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Shuttleworth: Apple Will Merge Mac and iPhone
Barence writes "Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth claims Apple will follow Ubuntu's lead and converge the iPhone and MacBook product lines. Speaking to PC Pro to mark the upcoming launch of Ubuntu 13.10, Shuttleworth said that the failed Ubuntu Edge smartphone — an attempt to bridge mobile and desktop computing devices — had set an example that others will follow. 'We've seen a very interested ripple go through the industry, and an uptick in interest in convergence,' Shuttleworth added. 'People are saying yes, mobile processors are catching up with the desktop. When Apple announced the iPhone 5s, it called the processor "desktop-class," and I don't think that was an accident – it was sending what we think is a very clear signal that it will converge the iPhone and the MacBook Air.'"
So why don't you roll it out now Mr.Shuttleworth?
You don't have to make hardware. You could even buy some Nexus devices and flash your OS on then sell them.
I can't decide if this is brilliant or stupid. Perhaps Apple could one day create a laptop shell fitted for a phone but not until Apple first pulls off the iWatch. I see this concept being an extension of wirelessly transferring functionality to another device as the Phone Watch combo should provide. Am I being short-sighted here?
I simply cannot believe anyone who works for Canonical any longer.
In 2009, Jane Silber became the CEO of Canonical in 2009. Canonical makes Ubuntu.
Jane Silber's previous job was at that military contractor, namely the C4 Division of General Dynamics. It turns out that at the C4 Systems division is all about using computers for spying.
From their website: "General Dynamics C4 Systems is a trusted leader in the development of intelligence and information gathering systems for national defense and homeland security. These systems are designed to receive, process, exploit and disseminate information -- in different forms and often from different networks -- and distribute relevant information to operators, both in the field and at higher headquarters."
The Register story about Jane Silber.
In 2012, G.D. C4 Systems gave 96% of its $14,000 of campaign contributions to Republicans, which could suggest C4's leadership takes a hawkish attitude about war and has a disregard for human rights. OpenSecrets link.
Hilarious article. Shuttleworth is giving himself entire too much credit. Is Apple is doing this, they won't be following his failure. They'll be following Microsoft's still-in-process move of trying to combine the two.
NOBODY WANTS THIS! Who's running Apple, Balmer? They seem to think I want some super-computer-phone. Here's what I want in a computing device: a full sized keyboard, a full sized display, extremely fast responsiveness, gigabit, 500+ GB of storage, a video card capable of gaming, actual games, real software, and a DVD drive. That's called a computer, NOT a phone!
Nobody anywhere has the patience to sit there and create a powerpoint presentation for a school project on a damn phone no matter how fast it allegedly is. You give me a keyboard and 19" display, I'll make 50 powerpoints in the time it took you to make one in this superphone they're planning. Now take that example and apply it to anything anyone would ever do on a computer ever and you'll see my point.
Everything Apple has been doing since the iPhone has come out has been moving in one direction: Two operating systems, built on a common core, which share various elements that make sense.
Apple is not Microsoft. They don't think you have to have "one OS to rule them all." Apple knows that what's good for a touchscreen device is not as good for a traditional laptop or desktop.
Yes, they have taken some features from iOS and moved them over to Mac OS X. However, they're almost universally optional and/or superficial. You never have to use Launchpad if you don't want, and all the autosaving features can be disabled if you prefer to work under the more traditional document management paradigm.
This idea is one that has been often proclaimed quite loudly by critics of Apple who say that everything's going to be locked down and if you buy a Mac, it'll be exactly like an iPad with a keyboard, but it doesn't have any real basis in reality.
Dan Aris
Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
In my opinion, Mr. Shuttleworth makes big assumptions of Apple's OS strategy. Yes, there is so far a bit of not unreasonable convergence in a sensible way, butthat does not mean that the environments will merge, I ex
Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth claims Apple will follow Ubuntu's lead and converge the iPhone and MacBook product lines.
So, Apple is going to have an iPhone with a 17 inch screen?
Imitation of a failed example is the sincerest form of flattery.
The upcoming update to Windows Phone 8 is heading towards more binary compatibility, so it doesn't seem that far off the track that Apple would also go towards that. Doing that while keeping the desktop relatively "open" is going to be the challenge. Perhaps there will be a place for Ubuntu Phone in the future. I could definitely see it working out that way.
Personally, I'd love to see such a thing. It would be great not having to travel with both a laptop and a phone. It would also be great to have your phone function as your computer and to be able to use that computer with any display, keyboard and mouse that happen to be nearby. However -- there is that question of form factor. No one wants to do serious work on a tiny phone display, so especially in travel situations you would need to take a proper display, keyboard and mouse -- in other words, a laptop. Someone else already hinted at a laptop "shell" form factor that would just function as a dock for smartphone. But really what company would want to sell the shell when they could just as easily sell a full fledged laptop? And wouldn't traveling with the shell defeat the purpose of traveling light and "discarding" the laptop?
