The Post PC Era

[BoberFett]

Or you could say a bunch of you are too stupid/biased to see the forest for the trees and don't realize the world is changing in front of you.

The sad thing is how young some of you are to be so fucking stupidly rigid at your age.

Wow. You're a sad, sad fanboy.

Anybody who doesn't buy into your fantasies of "One World, Under Apple, Hallowed Be Thy Name" is stupid? Cram your iShit back up your your iHole, some of us are not interested in your religious crusade.

 

[Dominato3r]

Like most first generation Microsoft products, it will probably be flaky and the interface will suck. I doubt that Microsoft will get the tablet interface for Windows 8 right until their second or third generation tablet OS.

I think they'll get it right. This is probably going to be their most important OS shipment to date. Miss this and they'll be too far behind to catch up.

 

[OverVolt]

It is about making access to the internet easier and easier. That is what a tablet does. At this point it comes down to choice and lifestyle. Some people have one TV so its not a distraction, others have one in every room.

Same with tablets. Some want to carry something around and access the web easily and others prefer using a PC and don't want to be bothered by something connected to the web at all times.

 

[Fern]

So apparently Apple has sold more iPads than HP, Dell, or Lenovo by ~5%.

Sales in millions of units
iPads: 15.4
HP: 14.7
Lenovo: 12.9
Dell: 11.6

Does this mean we are officially in the 'Post PC' era?

As irishScott points out, PC sales still outpace phones.

IMO, until we get those flexible roll-out screens and keyboards PC's will remain king. The screen and keyboard on existing phones is just too small for me to consider phones any use for much other than communication.

Fern

 

[Stuxnet]

Or you could say a bunch of you are too stupid/biased to see the forest for the trees and don't realize the world is changing in front of you.

The sad thing is how young some of you are to be so fucking stupidly rigid at your age.

Jeez that came out of nowhere. Rage much?

I really do like my iPhone and iPad... but I use them because they're there. I need my PC for work, school, and several recreational activities.

I use my iPad when I'm sitting on my couch and want to kill the 3 minute commercial break. If the iPad was never invented, I'd probably just watch the commercials. I don't need the stupid thing for anything. It's neat + minor convenience over my laptop = sure, I'll use it.

Like my iPhone, too, but if it was replaced with a Motorola flip phone circa 1998, I'd miss only the music.

 

[rockyct]

that'll require the use of the 'libraries' and i still can't figure those out

well, that and it's an obvious target for malware. easy rule of security #62: don't store anything important in 'My Documents'

Right now you can basically do it by using Live Mesh to sync all you My Documents folders. I really only keep important files in that folder and I keep my music/video/pictures on a seperate partition completely. However, those media files are actually one way synced onto my Windows Home Server (this consolodates media from all computers into one location). From there, the pictures and music automatically get uploaded to "the cloud" via CrashPlan which mainly functions as an offset backup location.

I can see you've never dealt with Microsoft environments and roaming profiles...

We're having a fun time right now migrating from 2003 Terminal Server to 2008. With the change to the profile directory structure post-XP it's making a mixed environment difficult to deal with. MS is usually good with backward compatibility, but man when they break it they really break it. :|

I've really never done Microsoft enterprise stuff and I don't intend to. However, it seems like it will be easer with metro apps on Windows 8 to sync programs and their profiles with your live account. This seems to be the direction Microsoft is headed with consumer programs. I doubt non-metro apps will support this though.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Wow. You're a sad, sad fanboy.

Anybody who doesn't buy into your fantasies of "One World, Under Apple, Hallowed Be Thy Name" is stupid? Cram your iShit back up your your iHole, some of us are not interested in your religious crusade.

iLl keep that in mind as I use my HTC Flyer, BB PlayBook, nook color, and LG Optimus every day. I do have a couple of Dell laptops, a MacBook Air, a couple of iPads and an iPhone as well.

IMHO, the best iDevice is Apple stock, I likely made more than 50% of your yearly salary in the last 30 days with it.

Where did I say anything had to be Apple? I could live happily in an Android world or even a Windows one, but i choose to own all of them and I choose to make money hand over fist with Apple's stock right now.

Patranus is much more of an Apple zealot than me, I just like gadgets. If the horrible truth be known, I wouldn't own ANY Apple stuff if I hadn't made such a killing with their stock.

I laugh at you-all's stupid, biased, mindless posts almost every day. Nothing stays the same, and to watch you guys freak out and get so enraged over change is fucking hilarious. You guys are the next generation of old people who can't figure out how a DVR works or how to set the time on a VCR.

You get owned rather frequently in the forums, looking forward to your next posts

 

[Stuxnet]

IMHO, the best iDevice is Apple stock, I likely made more than 50% of your yearly salary in the last 30 days with it.

Dell's stock use to do that, too

I laugh at you-all's stupid, biased, mindless posts almost every day. Nothing stays the same, and to watch you guys freak out and get so enraged over change is fucking hilarious. You guys are the next generation of old people who can't figure out how a DVR works or how to set the time on a VCR.

You do realize that you're posting this little tantrum in defense of a company that advertises and designs on the notion that choice is too complicated for its customers?

