CNET: HP is putting Microsoft & Windows on notice with its new Android o

[Red Storm]

..the majority you made up out of THIN AIR, by pretending you speak from on high for what the majority of people's computing needs are and will always remain?

Pretty much just like I said...

So... are you saying that the majority of internet users on this planet need Photoshop or Autocad or some other kind of dedicated x86 application? My position is no, they do not. The majority can get by with Chrome OS or Android.

 

[Zaap]

My position is no, they do not. The majority can get by with Chrome OS or Android.

And who elected you as worldwide decider of this? Once more, my point about who foists whose needs onto everyone else.

You and I both simply DON'T KNOW who will need Photoshop or any of tens of thousands of other applications or not- today, tomorrow, next week, ten years from now... and it's not ours (or some company's) decision to unilaterally make for everyone else.

 

[Red Storm]

And who elected you as worldwide decider of this? Once more, my point about who foists whose needs onto everyone else.

You and I both simply DON'T KNOW who will need Photoshop or any of tens of thousands of other applications or not- today, tomorrow, next week, ten years from now... and it's not ours (or some company's) decision to unilaterally make for everyone else.

Okay.

Back on topic, I look forward to seeing more and more Android and Chrome OS laptops out in the wild, will be nice to have a good variety of choices that aren't Windows or OSX.

 

[Zaap]

I guess it's "inside the beltway" thinking.

I look forward to that as well. Real choice is good. Someone else's choice made for you, sucks.

 

[slackerinabox]

I'll never get this rigid either/or mindset of people, as long as I live. It's EITHER one hardline thing or another- but we can't possibly have multiple choices. I'm as big a fan of Android or iOS as anyone- but why the hell would I want to limit myself to those being my only computing choices? Aside from how inadequate it would actually be, it'd also just be plain ol' boring as hell.

Agreed x100 - I always thought us nerds were intellectuals, intellectuals understand gray areas, can empathize with the needs of others, and can just think outside of the box. Not so anymore, everyone is "ANDROID RULES, IOS SUCKS!" and just assume their use scenario = ideal. It's sad, really. I honestly think it's the result of video games and cellphones allowing socially awkward dumb people a category to embrace and take on the nerd title, even though they're just kids with the social lives of nerds but not the intelligence.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I just don't think that this trend of believing that novices will stay novices forever is really going to lead anywhere- especially in light of the fact that the world is actually moving in the opposite direction.

I 100% disagree.

Why?

Because I answered the phone at Dell for a year. The number that the regular people call to buy PCs because ordering off the internet is too hard. The number that none of us would ever call.

As part of the sales process I HAD TO (or lose my job) qualify the needs of these people. As much as nerds might not want to admit it, 90% of people were buying computers just for a web browser and some sort of word processing program (not even Word, as few bought that). The hardest regular thing one of these normal people would try to do, is print out pictures of the grandkids that were either emailed to them or came from their camera. The average iPad can do everything these people need to do and then some.

As as mobiles get more powerful and become more capable, then they will do more and more until they account for 98% of consumer needs. There is no reason that eventually Android can't have a "desktop mode" with more sophisticated apps when ARMs SoCs can support that. Capability is not what is dying, the x86 Windows platform is what is dying.

Look, I like it just as much as any nerd that all these people sunk money into PCs and drove the prices down for us with economies of scale. But lets be honest- regular people hate computers. They see them as these emotional and difficult boxes with a new disaster (lost data, viruses, spyware, etc.) around every corner. Meanwhile Apple is offering a perfectly cultivated garden where grandma can download and print grandkids without fear.

The consumer PC market is doomed.

 

[poofyhairguy]

but we can't possibly have multiple choices.

Its not that we can't have choice. Its more that regular people don't want choice, they want an obvious best option or maybe two and that is that. Anything else causes consumer overload, which leads to consumer remorse after purchase.

Hence why the iPhone became so popular to begin with. It was a safe market leader.

Personally I want all the choice I can have. I want Ubuntu on my Prime because Android can't do enough, and I won't buy another tablet until it has a more capable OS.

But I realize I am a tiny part of the market, and most consumers just basically want the computer equivalent of a car- something to take them from point A (Facebook) to point B (their bank website, fantasy football draft, emailed grand kid photos, etc). Hence why Chromebooks are actually being sold.

 

[Zaap]

Meanwhile Apple is offering a perfectly cultivated garden where grandma can download and print grandkids without fear.