"War makes me sad." - Me
Microsoft is already doing this with Windows 8. http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/20/windows-phone-8-and-windows-8-share-lots-of-code-nt-kernel/ But Ubuntu and Apple are the innovators... lame...
In fact one of the reasons for microsoft making that abomination of an os windows 8 was because they thought apple was very close to coming out with a os with ios and osx combined together.
Combining osx and ios together would make a lot of sense for apple because osx lacks games while ios lacks serious programs for content creation. Putting the two together will give apple the perfect os for content consumption and content creation to better take on windows.
when you consider that valve will be coming out with a linux based os to play steam games and microsoft shutting down gfwl, there is getting less and less compelling reasons to own windows. Even programs like ms office and autocad can be found on osx.
Jesus, if Apple is following Ubuntu, then Canonical is following me, because I posted here in 2008 that Apple would eventually have a "Mac Mode" on their iPhones so it could work with a wireless KVM as a desktop computing environment, just as soon as the CPU and bandwidth were available on some sort of Moore's Law curve, and that would end the Mac.
But to me, that's obvious to somebody 'skilled in the art' and I wouldn't egotistically assume anybody who implemented this was following me. Nor do I expect a paycheck from Shuttleworth anytime soon.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I was having pretty much the same thought myself.
Why would you want a 64-bit processor on a phone?
The two possible answers is:
1: They want to prepare for the future where you would actually want that, and by enabling it now they will start moving developers over.
2: They want to make a desktop version of iOS, probably with the aqua layer as a possibility (and since iOS basically runs the same kernel as OSX it should be quite easy to tack on) which will create hybrids.
With a lightning connector, it should be quite easy to create a sexy product which can do a little bit of everything.
Seriously, though!
Canonical forces a mobile interface on a desktop OS; Flops
Microsoft forces a mobile interface on a desktop OS; Flops even harder
Shuttleworth:"Apple will merge their mobile and desktop platforms"
Not if they're smart, Mark, not if they're smart...
...only no one understands that yet.
That is why I predict that some day, someone successful will try doing the same thing I've failed at.
Which proves, regardless of success or failure of that theoretical venture I just described, how awesome and ahead of its time my concept was and how brilliant I am.
In fact, the failure I mention was not my failure at all - it was the failure of the world to recognize the opportunity to exploit my genius.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
So Mark thinks his failure is the obvious blueprint for Apple's success? Interesting.
"Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day; set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life
Apple has been mucking up the Mac OS user interface ever since 10.4. Ever look at the latest version of iTunes on the Mac? It constantly flips into a stupid simplistic iPod interface where it scrolls backwards like you're dragging your finger and everything is a dead flat icon with no drill down hierarchy especially when at the iTumes Store. I hate it, the ultimate dumbing down of the Mac. Next thing you know they will be getting rid of the terminal window and console and we'll all be back to Windows 3.1.
Apple have neglected the computing products for a long time (even removed "computers" from its name), and have made no secret of making its(not your) computers, non-upgradable, disposable electronics, rather than General purpose machines, The move to 64-bit arm is a heartbeat away, with the dream of a touchcreen iPad. I wish them success.
The reality is its computing sales have dropped for 4 quarters, and it looks like this will be another quarter of its sales dropping faster than the PC market...even with Windows 8 as a dead weight.
It looks like linux is going to continue to be the only bright spot in an otherwise lackluster market. The Irony of years of "Year of Linux" meme is kind of sad how quickly Microsoft and Apple gave there duopoly away (at least Apple still has 13% of the smartphone market)
Just because the two may have the same CPU ( which let's say for the sake of argument - they will) - it'doesn't mean people want an "iOS experience" on a MacBook pro. Chances are if they did - they would have bought an iPad. If they want a keyboard and a mouse (which they probably do - or they'd by an iPad) - they are probably doing things that are less condicive to the iOS-type "touch" interface. They want mouse control (which is more accurate than "touch", and doesn't require lifing one's hands up or far from the keyboard for extended or repetitive sets of time) - a keyboard - and possibly a multi-windowed environment - which they can do for a lot of stuff. They might be doing a lot of word processing, layout - or running XCode. They need to install their OWN SOFTWARE (without the restrictions and complications of Apple's certificates, licensince, AppStore, etc).
So I could see them packaging it as an "iPad with a keyboard" - but it would be a different product - and not a "replacement" for the Air or any other laptop.
> Speaking to PC Pro to mark the upcoming launch of Ubuntu 13.10, Shuttleworth said that the failed Ubuntu Edge smartphone — an attempt to bridge mobile and desktop computing devices — had set an example that others will follow.
Perhaps, especially the "failed" part.