 

[randomrogue]

YTD

Apple: 3.80%

Until today they were negative.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Dell's stock use to do that, too



You do realize that you're posting this little tantrum in defense of a company that advertises and designs on the notion that choice is too complicated for its customers?

You're absolutely right, I mis-spoke.

Apple is doomed™

 

[Dominato3r]

You're getting just as annoying as the anti-apple crowd you complain about.

We get it. You've got a ton of apple stock, you love their products and everyone else is an idiot because they're completely, 100% wrong about the future which you seem to have a handle on

 

[Gothgar]

You're absolutely right, I mis-spoke.

Apple is doomed™

quoted

 

[Pliablemoose]

You're getting just as annoying as the anti-apple crowd you complain about.

We get it. You've got a ton of apple stock, you love their products and everyone else is an idiot because they're completely, 100% wrong about the future which you seem to have a handle on

LOL, you really don't have a handle on me at all..

Within arm's reach, I have an iP4, an LG Optimus, an HTC Flyer, a BB PlayBook, a Kindle Touch, and a couple of iPads.

I'm not saying Apple devices are superior, I'm saying Apple is doing remarkably well and if someone is so blind as to miss the opportunity to make a ton of cash, that's their problem. I could happily live in an Android or Windows world exclusively, but I enjoy using all the different OS's and devices, (I paid full retail for the iPad's, but got the iP4 used, and picked up the Flyer and the PlayBook at a significant discount)

What I do see is a bunch of knotheads that don't want to admit that the world is changing, and for a forum attached to a tech site, and one of the best tech sites IMHO, it's amazing how you-all can't accept how the industry is changing.

I can use my BT keyboard with the iPad and nearly replace a laptop, especially since I got a WiFi printer, but the MBA is pretty sweet too.

Apple is fundamentally changing the way consumers use computing devices, maybe not the subset of a subset of Anandtech forum posters, but you can't ignore the sheer numbers of devices Apple is selling.

 

[Dominato3r]

LOL, you really don't have a handle on me at all..

Within arm's reach, I have an iP4, an LG Optimus, an HTC Flyer, a BB PlayBook, a Kindle Touch, and a couple of iPads.

I'm not saying Apple devices are superior, I'm saying Apple is doing remarkably well and if someone is so blind as to miss the opportunity to make a ton of cash, that's their problem. I could happily live in an Android or Windows world exclusively, but I enjoy using all the different OS's and devices, (I paid full retail for the iPad's, but got the iP4 used, and picked up the Flyer and the PlayBook at a significant discount)

What I do see is a bunch of knotheads that don't want to admit that the world is changing, and for a forum attached to a tech site, and one of the best tech sites IMHO, it's amazing how you-all can't accept how the industry is changing.

I can use my BT keyboard with the iPad and nearly replace a laptop, especially since I got a WiFi printer, but the MBA is pretty sweet too.

Apple is fundamentally changing the way consumers use computing devices, maybe not the subset of a subset of Anandtech forum posters, but you can't ignore the sheer numbers of devices Apple is selling.

I don't think anyone will disagree with you that computing is changing drastically or that the world is getting increasingly more mobile... Me and I guess a lot of others here think that the traditional desktop is not going away any time soon. Apple of course is a big part of this mobile trend, but for me personally - It's their phone - and beyond that I don't have much interest at all in their products. Well maybe that MBA . I feel a windows 8 tablet would service me much better.

But anyway, I say again - I don't think many people here would disagree with the notion that consumer computing is changing drastically. My 2cents.

 

[Tsaico]

I tried to type an email out on my sister's iPad. It took me forever... The funny part, is how many of these posts are being made on a PC vs a Tablet? Tablet typing tends to be more like tweets and SMS style messaging. I was also trying to just do some research on it, and moving between Safari windows was pretty harsh. So was copying the text from the web site to a text file to email to myself.

Also, I think the home user might be able to get away with just a tablet in the house, since most people just want some basic web device to consume. Short emails and/texts are fine. But toss in having to write a report for school, you will be tired of that small screen, even if you add a separate keyboard.

 

[Phoenix86]

It's simply a new market segment fighting for space in the overall market.

While a tablet might replace 100% of your functionality of a PC/laptop it doesn't replace everyone's functionality. Is this really a difficult concept to understand???

 

[Imaginer]

The consumers of electronic medium can have their toy tablets. I actually WORK with my PC (Drawing, 3D modeling, Programming, Office stuff) and do some REAL GAMING it as well. Tablets have their place, but will not be replacements for something with real productive and computing value.

So yes, producers of electronic medium will more than likely still need a PC.

 

[RampantAndroid]

I tried to type an email out on my sister's iPad. It took me forever... The funny part, is how many of these posts are being made on a PC vs a Tablet? Tablet typing tends to be more like tweets and SMS style messaging. I was also trying to just do some research on it, and moving between Safari windows was pretty harsh. So was copying the text from the web site to a text file to email to myself.

Also, I think the home user might be able to get away with just a tablet in the house, since most people just want some basic web device to consume. Short emails and/texts are fine. But toss in having to write a report for school, you will be tired of that small screen, even if you add a separate keyboard.

