The thing is, Flash on mobile is very alive. Just not in the web browser.
Look into Flash+AIR, you can build Flash content into mobile apps for iOS and Android, and this support some of the latest+greatest features, such as Stage3D (hardware-accelerated 3D graphics API)
That's too easy... Use a big stack of Commodore 64 Datasette recorders, loaded with cheap C90 tapes!
But seriously, why even try?... get a hard disk NAS - a Synology DiskStation or similar, with a terabyte or two. Job done. If you've got spare tape drives and tapes lying around, use them for occasional backups of the NAS drive.
Apple isn't much better these days.
It almost feels like Microsoft and Apple have some secret agreement to simultaneously lock down their desktop OSs and turn them into content-consumption-only devices, that only run signed code that's been filtered, censored, and taxed by the App Store gatekeepers
Apple have been making some fairly bad decisions with OSX recently. Not quite on the scale of Win8, but they're trying to make it more like iOS, before turning OSX into a similarly locked-down code-signed App Store client.
The problem with the Vita is that it's just smartphone hardware, with console-priced games. And the 3DS, well, it's got the 3D gimmick, but a low screen resolution and a weak GPU (again, compared to recent smartphones+tablets)
In the past, handheld console haven't had anywhere near this level of competition from other mobile devices. If the Nexus 7 had gaming controls, it'd be a better gaming platform - and fairly open - for a similar price. But touchscreens are shite for many forms of gaming.
But yeah, 'freemium' and 'paymium'* gaming is also bloody awful. (*'paymium' = buy the game for $0.99 or whatever, only to have it constantly beg for in-app purchasing)
But the launcher doesn't support landscape mode(!!!), and the on-screen keyboard isn't the best.
Of course, both of these can be corrected/vastly improved by installing 3rd-party apps, but the average 'iPad user' won't realise that.
For non-geeks, Android is still quite a clumsy user experience at times. It takes a bit of effort/knowledge to get a device set up nicely, whereas iOS is a nice out-of-the-box experience.
Oops, that should have read: 'And it's more significantly the GPU often rendering a few *behind* the CPU.' (CPU running ahead, filling up the GPU command buffer - GPU can often be a few frames behind, introducing fairly noticable latency)
The difference isn't about the framerate though. Beyond 60ish, it's about latency.
For some reason, PC games often have nasty mouse lag when locked to vsynced 60fps. This is partly the frame or two taken for the input to be processed and affect the rendered output. And it's more significantly the GPU often rendering a few frames ahead of the CPU.
The only reason to go beyond 60fps, really, is to reduce these latencies. There should be other ways to solve them, to ensure that input is processed and the results displayed in 1-2/60ths of a second.
Piracy is a big problem on iOS, too. Maybe not quite as Android - but it's certainly pretty bad.
The real advantage of iOS is it's not as ridiculously fragmented as Android. It's quite practical to test an iOS app on most/all supported devices. With Android, where there's hundreds and hundreds of devices, the best you can do is test on a few and hope for the best...
Which is looking like it might come before the post-PC world, with the state of world economies and technology looking unlikely to save us from the 'end of oil'...
Despite the 'openness' of Android, we still have to root the device that we own to make use of it, or even to delete the trash that carriers install on these devices...
Don't count on future platforms being rooted/jailbroken so quickly. Look at the Xbox360 - and how well the security held up compared to earlier consoles.
Go to www.rcgroups.com, visit the multi-rotor forum in the RC helis section ( http://www.rcgroups.com/multi-rotor-helis-659/ )
Hundreds of amateurs tinkering with 'drones', some just flying them around a field for fun, others doing a bit of aerial photography with 'em. And they've been doing it for quite a while...
A lot of the lower-end builds are stabilised by a combination of an Arduino, Wii Motion Plus, and the open-source MultiWii software. Higher-end multicopters can have actively stabilised camera mounts, and be carrying fairly high-end camera gear.
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The thing is, Flash on mobile is very alive. Just not in the web browser.
Look into Flash+AIR, you can build Flash content into mobile apps for iOS and Android, and this support some of the latest+greatest features, such as Stage3D (hardware-accelerated 3D graphics API)
But unfortunately, the alternative (HTML5), sucks even more - at least for game-related uses :(
That's too easy... Use a big stack of Commodore 64 Datasette recorders, loaded with cheap C90 tapes! But seriously, why even try?... get a hard disk NAS - a Synology DiskStation or similar, with a terabyte or two. Job done. If you've got spare tape drives and tapes lying around, use them for occasional backups of the NAS drive.