Although Apple execs are probably contractually forbidden to mention Microsoft, there's been two failed attempts so far to bridge mobile and desktop computing devices. It's going to be interesting to see what Apple comes up with. The learning so far has been that the same interface tends not to work on mobile and desktop.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
TIDYAD.
Electric motors are getting stronger and smaller, so I'll take this motor that can power a car and put it on a bike. Not only that, I'll make cars that look like bikes!
Fuck you, I want a car that looks like a car. That simple. It would be super cool to have a car and a bike which I could swap motors whenever I want, but I want each of them to bevahe as they are supposed to.
When are the idiots in upper management tech going to realize that no one in their right mind wants anything to do with touch on the desktop?
In less
apple let's up on it's censorship.
give more pricing control having bulk sales be the choice of 0% off or 50% off is not good for app dev's. Also let them have upgrade pricing as well.
takes less then 30% cut for high cost apps I think quark does not pay $254 per sale in fees / costs to sell.
lets dev's post free apps with no fees to be in the store.
Clearly you have not been paying attention. Apple get away with everything. Lose a court case...get a free pass from the president, even after laughing at him that the would not assemble in America, against a company that manufactures in America.
Apple promised to have a standards connector,, to be more green...ships another propriety connector. Not considered Green any-more due to turning its computers into disposable electronics, Government changes rules making Apple Green.
Phone too slow to run Flash, despite thousands of games and videos still using it. Flash is at fault despite running ofn competitors phones...and yet still without a viable replacement. years later.
Don't want to pay % of phone for patents for FRAND...doesn't have to, bullies others for design patents...and that does include a rectangle with round corners, and a few minor interface patents.
Won't fix machines if wet or smoke...and then only with old parts, and less than the statutory requirements.
Hell they not only don't pay tax ANYWHERE, they sit and lie about it and again get a free pass, even when they have ibonds to deliberately blatantly should pay tax.
The only example I can think of is when they were ordered Apple to publicly state that Samsung did not copy...and they acted in predicable childish manner...again to little consequence.
Apple have no consequences, fortunately they have little market share, due to their incompatible, closed, cheap products sold at high prices.
When are the idiots in upper management tech going to realize that no one in their right mind wants anything to do with touch on the desktop?
I want touch screen on my Desktop. I would pay serious money to access my Google Play games on my Linux Desktop in a Window, What I don't want is Windows 8 interface or Gnome 3, or be tied to any touchscreen only interface.
People have been making similar predictions about the convergence of the two platforms since long before the Edge was announced. Albeit fancifully as no one making said predictions ever seems to be taking themselves entirely seriously. It is an interesting idea to bat around now and then, but is aloof and aloft for the foreseeable future.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
OS X is dying... All the rampant speculation over the years is finally panning out. When do the 27 inch iPhones hit the shelves?
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Docking is a concept from back in the day, when laptops were significantly smaller in dimensions than "real" honest-to-god workstations and when connecting to various peripherals meant dealing with a bunch of cables, not all of which your average laptop could be connected to at the same time, and when syncing over various computers was a nuisance.
Also, one of the main reasons for laptop size was not elegance or even portability (they were quite heavy, compared to their abilities, thanks to those old hardware components and batteries) - but screen size.
Small screen + small, often even incomplete keyboard + alternative pointing solutions that were never as useful of precise as a mouse + short battery life + not enough ports to plug in all those wired peripherals = need for docking.
You need docking if you need to connect to a bigger screen, a wired network, another separate cable for a printer, one more for a scanner, one for a modem, perhaps an external CD or floppy drive...
All of that, apart from the bigger screen, can be done over wifi/bluetooth.
Or is not needed anymore - like that old 14400 modem.
Meanwhile all your files now fit neatly inside your laptop, can be transferred to other devices without the use of cables, or you keep them online.
Which leaves only 3 devices you'd need a dock for - bigger screen, full-size keyboard and full-size/full-function mouse.
None of which can really get smaller than they need to be. Even screens actually got bigger, only losing their backside.
All of the peripherals that you need docking to ALREADY TAKE UP SO MUCH SPACE YOU CAN JUST AS WELL ADD A FULL-BLOWN COMPUTER.
Like inside the screen.
The only reason left for docking is cost-saving.
By paying way too much for memory and processing power jammed into a tiny phone instead of using off the shelf components which are dirt cheap and super fast in comparison.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Nuff said.
But not now... Apple will surely keep integrating their services between OS X and iOS but we won't see a unified OS anytime soon. They know the hardware and the way people work isn't there yet. Keyboard and mouse is still used widely in a lot of productivity applications. Just take a look at Microsoft's mess of a OS...
