The Post PC Era

[ultimatebob]

Nope... but it does mean that people aren't bothering to upgrade their PC's unless they broken now.

 

[vi edit]

:hmm:

The pace is what's incredible. iphone in 2007. ipad in 2010. We're only in 2012.

The thing to me is that there really hasn't been much of anything remotely innovating or necessary in the PC environment in years...if not better than a decade. You could make an argument for SSD's, but they are still way out of the price range of most computer shoppers.

I'm still on my same desktop I bought almost 6 years ago. Sure it's a bit slow in some things, but it's still perfectly serviceable for most of my needs.

I've got an iPad, but it's like others said, a 2nd choice. I still can't type anything more than a few lines on it without being frustrated. I can't easily attach messages to my webmail accounts or do much work on it. It's a great option if I've got a baby on my shoulder at 2:00AM after a bottle and checking the web though. My 4 year old also loves using it for games and movies ripped to it while traveling. Plus it has awesome battery life. So it is has some function.

But the sales are there because it's something new, and people are simply not replacing desktops as fast as they used to. Not because they don't want to, but because they don't need to. There are still legitimate drawbacks/functional limitations that a tablet will likely never overcome unless you lug around a pile of accessories with it. Then you may as well as bought an ultra book.

 

[nitrous9200]

Tablets are very limited in their functionality as we all know, but the average user doesn't care. They usually can get done whatever they need to do on one, and they probably enjoy using tablets more than PCs.
I wouldn't explicitly recommend an iPad to someone but they have a huge advantage just for reliability - there's much less to go wrong compared to a traditional PC/Mac; streamlined updating, lack of malware (especially those stupid fake AV programs that people seem to pick up left and right) and a locked down system pretty much ensure that the thing is going to work well.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I almost bought an iPad on a couple of occasions but am still on the fence. The main reason for me would be as a portable gaming/movie watching device when traveling but decided that a small notebook (in this case, my MBP 13") was probably a better choice.

 

[irishScott]

If Apple banks $80 per iPad and a PC manf makes $20 then sales numbers mean dickall. Plus for every iPad Apple sells, it's got a 30% return on every app that is purchased with that device.

And? We're talking about mass acceptance and social trends, not pure profit. In that regard sales numbers mean a good deal. Who cares if anyone who buys an iPad also pays for apps? They still only have one iPad.

 

[rockyct]

As Microsoft puts it, we're in a PC Plus era right now. People are still more productive on desktops/laptops but tablets/smartphones are becoming incredibly useful tools to supplement a computer.

You could also say going to a cloud computer era where devices and computers become tools to access cloud data.

 

[Pliablemoose]

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.

 

[Fingolfin269]

And? We're talking about mass acceptance and social trends, not pure profit. In that regard sales numbers mean a good deal. Who cares if anyone who buys an iPad also pays for apps? They still only have one iPad.

Mass acceptance does not equate to "Post-PC Era". When I read that I think of something like this...

Cassette Tape --> CD
VHS --> DVD
PC --> iPad (???)

I just don't get why people try to categorize the iPad as a 'new' version of the relic we call the PC. Why can't it just be a part of a totally separate category meant to enhance in its own way and not necessarily replace? There is merit to having both a PC and a tablet.

 

[mmntech]

Tablets can do most things most people use their computer for. Though their relatively high cost holds them back when compared to laptops and desktops. You can get a powerful desktop or a run of the mill laptop for the same price as an iPad or (decent) Android Tablet.

I have an iPad. I use it to read newspapers and watch videos, do some occasional writing, and browse the web. That said, it's a third choice for me. Though I have found it's supplanted my laptop for grab and go use. Though the iPad 1 is starting to really show its age. Might replace it with a Transformer Prime some point down the road.

Tablets will become more widely used if/when cloud computing reaches mass adoption. At that point, they won't need high performance to achieve the usability of a desktop or laptop. However, I still think that's a long way off.

 

[vi edit]

And? We're talking about mass acceptance and social trends, not pure profit. In that regard sales numbers mean a good deal. Who cares if anyone who buys an iPad also pays for apps? They still only have one iPad.

