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Preparing For Life After the PC
New submitter Doctor_Jest links to a recent I, Cringely column, in which Cringely "is speculating how the world will look when the 'Post-PC' era is in full swing." He makes the case that in just a few upgrade cycles, extensible phones and other devices, coupled with remotely stored data, could replace most of today's conventional PCs — but also admits he thought this transition would have already happened.
I know, stupid me, I never thought of not being able to buy parts.... I just thought I could put the PC in a cupboard and still access it. (High end sound, graphics processing, etc...)
What becomes of media creators? Do we have to buy more and more dedicated gadgets?
I don't therefore I'm not.
I was thinking the same thing. I work in the VFX industry, and I can see absolutely no future without PC's in this industry alone. Personally, for my last piece of new hardware, I moved back from an uber powerful laptop (heavy weight, 17" screen, etc.), to a desktop at roughly half the price with almost twice the specs, then I threw two 24" monitors in for good measure. I know others who have also recently made a similar move back to the PC (or PC like device).
99% of the user base doesn't need some given functionality of the PC that the other 1% depend on.
About 80% of the user base can think of some functionality that puts them in one of those "1%" groups. For some it's 3D graphics. For some, it's computing power. For some it's the layout capability that a large screen+mouse+keys offers. For most, it's the ability to type... with all of their digits.
It may eventually get to the point where PC hardware is just a big (very big) tablet with a mount and connections for network, keyboard ,and mouse, but it still will be a PC.
This. It's no the 'post PC' era, it's the 'post freedom' era.
All software is censored and taxed by the platform holder's App Store. Nothing else runs, without (illegal) hacking of the device.
Let's ask all those people living in those areas of the U.S. that have been without power for the last 3-4 days how well their eBooks are working out for them now...
Not too bad since I can take it to my car and charge it and I get the added benefit of getting to sit in the car's AC.
We had a 9 day winter power outage last fall. The problem with that approach was that gas stations were also closed. The few that had generators and got deliveries had several hour long queues outside them.
We rationed the car use for (long) drives to get important items, while always leaving enough fuel to reach hospitals and vets, even if roads were closed and we'd have to deal with detours and traffic jams.
My UPSes were kept for quick bringing up of a router, in order to send/receive e-mails once a day (The cable modem and cell phone towers went out, of course, but DSL still worked. Strike one for POTS and its separate power.) an keeping a GPS charged.
While I had a nook and a Clie (favoured, because it's smaller) and numerous laptops, what I fell back on were books. With four book cases with around 100 books in each, and a few crates of books and magazines, there was no dearth of reading materials.
I tried the nook, but found it easier to read paper pages by candle light than e-ink was. And the self-discharge of the nook meant it was dead after a week.
So yes, books. And non-coloured magazines.
I don't disagree with your sentiments, but we're in the minority my friend. For most people, they want cheap, fast and easy access to Facebook, email and Angry Birds. You don't need a PC for that.
PCs, like most consumer electronic devices, become a commodity, disposable and then deprecated. When was the last time you fixed a VCR? When they came out, it was cheaper to have someone fix them. And then, if you had some repair skills, you could order parts for any VCR on the market. Now, just try to buy a VCR. Consumer electronics move toward no user serviceable parts; just look at the latest crop of ultra-thin laptops.
There will always be a need for PCs in the workplace and in software development. But their utility is going to be come very niche and they're well on their way to being replaced for most uses; just like the VCR.
I actually did this a few weeks ago, I lived Cringley's dream, and it sucks. My phone is the Samsung Galaxy S II, which just had the Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" release for it on T-Mobile, my carrier. That means that I can now plug my phone into my monitor via HDMI (with a cheap cable), type with a bluetooth keyboard, and use a bluetooth mouse. I went and bought those three things the day after I upgraded the phone. I used it for about an hour. It just isn't a usable setup.
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