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Odd Laptop-Tablet Hybrids Show PC Makers' Panic

Posted by Soulskill on from the my-tablet-does-not-need-a-joystick dept.

jfruh writes "Taipei's Computex trade show has seen an array of strange devices on sale that are somewhere between PCs and tablets: laptops with screens you can twist in every direction, tablets with detachable keyboards, all-in-one PCs with detachable monitors. Some have Intel chips, some ARM chips; some run Windows 8, some Android. They all exist because of the cheap components now available, and because Windows 8 will make touch interfaces possible — but mostly they exist because PC makes are starting to freak out about being left behind by the tablet revolution."

7 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. WTF? by Jaysyn · · Score: 5, Informative

    My cousin has had an HP that did this before the iPad was a thing. It runs WinXP for Tablets.

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    There is a war going on for your mind.
    1. Re:WTF? by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, seriously. This is a) nothing new, and b) an example of newer technology making the idea more feasible. It has nothing to do with "freaking out".

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      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    2. Re:WTF? by Guspaz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, it was from the "Tablet PC" era, and devices lack that were a terrible failure. People already complain that the iPad is too heavy at a pound and a half, nobody wants a six pound tablet. Admittedly, one of the major failings of the Tablet PC is being addressed with the Win8 touch interface and app ecosystem.

    3. Re:WTF? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 5, Funny

      But - I quote: "Windows 8 will make touch interfaces possible"

      To summarize, the world has been waiting on Windows to enable us to have touch interfaces. So, what is this "Apple" to which you refer?

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      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    4. Re:WTF? by idontgno · · Score: 5, Informative

      There were lots of portable computers but nothing like the old 100. It was the first computer that was a true analog to it's desktop counterpart in the now familiar truely portable clamshell formfactor.

      Data General One. 1984 (predating Macintosh Portable by 5 years and Powerbook 100 by 7). Precisely equivalent to many desktop systems of the time (IBM PC/XT standard: MS-DOS, Intel 8088 processor, floppy boot) except portable, battery-powered, and clamshell laptop format.

      Sorry. The Powerbook 100 represents an incremental evolution of the laptop idea, but it's not really ground-breaking by any unbiased standard.

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  2. I get it. Pc makers != Tablet makers by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Insightful
    So, let me understand it right. There is a set of PC makers. And there is a different and distinct set of entities called tablet makers. And there is no commonality between them. And any member of one set can not join the other set. The only thing to do when pc sales fall and tablet sales zoom is to freak out and put together strange chimeras.

    PC makers show chimeras in tradeshows because that is what the trade shows are meant for.

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    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:I get it. Pc makers != Tablet makers by gsslay · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To be be fair, this is pretty much what TFA says, but the slashdot headline and summary sucks and totally misses the point.

      Being concerned about not being left behind in new developments and new markets is what drives innovation and competition. It's not "freaking out".

      Some will fail, some will be successful. Today's chimeras may be tomorrow's standard kit.