When I'm typing long emails, I end up using it in landscape mode, where I can type fast, or with a BT keyboard, where typing is even faster.

 

[theblackbox]

Anyone that has gone to NAMM the last two years has seen the iPad grow from a novelty to an almost required tool, with mixing boards having dock integration, amps, and watching stomp boxes being slowly replaced by the iPad.
it's interesting to see how the iPad has gone from a tablet to an actual workhorse. it makes an incredibly affordable control surface.

Even NAB has seen a big increase in iPad use, with color correction tools being available on the control surface.

the iPad isn't a full computer, but it sure can manage to do a lot in it's place.
even seeing what Moog, Korg, and others are doing synth wise shows that the future is pretty bright for the iPad.

i just wish the playbook would offer more. i think the playbook is the best tablet next to the iPad, the OS is much better then anything google has offered yet, and the beta even more promising.

the truth is, the majority of pc users don't use a pc up to it's capability. i couldn't blame them for replacing their computer with a tablet, it makes sense, since they don't need anything more then email, web browsing and simple tasks.

but i don't think the pc age is over by any means. just supplemented.

 

[KMFJD]

I've discovered that people on IRC don't get offended or riled up by racism, nor politically incorrect jokes, nor feminism, nazism, nor goatse, or even tubgirl, not even jokes about 9/11 get a rise out of anybody but as soon as I tell somebody that macs are better than PCs, things get ugly.

 

[bfdd]

No one I know uses their tablet for anything serious. I know countless people who feel they've wasted 500+ dollars on an iPad(or other tablet) because they don't get the dollar value of use out of it like they did with their smart phone or laptop when they were purchased. The only people I know who are truly happy with their tablets are those who got them discounted(usually at the extreme level).

 

[KMFJD]

My GF won her iPad. Sure, it's a nice toy to have. It sits in a fancy stand by her bedside and functions as a digital picture frame, alarm clock/radio, etc. It mostly gets used for flipping through Facebook or watching Netflix while still in bed. She does zero content creation with it.

I personally don't see how anything touch-based will ever play a significent role in my life. What happens when I need to import 16GBs of RAW files from my Canon 5DII into Photoshop CS5? And once I get them into Photoshop, would I use my thumb and pointer fingers to pinch and zoom my way through all the editing? BS!

And don't get me started on gaming. No way a tiny screen can come close to the experience of three or more 30" LCDs in Eyefinity!

Perhaps someday we'll all use the Kinect/gestures to input but I don't think we're there yet.

I think they will program around these issues, imagine what video editors first said about computer editing and how inefficient it was, i truly believe this is a trivial matter

 

[Zorander]

Considering the iPads are pretty affordable and fall into similar price bracket as other 'toys'/gadgets (e.g. smartphones), it's no surprise Apple is selling truckloads of them.

That it erodes PC market share for many households is undeniable. It will not eliminate traditional PCs however. The iPad is good for browsing, playing light casual games, watching video and anything else that requires light user interaction. It's not going to work out with demanding applications, such as productivity suites and heavy games. If you fall into such user category, you very likely own more than just an iPad.

 

[bearxor]

I think when we talk about 'PC' vs iPad, we need to have a common understanding of what a 'PC' is.

When you say it to me, I think of just someone's personal computer that they use. Be it at home or on the go. In that area, yes, I'm sure that a tablet-like device will eventually replace upwards of 90% of those systems.

I think some of you might be lumping what I would call 'workstations' in to the overall PC market. This is what I would consider a 'content creation' machine. A tablet won't make inroads as replacements here for quite some time. Maybe 15-20 years. They'll make huge gains as supplements in the meantime though.

So, if you want my opinion, based on what I think the term 'PC' should cover, then I think we're in a Post-PC era. I agree with Stevie that PC's will become trucks. Most of us will be using our compacts (tablets) or crossovers (tablets with docks) but there will be people who need a SUV or a full-size truck. You normally don't buy one of those based on comfort, you buy it thinking 'Hey, I'm going to need to haul something eventually and I'll be really happy I have a truck.'

I think what a lot of people are missing is the migration to the cloud. We're going to be at a point in 5, 10 years tops, where your operating system won't matter. Where you won't need a quad or octo core machine with a fast video card. It will all be done in the cloud and you'll just be playing a video stream. Something like OnLive is the future. Sure, it has kinks to work out but what new technology didn't?

I just think some of you might not be willing to think outside the box and think that the device you use to get work done doesn't necessarily have to be the device you use to get work done in 10 years. That's why the vast majority of us aren't working for Apple, Google or Microsoft.

 

[IcePickFreak]

If computers went the direction of cloud computing, I wouldn't bother with computers anymore outside of work.

I've wasted enough time over the years correcting the cable/satellite company, water dept, bank, ISP, and on and on because they made an "Oops" and can't be bothered to fix it on their own. I sure as hell wouldn't rely on a company to keep all my important files etc in order and available, not to mention safe from others.

Then it would probably only be a matter of time when refreshes for programs (ie. Office 2010, Autocad 2012, etc) come out and suddenly you can't use you're 2009 version anymore, you have to buy the new one.