Companies exist to make money. AAPL kicks so much ass in that regard it's not even funny. There isn't a CEO in the tech industry that wouldn't trade places with Apple right now.

If there is anything in social trends it's that tablets *ARE* displacing PC sales. And they are making bucket fills of money doing that. PC sales are a product of cutthroat margins and rock bottom prices where it's cheaper to simply replace a device than actually troubleshoot and repair/upgrade.

Every major tech player out there has scrambled to try their hand at a tablet to cash into that market with varying levels of success.

They are a major disruption to PC sales, especially when you look at just how low of margins PC's have to be sold at to be able to be moved.

Just putting this out there....
https://public.bay.livefilestore.co...Aw4BYqcrzvBR61RSz4cDxvkQ/box score.JPG?psid=1

 

[ultimatebob]

I have an iPad... I find it to be a amusing toy to use while I'm traveling since it's light and has good battery life. That said, it could never replace my laptop or my desktop.

Honestly, I rarely take it out of the house with me because it's not as portable as my smartphone, and I find that small screen and lack of a keyboard too limiting to do anything productive on it. I get annoyed with it every time I have to type more than a few sentences on the screen, and the lack of Flash support still gets in the way when viewing a bunch of web sites on it. Seriously... I thought that all of the major sites were supposed to be converted over to HTML5 by now!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Nope... but it does mean that people aren't bothering to upgrade their PC's unless they broken now.

A friend of mine is like that. He's considering getting a tablet soon, and he has a computer from 2006, that I keep trying to convince him to upgrade, even told him that I would give him a dual-core proc and a mobo.

But he says he won't upgrade until his breaks.

 

[JS80]

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.

I totally agree

 

[alent1234]

:hmm:

The pace is what's incredible. iphone in 2007. ipad in 2010. We're only in 2012.

i remember the 1990's. MS wasn't that big and was struggling with Windows for years until Windows 95/NT4/Exchange 5.5. and that was the end. Even then Lotus Notes was beating exchange in seats sold for a few years until around 2000 but Exchange was winning on hype and everyone knew they were going to win in the end.

if you look at apple's revenue growth the ipad and iphone 4 is where it's up up and away. android is the Novell of the 1990's. MS is the Be OS of the 1990's

 

[alent1234]

my wife and i have 3 laptops, 2 iphones, an android phone, a blackberry and an ipad 2 in the house.

only reason i bought an MBP is my wife wanted one and we didn't have our own computer, only work laptops. i would have been content with a $300 to $500 PC. maybe one with a BD drive to rip blu rays to put on the ipad.

over the last 5 years we went from using laptops over a desktop to using iphones/ipad over laptops. most days my wife leaves her work laptop in the car, doesn't touch the MBP and just uses her iphone. the MBP is like a server to hold some data like photos and music and that's it. with itunes match that's one less reason to own a laptop.

PC's will still be around but for most people it will be a cheapo laptop with a magnetic disk that holds a lot of data that's too much for the ipad or iphone. for power users it will be a MBP or some other laptop with a GPU or something powerful enough to run xcode/visual studio

 

[IronWing]

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.

What's changing is the conception of the computer from an all purpose device that can be used for content creation and consumption to a almost purely consumption based model. While this movement has been underway for decades (when is the last time you bought a computer that came with an interpreter or compiler?), the iPad and other similar tablets have been stripped of most input and content development features and have taken this model to a new exteme providing an interface more akin to a TV set or game console than a traditional computer. To make the iPad or other tablets useful for content creation you have to add back the proper interfaces. By the thime you've done that you have a table full of wires and you were better off starting with a netbook.

 

[Saint Nick]

If people are outbuying kiwis to oranges 6 to 1, are we in the kiwi era?

 

[preslove]

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.

The 'post pc era' is a stupid fucking buzzword. Tablets are great, I love mine, but they aren't going to replace PCs for a ton of different reasons. Tablets are complementary to pc's, not replacements. Sure, they will eat into pc sales because people will buy tablets instead of a second computer or earlier pc upgrade, but they will not replace actual computers.