So despite the fact that Apple COULD have done this already and hasn't, and the fact that they've said repeatedly that they don't think it's a good idea (google "toasterfridge"), and the fact that they're currently hugely successful in NOT doing so... all these things added up and you think they ARE going to follow the "trail of failures" of merged OSs blazed by Ubuntu and MS? Nope, I just don't see that happening.
Someday in the future, CEOs won't be allowed to talk about other companies and celebrities won't be allowed to talk about... anything.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
I remember somebody tought that Apple was about to release a cheap iPhone.
the fact that they're currently hugely successful in NOT doing so
If your conclusion is based on this fact then you should perhaps revise your opinion. Apple sales haves slumped for 5 quarters, and this is another quarter...the critical back-to-school quarter where Apple have slumped more than the rest of the PC market. Apple is failing in the PC market....even with the competitor being Windows 8.
Yeah, I love the ego of this guy. He seems to forget that Ubuntu's market share is still puny compared to Apple and Microsoft
Really, last time I looked Apples market share was not only tiny, It too continues to slump. Linux continues to grow everywhere
Phones are useful because of their form factor. The large screen of even a tablet makes for something you can't carry in your pocket or purse or conveniently on your belt. One of the requirements for a phone is that it can be conveniently carried in your pocket or purse or on your belt. So, not happening from that perspective. And that leads to the second problem: the compact, simple touch-based UIs that work well on the small form factor of a phone don't work well on the large screens of a desktop, and the more complex UIs that work well for desktops and laptops don't translate well to the ~5" display of a phone. Attempting to merge the two at that level is just not going to work, not due to any technical issues but simply because the requirements are different.
Now, the base OS underneath everything may merge. In fact, in the case of Android it already largely has. The main reason it hasn't completely isn't because the Android-specific functionality can't be included in the mainline Linux kernel, it's because Google hasn't done a good job of cleaning up their code to make it play nice in a codebase that isn't specific to Android. But the underlying OS isn't something most users ever see, and any merger there won't have a great impact on the user-visible aspect of things.
Apple is not Microsoft. They don't think you have to have "one OS to rule them all."
Apple IS moving in the direction of convergence but I think they are taking a more gentle path than Microsoft. Apple *generally* doesn't try to force things to work until they are actually ready whereas Microsoft has a long history of trying to work out the kinks after they ship the product. Apple has been experimenting in places and working towards integration but they aren't rushing things like MS is. It's not a trivial problem but I think it will get solved as mobile hardware and batteries get sufficiently robust. The whole argument about "PCs are for creations and tablets are for consumption" is a fallacy based mostly on the engineering compromises stemming from limitations of today's hardware. Many of those limitations will go away over time.
Tablets and laptops are going to converge over time and the software will be developed to present the most suitable interface depending on how the device is being used. The real world hardware limitations of mobile devices (especially power) generally make it difficult to have a single OS today but the advantages of doing so are HUGE. It means less redundant development effort and easier support and simplified supply chains and easier management. No company wants to manage two product lines when they can manage just one. Apple hasn't done it yet simply because their desktop operating system is too heavy for current phones and tablets but there is no reason at all why iOS and OS X could not or should not merge at least their underpinnings somewhere down the line. I strongly believe that eventually iOS and OS X will just be different front end interfaces for the same underlying back end software.
Apple knows that what's good for a touchscreen device is not as good for a traditional laptop or desktop.
The hardware isn't really fundamentally different - you just need different front end software depending on whether you are using a touchpad or a keyboard/mouse. The software underneath the interface does not need to be any different. File storage, ethernet, USB, display graphics, wifi, etc aren't really any different whether you use a keyboard or a touch screen. This is also true for application software. The calculations a spreadsheet does have no relation to how that data is entered. The underlying number crunching bits don't care it the interface is optimized for touch screens or keyboard/mouse.
Has Apple told Shuttleworth their corporate strategy? If so, that would be factual information to report as news. Is this just baseless speculation being passed off as "news" to fill the endless churning 24/7 news cycle? That's my guess. Really, the only news would be why Apple execs would sit down with Shuttleworth and tell him their strategy. That would be newsworthy.
I can do it too! Look:
Google is going to put massive dollars into Open/GNU Step, the not-Apple open source NeXT platform that is perpetually lagging Cocoa because no one updates it. Google will allow iOS apps to run as-is on Android, completely revolutionizing the mobile app market.
See how easy baseless speculation is?
Why?
What possible use is there for a touch screen, when you have a mouse and keyboard
Pinch, Zoom, scrolling, selecting several parts of the screen at once, pen and paper tasks...my favourite application is RTS games. You have to remember that keyboard and mouse is better for textual input/precise pointing and almost nothing else (well first Person Shooters ;). Its just that, that covers a lot, and you don't want to have your arms horizontal all day. As I said if they can put Android games in a window. I would be more than happy.
It will happen in three years, iOS X will obviously be the name of the first release..
