care about that extra gloss -- I think I'll get this and save $500". Those people would have bought a Mac, but are either a bit too price sensitive or just not that in to Apple to care that it's not the same thing, and they're going to get a poorer experience as a result.

That in itself is fine, but it kind of tarnishes the Apple brand by association. That's why Apple are suing Samsung -- not because of rounded corners and whatnot, but because if you look at it superficially, it appears to be 'a cheaper version of the same thing'. Apple don't want to get lumped in with everyone else, that's way they create individual products and so carefully build and protect their brand.

Re:Yeah but still. by hideouspenguinboy · 2012-01-08 23:28 · Score: 2

Actually I realized that later on and wondered if anyone would comment - it's not a powerbook, I've just been buying apple products that long. It's a still covered under apple care 17" macbook pro - lightup keyboard, solid state drive, and it came with a free pony. Or it must have, considering what it cost. Maybe I misplaced it.

Re:Bottom line by Tharsman · 2012-01-09 02:21 · Score: 4, Interesting

Not necessarily true, but I don't think they'll make much of a difference. They might affect Apple sales because some people will look at iMac (or, more likely, have one recommended) but then see this and think "hey, it looks similar enough, I don't care about that extra gloss -- I think I'll get this and save $500". Those people would have bought a Mac, but are either a bit too price sensitive or just not that in to Apple to care that it's not the same thing, and they're going to get a poorer experience as a result.

When a user has already the disposition to spend the extra amount of money on a mac, there are very little aesthetic replacements that will convince him to do otherwise. You are talking about someone that already decided to spend that money on an iMac. If he hasn't, he was never an Apple prospect to begin with, and was going to go to Best Buy to look at their all-in-one desktop offerings.

This is like saying that Toyota can introduce a cheap Ferrari knockoff tomorrow, and prospect Ferrari buyers forego the Ferrari in favor of the cheap knock off. Again: thinking about buying a pretty mac is not the same as having ever accepted to pay the price, meaning you were never a potential customer.

That in itself is fine, but it kind of tarnishes the Apple brand by association. That's why Apple are suing Samsung -- not because of rounded corners and whatnot, but because if you look at it superficially, it appears to be 'a cheaper version of the same thing'. Apple don't want to get lumped in with everyone else, that's way they create individual products and so carefully build and protect their brand.

Apple is going after Samsung not for just one copy. They are going after them because Samsung is overdoing it. They make some of their products not only look like Apple products, but they make the friging box and even the frigging charging cable look like the Apple equivalent!
I'm sure you must have seen this image before:
http://cdn.iphonehacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/applesamsungsimilar.jpg

Mind you, I think Apple is taking the case too far into too many product lines. Not all Samsung products are Apple knockoffs, but it does seem they have a department dedicated to produce just knockoffs.

This is typical Samsung behavior and they have done it over the years to any dominant force in the market. Apple is not the first one to sue them over it. The Samsung BlackJack was just a copy of a Blackberry (and got sued by RIM over it's name) and same goes for the Samsung SYNC vz Motorola RAZR. It's Samsung's DNA to just copy design. I am not too familiar with Android Phones (too many of them) but I'm sure you will find an EVO ripoff somewhere in the Samsung lineup.

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