Yet.
Well, it's a step forwards... but ideally, we don't want Metro hogging memory or disk space either :)
Apple isn't much better these days. It almost feels like Microsoft and Apple have some secret agreement to simultaneously lock down their desktop OSs and turn them into content-consumption-only devices, that only run signed code that's been filtered, censored, and taxed by the App Store gatekeepers
Apple have been making some fairly bad decisions with OSX recently. Not quite on the scale of Win8, but they're trying to make it more like iOS, before turning OSX into a similarly locked-down code-signed App Store client.
There's already 3rd-party start menu replacements ready.
No we just need a good 3rd-party Metro remover, which probably won't be too far off...
Be thankful you don't have iTunes on Linux. it's such a huge bloated piece of poop on Windows...
If only Android could offer an equally nice user experience on a phone/tablet, then I wouldn't have to use it...
Yeah, iTunes is great. Lossy digital audio for only 50% more than the priec of a physical CD...
The problem with the Vita is that it's just smartphone hardware, with console-priced games. And the 3DS, well, it's got the 3D gimmick, but a low screen resolution and a weak GPU (again, compared to recent smartphones+tablets)
In the past, handheld console haven't had anywhere near this level of competition from other mobile devices. If the Nexus 7 had gaming controls, it'd be a better gaming platform - and fairly open - for a similar price. But touchscreens are shite for many forms of gaming.
But yeah, 'freemium' and 'paymium'* gaming is also bloody awful. (*'paymium' = buy the game for $0.99 or whatever, only to have it constantly beg for in-app purchasing)
Don't you mean 'Every version of Mac OS X... until Lion'?
One click, and hundreds of megabytes of wasted RAM?
But the launcher doesn't support landscape mode(!!!), and the on-screen keyboard isn't the best.
Of course, both of these can be corrected/vastly improved by installing 3rd-party apps, but the average 'iPad user' won't realise that.
For non-geeks, Android is still quite a clumsy user experience at times. It takes a bit of effort/knowledge to get a device set up nicely, whereas iOS is a nice out-of-the-box experience.
Oops, that should have read: 'And it's more significantly the GPU often rendering a few *behind* the CPU.' (CPU running ahead, filling up the GPU command buffer - GPU can often be a few frames behind, introducing fairly noticable latency)
The difference isn't about the framerate though. Beyond 60ish, it's about latency.
For some reason, PC games often have nasty mouse lag when locked to vsynced 60fps. This is partly the frame or two taken for the input to be processed and affect the rendered output. And it's more significantly the GPU often rendering a few frames ahead of the CPU.
The only reason to go beyond 60fps, really, is to reduce these latencies. There should be other ways to solve them, to ensure that input is processed and the results displayed in 1-2/60ths of a second.
I'd also suspect that WinRT and Win8 Metro apps won't support OpenGL... (Can anyone confirm/deny?)
They're called 'women', aren't they... I wouldn't worry about encountering many of them in a computer-related company.
Piracy is a big problem on iOS, too. Maybe not quite as Android - but it's certainly pretty bad. The real advantage of iOS is it's not as ridiculously fragmented as Android. It's quite practical to test an iOS app on most/all supported devices. With Android, where there's hundreds and hundreds of devices, the best you can do is test on a few and hope for the best...
But a lot play 3D games... which might run OK visually on tablets, but generally suck when you've only got touchscreen controls!...
Which is looking like it might come before the post-PC world, with the state of world economies and technology looking unlikely to save us from the 'end of oil'...
Despite the 'openness' of Android, we still have to root the device that we own to make use of it, or even to delete the trash that carriers install on these devices... Don't count on future platforms being rooted/jailbroken so quickly. Look at the Xbox360 - and how well the security held up compared to earlier consoles.
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.
The 'post PC' era is nothing to do with tablets, phones, and touchscreens
It's the 'post open-platform era' - where all software is censored and taxed by each platform's monopolistic App Store.
Go to www.rcgroups.com, visit the multi-rotor forum in the RC helis section ( http://www.rcgroups.com/multi-rotor-helis-659/ ) Hundreds of amateurs tinkering with 'drones', some just flying them around a field for fun, others doing a bit of aerial photography with 'em. And they've been doing it for quite a while... A lot of the lower-end builds are stabilised by a combination of an Arduino, Wii Motion Plus, and the open-source MultiWii software. Higher-end multicopters can have actively stabilised camera mounts, and be carrying fairly high-end camera gear.