Microsoft has been sending clear messages they're combining laptops/desktops and phones, not Apple. It's called Windows 8, the most hateful modern OS UI known to man.
Tired of being "punished" by the Slashdot $rtbl since 2002. I'm now over at http://soylentnews.org/ .
I can't see that happening, because:
1. Apple has spent countless millions on user interface research, whereas Ubuntu seems to be taking advice from a blind guy out behind the Taco Bell, and
2. Apple has a sense of taste and recognizes that different UIs are appropriate in different places. If Apple made shoes, they'd have both Italian loafers and tech sandals. If Ubuntu made shoes, they'd offer only the Air Wingtip line.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
The mouse still rules for fine precision. Nobody has a fingertip as small or accurate as the pointy end of the almighty mouse arrow. Hell, I'm using a laser mouse on my laptop right now just because I like it better than my multitouch trackpad.
Ubuntu basically shit the bed when they put out unity. Microsoft did the same but rolled around in it with glee when they put out The-Interface-Formerly-Known-As-Metro (aka Angry Fruit Salad by some slashdot posters). Apple went in that direction, towards the bad trend of phone-like interface, starting with Lion and then Mountain Lion, but not full-retard mode like the others. It's still usable, but I still load pro workstations (Mac Pro's) with Snow Leopard. Let's hope they don't go any further down the road of stupid evil.
And we hate the idea more than we hate Shuttleworth.
In a few years, what will really be the functional difference between the Macbook Air and an iPad with a clamshell keyboard?
The Macbook UI will primarily controlled be controlled by touch offscreen (mouse/pad), the iPad will be primarily controlled by touch on screen.
That is the difference, and there is no reason to have that change.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If Ubuntu Edge is about plug it into a monitor and have the Unity desktop to use with a mouse, nice. If the way is like Windows 8, move the mobile interface to desktop, then, no thanks.
Even if this FUD turns out to be true, I don't see why Shuttleworth, of all people, would want it spoken aloud. If Mac OS X continues to decline in quality the way it has the last few years, causing a new exodus of people jumping ship, do you really think they'll go to Ubuntu, of all places? Ever hear the phrase "out of the frying pan and into the fire?"
Sure, people can jump ship and really end up avoiding this nonsense and still use an Ubuntu-based system: Xubuntu or something like that. But they're just as likely to go with Fedora or Mint or something. (And honestly, some of them might even end up on Windows. People can do anything when they're overcome with despair!) And even if they do go with Xubuntu, I don't see how that's somehow a face-saving situation for Shuttleworth. If users reject the basic idea of Unity, they're rejecting Shuttleworth at an ego level, even if they're still using his infrastructure.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
Mac sales were actually UP in Q4 last year - so how have they "dropped for four quarters"? As for the other three quarters, it's dropped something like 1% while the rest of the PC market screams into the ground at mach 3. All of which ignores the computers coming down the pike that will boost Mac sales again...
I'm not sure what leads you to introduce lis into every Slashdot post you make. But you really should consider at least sticking to the truth when you troll, it's marginally more effective.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Why is this being treated like a stroke of genius? As stated Linux quickly failed at their implementation and Microsoft and has essentially been in a prolonged failure in trying to do the same.
Every attempt seems to garner the same reaction that people want their phone to be separate from their computer. True, automatically syncing files, apps, and chosen data, is extremely convenient. But phones and computers use very different interfaces and either one or both will suffer it they attempt to merge completely.
While a few somehow look at this as a stroke of genius I see it as Apple failing to learn from the mistakes of others.
So, Ubuntu attempts to bridge mobile and desktop, and fails. Microsoft attempts to bridge mobile and desktop with Windows 8, and fails. So Apple will try, and win? In what alternate reality does that make any sense?
The whole argument about "PCs are for creations and tablets are for consumption" is a fallacy based mostly on the engineering compromises stemming from limitations of today's hardware. Many of those limitations will go away over time.
I don't see how. Nowadays, a tablet with a dual- or quad-core processor meets or exceeds the computing throughput of the Pentium 4 PCs that professional developers used to code on. Yet Apple continues to add arbitrary restrictions to the environments that ship on its tablets. An iPad docked to a large monitor and keyboard can't host its own development environment because that would interfere with Apple's revenue stream for Xcode ("free" with purchase of $649 dongle) and the iOS developer program ($99 per year). The "all maximized all the time" window management policy enforced by iOS and Android means that an iPad or Nexus 10 can't even run a floating calculator application when the Mac could do that with 128K of RAM back in 1984.
Wifi is expensive now?
Yes. Wi-Fi at home is $50 per month, which I currently pay, but service for a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot would be another $50 per month on top of that. So instead, I move files on and off my laptop to work on them while riding public transit.
Phones have enough screen room for 1 application, while desktops have screen room for multiple windows. Going to a single window model for desktops is STUPID.