Wooly eyed futurists have been making stupid claims about the end of the pc for years. It hasn't happened, and it isn't happening any time soon, because PCs are simple and cheap and easily hooked together. A $400 laptop is capable of much more than a $500 tablet, and much more capable than a terminal workstation with web apps.

Now, there are situations where a $500 tablet (sitting on the couch or traveling) or a terminal workstation (computer labs) are better fits than the $400 laptop, but that doesn't get past the fact that the cheap laptop is still a better purchase for an all around appliance. And it sure as fuck doesn't mean that people are suddenly going to throw away their computers or stop buying them.

If anyone is a fucking idiot in this thread, it's you. You're far too quick to jump on the bandwagon of 'futurists,' who are almost always wrong about the future.

 

[irishScott]

Companies exist to make money. AAPL kicks so much ass in that regard it's not even funny. There isn't a CEO in the tech industry that wouldn't trade places with Apple right now.

If there is anything in social trends it's that tablets *ARE* displacing PC sales. And they are making bucket fills of money doing that. PC sales are a product of cutthroat margins and rock bottom prices where it's cheaper to simply replace a device than actually troubleshoot and repair/upgrade.

Every major tech player out there has scrambled to try their hand at a tablet to cash into that market with varying levels of success.

They are a major disruption to PC sales, especially when you look at just how low of margins PC's have to be sold at to be able to be moved.

Just putting this out there....
https://public.bay.livefilestore.co...Aw4BYqcrzvBR61RSz4cDxvkQ/box score.JPG?psid=1

All true, I'm just saying that if PCs are selling in 10x+ greater volumes than Macs, we are far from the Post PC Era; and with Windows 8 hopefully providing the stiffest competition Apple has ever seen, even further from it.

 

[shortylickens]

The 'post pc era' is a stupid fucking buzzword. Tablets are great, I love mine, but they aren't going to replace PCs for a ton of different reasons. Tablets are complementary to pc's, not replacements. Sure, they will eat into pc sales because people will buy tablets instead of a second computer or earlier pc upgrade, but they will not replace actual computers.

"Polish" is another stupid fucking buzzword. If this thread were posted in its correct forum you'd see a hundred other threads with that word repeated constantly.

 

[ViviTheMage]

neg

 

[Pliablemoose]

The 'post pc era' is a stupid fucking buzzword. Tablets are great, I love mine, but they aren't going to replace PCs for a ton of different reasons. Tablets are complementary to pc's, not replacements. Sure, they will eat into pc sales because people will buy tablets instead of a second computer or earlier pc upgrade, but they will not replace actual computers.

Keep saying that, like 1000 times, because you're wrong.

 

[preslove]

Keep saying that, like 1000 times, because you're wrong.

Wooly eyed futurists have been making stupid claims about the end of the pc for years. It hasn't happened, and it isn't happening any time soon, because PCs are simple and cheap and easily hooked together. A $400 laptop is capable of much more than a $500 tablet, and much more capable than a terminal workstation with web apps.

Now, there are situations where a $500 tablet (sitting on the couch or traveling) or a terminal workstation (computer labs) are better fits than the $400 laptop, but that doesn't get past the fact that the cheap laptop is still a better purchase for an all around appliance. And it sure as fuck doesn't mean that people are suddenly going to throw away their computers or stop buying them.

If anyone is a fucking idiot in this thread, it's you. You're far too quick to jump on the bandwagon of 'futurists,' who are almost always wrong about the future.

 

[Red Storm]

It's a pretty safe bet that a lot of those 15 million iPad buyers also have computers.

So, no.

 

[vi edit]

All true, I'm just saying that if PCs are selling in 10x+ greater volumes than Macs, we are far from the Post PC Era; and with Windows 8 hopefully providing the stiffest competition Apple has ever seen, even further from it.

The stats were ipads vs PC's. That does not include the Kindle Fires and dozens of various Android tablets that were put out last year.

It's not 10:1. It's more like 2.5:1