The Post PC Era

[cronos]

It's the era of smarter people.

People who want and/or need PCs, built them themselves.

People who ended up with tablets realized that they don't really need a PC, or that their old PC is good enough for their uses, and have no reason to upgrade/replace them.

 

[cronos]

I never figured OP to be this kind of dude

You're joking, right?

 

[vi edit]

It's the era of smarter people. People who want and/or need PCs, built them themselves.

LOL. Ok. The advent of the $400 desktop from Dell took a lot of the wind out of the sales of PC building/repair.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Well I recall seeing lots of threads around here asking for advice about a budget PC or Laptop "just for surfing the web and other light tasks" in the past. Is anyone contesting that people in that market aren't highly likely to purchase a $300-$400 tablet? That's one example where a tablet could potentially be a direct functional replacement for a PC. It's only going to get more pronounced as tablets get better as well.

We're certainly not in the Post PC Era yet, but anyone can see that all this speculation isn't just coming from nowhere.

 

[cronos]

LOL. Ok. The advent of the $400 desktop from Dell took a lot of the wind out of the sales of PC building/repair.

Not from the people who got smarter 😀

 

[ponyo]

Not from the people who got smarter 😀

Lol. I'm at moran level since my last two desktops are $400 Dell.

 

[vi edit]

Not from the people who got smarter 😀

It has zero to do with smarts, and all about needs and convenience. I built my own for YEARS. Eventually pre-built prices and components and bundled software reached a point where the advantage of building was no longer an advantage. I had no more desire to dig through piles of threads on hardware, what motherboard to buy, what RAM was the fastest, or what CPU took the best to overclocking. Because for what my adult needs were transitioning too...something I could take out of the box from Dell did it just fine.

I've been rocking a $500 Dell PC for almost 6 years with very few complaints and no major upgrades other than a 1TB harddrive and a TV Tuner add on.

I *could* have built my own...but I had no need or desire to. And that summarizes a huge majority of the consumer desktop buying population.

It's not lack of intelligence, it's lack of need and a healthy dose of convenience.

 

[cronos]

Lol. I'm at moran level since my last two desktops are $400 Dell.

I actually have one too since just a couple months ago, and it's a ~$250 Dell refurb from the outlet. Can't beat that price for a system that's primarily used by my wife.

 

[ponyo]

I actually have one too since just a couple months ago, and it's a ~$250 Dell refurb from the outlet. Can't beat that price for a system that's primarily used by my wife.

But that's also the reason I can't buy Mac computers. $1200 for MacBook Pro or Air? Yeah, it's nice computer but give me $400 laptop with Win7. It's not the same but it's close enough and I prefer Windows over OSX. I don't need the best appliance. Just the one that gets the job done.

 

[cronos]

It has zero to do with smarts, and all about needs and convenience. I built my own for YEARS. Eventually pre-built prices and components and bundled software reached a point where the advantage of building was no longer an advantage. I had no more desire to dig through piles of threads on hardware, what motherboard to buy, what RAM was the fastest, or what CPU took the best to overclocking. Because for what my adult needs were transitioning too...something I could take out of the box from Dell did it just fine.

I've been rocking a $500 Dell PC for almost 6 years with very few complaints and no major upgrades other than a 1TB harddrive and a TV Tuner add on.

I *could* have built my own...but I had no need or desire to. And that summarizes a huge majority of the consumer desktop buying population.

It's not lack of intelligence, it's lack of need and a healthy dose of convenience.

Forget my last post, I just had to make that joke.

My original point wasn't that the smarter people built their own and the un-smart people got tablets instead. My point was that people get smarter and they started to understand what's best for them, and now that they have options it's not necessarily a desktop computer.

Some realized that tablets are what they need so they don't need PCs anymore, some will choose to buy cheap desktops because they realize that there are some really good ones out there that will fit their certain needs (that couldn't possibly be fulfilled with a tablet), while some still choose to do custom built because that's the only way they will be satisfied with their computers.

 

[vi edit]

Forget my last post, I just had to make that joke. My original point wasn't that the smarter people built their own and the un-smart people got tablets instead. My point was that people get smarter and they started to understand what's best for them, and it's not necessarily a desktop computer.

Sorry I took that so literal. There are people that have that mentality so I didn't read it as sarcasm.

 

[Red Storm]

Some realized that tablets are what they need so they don't need PCs anymore

We aren't there yet. People buying tablets have computers. They aren't replacing PCs, they are complementing them.

 

[zanejohnson]

I'm about there... in my house I run:

htpc/fileserver (old now needs to be upgraded) stores all docs,media,images, software,etc

laptop,but its dedicated pretty much to simulating a mixer for the USB MIDI turntables I have,other music creation software

powerful 7 inch tablet 2ghz arm8 cortex, 512mb, 4gb internal band, 16gb SD


super simple setup and does everything I need it to do

 

[ultimatebob]

Windows 8 will be the first tablet OS that will integrate with your home network like a regular computer unlike these android tablets and ipads - WITHOUT the use of software and shit.