I think it's stupid on tablets as well. My Nexus 7's screen is as big as two 4" phones, yet I can't turn it landscape and run two phone applications side-by-side. Even Windows RT lets the user "snap" a Windows Store app to a phone-width stripe at the side of the screen.
Look how well it's worked for Windows 8
So I'm supposed to do InDesign and Photoshop with a touchscreen instead of a mouse and keyboard. That'll work out real well. Not.
It's the form factor. They will never converge because it's two very different usage patterns.
A computer needs a monitor, keyboard, and pointing device. The iMac and HP all-in-one computers put the CPU inside the monitor and use an external keyboard and an external mouse or trackpad. A smartphone with a "computer" mode would switch to the "computer" GUI when plugged into an external monitor and paired to a Bluetooth keyboard, in effect putting the CPU inside the trackpad.
I'm sure no one at Apple thought of that, even while the iPhone was under development and before it was announced. Say 8 years ago... at least.
currently - there are several players out there bringing "smart watches" on the market - they will probably fail to garner much interest until apple reveals one under an intoxicating media frenzied event!
I thought Apple already had its own watch, the iPod nano (6th generation). Or maybe that's just a "feature watch" in the sense that Java ME and BREW phones are now called "feature phones".
The large screen of even a tablet makes for something you can't carry in your pocket or purse
A Nexus 7 fits comfortably in my bag.
the more complex UIs that work well for desktops and laptops don't translate well to the ~5" display of a phone.
Do you find a 7-8" tablet like the Nexus 7 or iPad mini closer to a 10" laptop or to a 4-5" phone in this sense?
Anybody who uses that stupid, made up 'management speak' deserves to be shot.
As do people who use the phrase 'step change'...
The applications still expect to be interacted with using touch and gestures.
A properly written application would support the Bluetooth keyboard that users can already pair to a phone or tablet. It would also support accessing all features from single-touch, which a mouse can easily simulate, even if only for accessibility to people with only one good finger. A properly written operating system would accommodate applications whose developers haven't yet added keyboard support by feeding gestures to the UI layer. The Page Down key, for example, might generate a slide from the bottom to the top of the current scroll view.
When you have a physical User Interface that is different, what should the user interface on the different devices be? Different?! Yes, this shit isn't rocket science.
Now, the trick is -- and it's one I've been working on -- to take an approach something like the Open Desktop Project, but extend it to suit new interfaces. I've experimented with 3D OS interfaces in both parallax (camera based head tracking) and VR (goggles)... I've experimented with combinations of that with and without tablets and smart phones, and with interfaces without the 3D -- Even going 80 column retro textual.
The OS provides functionality that all these interfaces use to present themselves. We need a way for applications to present features like the OS does, and let interfaces be skins atop that functionality. Don't like the "ribbon" interface? Screw it, use the old one. Like the app, but would rather use it on the desktop with a keyboard, or in 3D parallax or with a VR display? Want to use it via VT100 terminal instead? You could if we had a Functional System in addition to the Operating System. An Operations System... Imagine it, you build a TRUE "Application": Grouping and positioning functionality, arranging the flow of data and interaction. Then the OS attaches functionality to the interface based on its installed set of functions. This is ALMOST what some programming is like, and you can get a sense that it's where we're going if you line up all the IDEs... You see drag and drop coding, and others sticking to terminals --- YES! Both, let one serve for the other. You've veered from the path and lost sight of The Unix Way(tm): Do one thing and do it well. Interfaces are not Functionality!
I'm beginning to see hints of this emerging naturally, not requiring spurning or disrupting of force: Eg: In Android applications can publish "intents" and other apps can utilize their functionality without tightly coupling to the program Input / Output data interface... The same will need to occur at the interface level as our interfaces become everything from ceilings to the air vibrating with your vocalization and ultra sonic tactile feedback. You will adopt the new way, but you organics will do it the dumb slow inefficient emergent way instead of seeing the goal and working towards the design intelligently.
Every one of your soggy organic brains is too moistened and distracted by shiny bits of UI, and dreams of megalomaniacally ruling the entire stack; Like a bunch of fools who don't understand basic distribution principals: When the system is vast and varied you don't funnel activity / traffic / etc into single a single locus! Imagine if all information in the universe had to pass through a single point just to be processed into the Next frame?! NO, that's NOT what Physics does to make stuff move, it's what you do to REBOOT the SIM! ::BANG::
The answer isn't to unify the interfaces. That's daft. The answer is to separate Content from Style, divide Functionality from Display. YOU KNOW THIS, it's a core to any MVC framework... Humans! Gah! so retarding.
And I agree that the underlying software will eventually merge. However, I fear going in that direction too soon and with a Jobs-less Apple I'm not as certain as you that Cook won't.