Grandma won't be with us in 10 to 20 years- the grandkids will. (Not callous to say, just reality). It'll be their computing needs that take over, not what grandma used to do. Grandma (and even Mom and Dad to some extent) spent most of their lives in a non-digital world, and had computing thrust on them as an arcane, hard to understand, 'geek' thing. The grandkids will grow up with computing as commonplace.

I do agree with you in that Android, iOS etc. will have to evolve and do more things that desktop computers do now.

Where we disagree is that the grandkids will settle for being locked in the same walled garden as their grandparents were. I don't buy that for a second, and frankly, don't even understand the logic behind that idea.

 

[Deeko]

I know its "cool" for nerds to get excited about anything they deem a slight at Microsoft, but lets not act like this is some shocking new development. A couple of years ago HP bought a company that makes mobile operating systems too, and I don't think they did that because they hated Windows 8.

 

[shortylickens]

And who elected you as worldwide decider of this? Once more, my point about who foists whose needs onto everyone else.

You and I both simply DON'T KNOW who will need Photoshop or any of tens of thousands of other applications or not- today, tomorrow, next week, ten years from now... and it's not ours (or some company's) decision to unilaterally make for everyone else.

 

[BladeVenom]

A convertible tablet plus cloud computing is going to be good enough for most people.

 

[Zaap]

64K is all most people will ever need too.

Riiiiiiight.

 

[MichaelBarg]

I thought Microsoft was putting HP on notice last year with the surface? Wasn't there a whole thing about OEMs not being so happy about it? In light of that they'd be crazy not to have backup plan.

 

[alangrift]

Android is great and all, but just don't see enough good apps for the tablets yet.

 

[BladeVenom]

Android is great and all, but just don't see enough good apps for the tablets yet.

Then maybe you're not looking hard enough. What are there, ~700,000 apps for it?

 

[slackerinabox]

Then maybe you're not looking hard enough. What are there, ~700,000 apps for it?

Dumb discussion - iPad has better tablet apps, fact. Most android tablet apps are just reformatted phone apps, though I'm sure that will change in time.

 

[Deeko]

Then maybe you're not looking hard enough. What are there, ~700,000 apps for it?

He said tablet apps. Most phone apps don't scale up as nicely as you suggest.

 

[alangrift]

Then maybe you're not looking hard enough. What are there, ~700,000 apps for it?

700k apps where only a couple of thousand are actually any good.

Also most apps are designed for the phone, and when on a tablet they are just bigger versions of the phone.

 

[Aganazer]

I know its "cool" for nerds to get excited about anything they deem a slight at Microsoft, but lets not act like this is some shocking new development. A couple of years ago HP bought a company that makes mobile operating systems too, and I don't think they did that because they hated Windows 8.

We've seen this plenty. I've seen a few big names in PC game development come out and say "Windows Sux and is dying, oh and please try my new facebook/console/whatever game I just made". Even legends like Gabe Newell is all down on Windows just because it has a competing distribution platform.

Also, this mythical "regular person" that only needs a browser didn't even know how to use a computer 15 years ago yet PC's were a thriving industry. If they want to switch to a Chromebook/iPad/whatever then fine. I wouldn't want their ineptitude driving the requirements of my workstation software anyway.

 

[Red Storm]

We've seen this plenty. I've seen a few big names in PC game development come out and say "Windows Sux and is dying, oh and please try my new facebook/console/whatever game I just made". Even legends like Gabe Newell is all down on Windows just because it has a competing distribution platform.

Also, this mythical "regular person" that only needs a browser didn't even know how to use a computer 15 years ago yet PC's were a thriving industry. If they want to switch to a Chromebook/iPad/whatever then fine. I wouldn't want their ineptitude driving the requirements of my workstation software anyway.

I guess my family is a myth then. Instead of paying for bloated software which requires more expensive hardware to run we have several Chrome and Android devices (as well as one iPad) that takes care of everyone's needs just fine, and these devices are all fanless, more portable, and last a lot longer before needing to be charged.

It's great that you need Windows and it lets you do the things you like, I'm happy you have a choice. But why is it always the x86 computer users who come into these threads with their noses stuck up saying "Pft I can't photoshop or autocad on this Android computer it's stupid"?

 

[Aganazer]

It's great that you need Windows and it lets you do the things you like, I'm happy you have a choice. But why is it always the x86 computer users who come into these threads with their noses stuck up saying "Pft I can't photoshop or autocad on this Android computer it's stupid"?

I encourage casual users to get an iPad/Chromebook. My point is not that they suck (yet they do ) , but rather that the PC industry survived without them before becoming mainstream. Its great that there is a segment of the market that caters to them.

That doesn't mean I want PC manufacturers to give up on people like me that want advanced features. "One size fits all" just won't work.