Can't wait.

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.

 

[PingSpike]

I just don't understand how you could do any actual productive work on a tablet. I guess you can watch videos, take some pictures or video and fumble through facebook but if you actually wanted to produce any content, whether it be a spreadsheet, a term paper, some artwork, etc...well you're just not going to do it with that limited interface. They have the commercials where they allude to getting more done...and then they show a pie chart. Great, you can look at a pie chart that some one probably made on a PC. That isn't doing anything but maybe replacing a print out really. Aside from managing schedules and contacts (which is very useful for a lot of people) I can't think of anything it improves productivity wise...and honestly that niche is better filled my a smartphone.

That's not to say that tablets aren't going to have a large place in the future. Lets face it, most people don't actually create any content, most adults anyway. Students will write some papers and people take pictures and video of their kids but most people mainly consume media, write a few emails and facebook posts in all caps and get mad when their device becomes loaded with viruses. A lot of people do that. I can see a tablet being the most used device for a person like that, enough screen they can read things a little easier while being portable and more simple in design. That would do all they need and overall probably do it better than a PC. But I don't want to hear about how productive those people are.

I'm sure they're already doing this somehow, but do they make docking stations that you could plug a smartphone or a tablet into allowing you to use a monitor, keyboard and mouse? If they did I could see replacing a PC for most people and eventually evolving into a complete replacement of the PC, at least as we think of it. That would give you the ability to actually write a paper and do some productive work using an interface suited to it while still having the advantages of a portable small platform.

 

[Puppies04]

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?

When people are using 5+ year old computers and have no need whatsoever to upgrade them why would you be even slightly suprised that a new product would outsell pcs. When there are more tablets than pcs in the world start a new thread and you might actually have a point.

 

[rockyct]

I'm sure they're already doing this somehow, but do they make docking stations that you could plug a smartphone or a tablet into allowing you to use a monitor, keyboard and mouse? If they did I could see replacing a PC for most people and eventually evolving into a complete replacement of the PC, at least as we think of it. That would give you the ability to actually write a paper and do some productive work using an interface suited to it while still having the advantages of a portable small platform.

Yeah, that's going to be happening with Windows 8 (although the Asus Transformer kind of does that now). Microsoft's approach is basically a unified UI between all platforms and they may all be running Windows 8 (desktop, laptop, tablet, phone). It's a bold move that could actually explode the growth of tablets even more by making them have fewer compromises. The ARM tablets will probably not run "classic" Windows programs but any "metro" apps will be the same, and syncronized, on all platforms.

Just imagine that when you get a new device, just log on to your Live account, and all your programs/data/settings will syncronize up automatically.

 

[BoberFett]

I'm sure they're already doing this somehow, but do they make docking stations that you could plug a smartphone or a tablet into allowing you to use a monitor, keyboard and mouse? If they did I could see replacing a PC for most people and eventually evolving into a complete replacement of the PC, at least as we think of it. That would give you the ability to actually write a paper and do some productive work using an interface suited to it while still having the advantages of a portable small platform.

Asus Transformer, slick little device.

Someday I fully expect that wireless connections will become standardized and that you simply set your [computing device of choice] down near a monitor, keyboard, and mouse and get full access to whatever environment you choose along with the benefits of better input and output devices.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

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.

 

[randomrogue]

The Ipad is the 21st century's speak and spell. It's pretty awesome for kids. It's a toy and can be used as an educational tool.

As an adult I really don't have much use for one.

 

[ElFenix]

Yeah, that's going to be happening with Windows 8 (although the Asus Transformer kind of does that now). Microsoft's approach is basically a unified UI between all platforms and they may all be running Windows 8 (desktop, laptop, tablet, phone). It's a bold move that could actually explode the growth of tablets even more by making them have fewer compromises. The ARM tablets will probably not run "classic" Windows programs but any "metro" apps will be the same, and syncronized, on all platforms.

Just imagine that when you get a new device, just log on to your Live account, and all your programs/data/settings will syncronize up automatically.

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'

 

[BoberFett]

Just imagine that when you get a new device, just log on to your Live account, and all your programs/data/settings will syncronize up automatically.

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. :|

 

[The Boston Dangler]

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?

wtf are you asking? apple sells more ipads than hp, dell and lenovo? i'm quite sure those companies haven't sold a single ipad.

"post-pc" era? i'm pretty sure personal computers, as opposed to mainframes or whatever large-scale computing is now called, still play a significant role in personal, academic and business activities.

do you mean handheld gadgets like ipads are replacing traditional desktops? no, they are replacing other toys and clipboards.

do you mean apple systems are replacing microsoft systems? that will be the day.

 

[GTaudiophile]

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.

 

[randomrogue]

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.

Here's the thing. Is Apple or any tablet maker even trying to replace the PC?

Video and Photo editing?
Gaming?
Accounting and office management?
Simulation and number crunching?
Systems integration and automation such as running a piece of heavy machinery?
Server based applications such as file serving and hosting?

It's a long way off.