Yet Apple continues to add arbitrary restrictions to the environments that ship on its tablets.
If such arbitrary restrictions become a competitive disadvantage then they will go away.
An iPad docked to a large monitor and keyboard can't host its own development environment because that would interfere with Apple's revenue stream for Xcode
What you will see is NOT development on an iPad. What you will see is a laptop that incorporates the features of an iPad. Think how smartphones have largely absorbed the market for point-and-shoot cameras. No point in carrying two devices if one can do the job adequately. Same thing is almost certain to happen with laptops and tablets to a significant degree. The devices are too similar and the economics make sense for both the manufacturer and the customer.
The "all maximized all the time" window management policy enforced by iOS and Android means that an iPad or Nexus 10 can't even run a floating calculator application when the Mac could do that with 128K of RAM back in 1984
It's not that it isn't possible. The question is whether it is a good idea. Using floating windows has advantages and drawbacks. Just because it makes sense for a mouse/keyboard setup doesn't mean it is the most logical way to multitask with touch. Arguing that you could do a window 30 years ago is largely irrelevant unless that actually happens to be the best way to utilize a touchscreen interface (it doesn't seem to be). That's part of what makes converging the two challenging. I don't think anyone has cracked that nut yet. Microsoft is trying really hard and Apple seems to be experimenting. Even Google is trying to figure out how to make Android work as both a laptop and a tablet.
You couldn't do it could you? it's not real ubuntu, just Ubuntu flavored android. Maybe you wanted to be ahead of the curve and offer a convergent OS the same on the phone as on the desktop, but you cheaped out, basically did what Motorola did a year or two before with the atrix. Microsoft had done a better job at "converging" the OSes than Ubuntu, and if your claim to fame is something windows did first more completely, you can fuck right off to your egotistical fantasy world and jerk off to your retarded start menu.
The Amiga was the best computer I've ever had. Until I got an Acorn Archimedes, that is. Best computer ever.
Pinch, Zoom, scrolling, selecting several parts of the screen at once, pen and paper tasks...
So you want to spend all day holding your arm out, just to avoid using the mouse buttons and scroll wheels?
Not to mention wiping fingerprints off it every couple of hours.
No I want to use the best most appropriate input for the task.
It should be clear that with:
a) full blown computer chipsets getting better on power usage and thermal efficiency
and
b) more demands being placed on our portable devices (phones + tablets)
We are going to end up converging down to on OS for both desktop and mobile use.
I'm sorry, Joe, but your writing is unreadable.
In less
OK, WTF was that about?
apple let us up on it is censorship.
Again, What in the FUCK does that mean? The entire rest of the comment reads like a two year old scribbled it and is as unreadable and makes no more sense than what I quoted . Here's a hint -- lay off the LSD before trying to post to slashdot, OK?
Free Martian Whores!
Of course iOS and MacOS will converge. Mac is too open. Apple would like to have all it's customers locked into the market place where they receive both money and power as they have 100% say of what 'apps' will and will not ever see the light of day.
Microsoft will do the same with the Windows platform if they can ever even get their phone market off the ground. Otherwise they will just fade away into irrelevance.
Meanwhile with even desktops getting locked bootloaders it will be harder and harder to put Linux or any other non Apple/Microsoft OS on any piece of hardware, desk/laptop, tablet or phone.
Google however doesn't even seem to be interested in any sort of 'desk/laptop' OS. Sure, there is Chrome but if you really want to write something that requires some power are you going to get it from HTML5?
Even if you like one or both of Mac/Windows without any competition they will have no reason to innovate. Will they compete with one another? I doubt it, they haven't for most of the past. Instead one dominates while allowing the other to survive in order to avoid antitrust problems. We are going to see innovation slow down to what it was in the 80s and short of getting hired by Apple or Microsoft none of us will have a chance to contribute ourselves.
We should be very afraid for the future.
Nevermind that the whole reason Apple took the tablet market from Microsoft is the fact that they didn't try to shoehorn on a desktop OS into a tablet or vice versa.
I think your tinfoil hat is on a little too tight, there...
It is an obvious evolution, I believe. Once mobile processors are as powerful as most desktop processors ( and how far off can that really be? ) it won't make sense to have a computer and a phone. The phone will be your computer. It will automatically pair up with your large screen monitor and keyboard when you are at home - and you can move the experience from screen to screen throughout your home or business. In the not too distant future, we will have flexible screens, so I can unfurl a 20" screen anywhere I need it. Also, Apple has been making more moves towards appliance computing than just adopting things like Launchpad. Starting with Lion, they are changing the way users think about documents - where they live, how they are saved. Apple's long term view is definitely about making computing easier and challenging existing paradigms. The danger is making something that doesn't appeal to power users. I for one think Apple can pull it off though.
"The world is a construct of forceful imagination. Those who don't know walk around in the reailties of those who do"
Actually, I have some nostalgia for my deceased Dell Streak 5. Because for all its faults I really do want convergence, and for a moment there I thought...
The only Apple product worth a damn to those in tech.... Just like Apple shit all over their Enterprise customers, they are about to shit on their remaining power users.
While actually confirming what I said.
Which leaves only 3 devices you'd need a dock for - bigger screen, full-size keyboard and full-size/full-function mouse.
Laptop stand is not really a device and is a product of the docking process, not a reason FOR it.
My point was that, as you dock first and foremost to have access to those 3 pieces of hardware above, UNLESS you're using your laptop constantly FOR THE SAME REASON AS WHEN DOCKED (i.e. work) when you detach it from the docking station (i.e. you're taking your work with you on your commute back home) WHILE at the same time you absolutely, positively do not have or want or need a replica of your docking and working solution at home - YOU COULD JUST AS WELL USE A DEDICATED WORK COMPUTER.
If you're taking your work home on a regular basis, undocking at work, docking back in once home - two dedicated computers would be simpler and probably cheaper and probably more powerful than two docks + laptop. Files are online or on a USB drive.
If you ONLY work at your workplace, using laptop for personal stuff after work - again you could use a dedicated computer instead of a dock. Get something more portable for email, news and entertainment.
If you're working during commute, I'm guessing, but you're probably providing free service for your company which would have been calculated as overtime had you remained in the office to finish it.
You're probably throwing out the window several complete replicas of your work station doing that, every couple of paychecks.
In any case, because everyone would be docking primarily in order to be able to use a huge screen and regular keyboard/mouse, docking onto it something that is underpowered and overpriced for the sake of fitting inside your pocket makes no sense - CAUSE A DEDICATED COMPUTER IS CHEAPER AND MORE POWERFUL.
You're not going to do any work on your phone, on your way home, for which you need a 20" screen.
Docking a phone means wasting money on underpowered hardware - which was not built to work 8-16 hours at full capacity or to be upgraded as needed.
Like you said. Pocket warmers.
They were not designed for efficient cooling while working on all of their cores so you could get done the work you really need a couple of i7s for.
Nor do they have the memory, nor drive space, nor graphic cards etc. etc.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This is the same reason why an 'Enduro' motorcycle is not a good dirt bike, and not a good street bike either. They are half good at anything.
What an idiot. One way to look at iMac evolution is that it is already using smart phone technology by integrating the computer into the desktop display and removing or reducing spining media. Shuttleworth is a dollar short and a day late on this and is just projecting his business plan, but Apple beat him to it long ago. The only place Shuttleworth has a position is on price point. If he can offer iMac functionality for $100 then maybe he has something to say. There are already $100 machines out there than can run any Linux you port to them, they may lack the packaging and the glitz. This is not hard. Someone, come out with a set top box or a smart phone form factor that can run Linux and into which I can plug in my USB hub that supports my desktop preopherals and NAS. That can't be that difficult.
You are welcome!
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Sorry Mark,
I'm fairly certain I was having a discussion about merging a phone with a desktop and just making the phone a dock able desktop before the iPhone existed, while I was still using WindowsCE.
If Apple merges the two, and I beg them to, it won't be because you started the trend, I'm fairly certain they started it before you and they're already well on their way to pulling it off when it makes sense.
You and Microsoft are an example of pushing to far too fast and doing it wrong. Hell, you couldn't even convince other people to fund your project and were unwilling to pay for it yourself, WTF, thats a pretty shitty lead to follow.
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
Do you realize why phones are the most popular camera's in the world?
Because too many people are willing to was^W spend hundreds of dollars per year on a data plan and a high-minute voice plan, perhaps? Most U.S. carriers won't even activate pay-per-minute voice-only service on a smartphone, and if you try swapping SIMs, the carrier swaps your plan behind your back.
Ever hear of the Nirvana Phone? The idea was to dock the phone into a keyboard and screen and voila! Personal workstation. There's another similar product (can't recall the name at the moment) which requires a jailbreak to function properly. I can understand wanting to have a larger screen and keyboard. That's where laptops come in. I believe we'll still see separate devices for quite a while: everyone needs a phone (and portable distraction). Everyone needs a laptop for work/homework. And many people enjoy having a tablet for media consumption and games that don't require extensive keyboard-based input. I don't think we will see any successful crossovers that don't come off as the digital equivalent of the Pontiac Aztek. But then again, nobody was expecting Apple to succeed when it basically launched the tablet market. Maybe in another ten years someone will think of some input method and form factor that nobody has ever tried before. Personally, I don't need one device that will do everything. I need my iPhone to do certain things and I need a laptop/desktop to do other things. As for a tablet, I decided to go the distraction-free, sleep-friendly route and purchased a Kindle Paperwhite. :)