What's with the rise of "good enough" computing? It seems a step backwards.

[Gryz]

The focus of computing has always shifted.

- In the fifties and sixties, computers were literally used for computing only.
Research institutes used them for scientific computations. Banks used them for financial computations. Those users could always use faster CPUs.

- In the seventies and eighties, the focus shifted from computing to storage.
Large databases in companies, or governments. But even storing smaller items, like letters and spreadsheets for employees. You need more diskspace. Faster CPUs are only needed for maintaining larger databases.

- In the nineties and 21st century, focus is now on communication.
First it was communication between companies. And communication between employees in the workspace. Quickly it expanded to communication for people at home. Also, command-based UIs got replaced by GUIs everywhere. You need fast CPUs only to power the GUI. What you need most is a fast network.

Compute -> Storage -> Communication.

If there is any new change coming, it is the minor change from having stationary communication to mobile communication. I don't see that as a big change.

But the first 3 uses of computers still exist. And will exist forever. It's just that hand-held devices get all the press. Because they are new. Because the market for them is not replacement-market only yet. (That will come soon). The only reason most people (non gamers, non servers, non scientists) need a faster CPU is because of the GUI. And CPUs are fast enough for the GUI since a decade or so.


What worries me more is that new devices get less functionality all the time. So they become "less confusing for dumb users". And as dumb users are the largest market, I fear this move will continue for a while.

 

[R0H1T]

Compute -> Storage -> Communication.

If there is any new change coming, it is the minor change from having full communication at the workplace and in the home, to having full communication everywhere. Workplace, home, hotel, at friends, on the road, in cars, in planes, in stores, etc, etc.

But the first 3 uses of computers still exist. And will exist forever. It's just that hand-held devices get all the press. Because they are new. Because the market for them is not replacement-market only yet. (That will come soon). The only reason most people (non gamers, non servers, non scientists) need a faster CPU is because of the GUI. And CPUs are fast enough for the GUI since a decade or so.


What worries me more is that new devices get less functionality all the time. So they become "less confusing for dumb users". And as dumb users are the largest market, I fear this move will continue for a while.

Nice points, for me the next big change is the form factor, as in portability, which is why we're seeing the proliferation of smartphones/tablets everywhere & also the hoopla surrounding google glass D:

Power(efficiency) is a natural consequence of this progression since more power(CPU+GPU) needs to be fitted in the same or lesser TDP & the MPU chips are still shrinking ! The biggest impediment to it all is the arcane battery tech which hasn't changed much for the last ~ 20yrs that I can think of, if we could get the power of a fuel cell in something like a laptop then things could move forward at a greater pace but alas :\

 

[pcunite]

... for me the next big change is the form factor, as in portability, which is why we're seeing the proliferation of smartphones/tablets everywhere & also the hoopla surrounding google glass D:

Me too. I use my i5 workstation for work tasks and need all the performance I can get. However, in the evening I want the same thing in a small Laptop. Sadly most laptops have terrible displays. I'm looking for fast and great display in a small form factor. I don't mind to be "pluged" in to the wall.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Sadly most laptops have terrible displays. I'm looking for fast and great display in a small form factor. I don't mind to be "pluged" in to the wall.

Very true, it's next to impossible to find a decent laptop/ultrabook with a good screen. The cutting-edge tech has moved elsewhere ;p

 

[aigomorla]

Very true, it's next to impossible to find a decent laptop/ultrabook with a good screen. The cutting-edge tech has moved elsewhere ;p

thats because the cost of making a high quality display is outragous.

dont blame the laptop makers.

If laptops were as plentiful as cell phones, im sure we'd already have OLED displays.

Give it time as things mature.

1080p on the laptop isnt considered full main stream yet.

 

[Torn Mind]

The focus of computing has always shifted.

- In the fifties and sixties, computers were literally used for computing only.
Research institutes used them for scientific computations. Banks used them for financial computations. Those users could always use faster CPUs.

- In the seventies and eighties, the focus shifted from computing to storage.
Large databases in companies, or governments. But even storing smaller items, like letters and spreadsheets for employees. You need more diskspace. Faster CPUs are only needed for maintaining larger databases.

- In the nineties and 21st century, focus is now on communication.
First it was communication between companies. And communication between employees in the workspace. Quickly it expanded to communication for people at home. Also, command-based UIs got replaced by GUIs everywhere. You need fast CPUs only to power the GUI. What you need most is a fast network.

Compute -> Storage -> Communication.

If there is any new change coming, it is the minor change from having stationary communication to mobile communication. I don't see that as a big change.

But the first 3 uses of computers still exist. And will exist forever. It's just that hand-held devices get all the press. Because they are new. Because the market for them is not replacement-market only yet. (That will come soon). The only reason most people (non gamers, non servers, non scientists) need a faster CPU is because of the GUI. And CPUs are fast enough for the GUI since a decade or so.


What worries me more is that new devices get less functionality all the time. So they become "less confusing for dumb users". And as dumb users are the largest market, I fear this move will continue for a while.

Actually, storage remains important to this very day, it is just that there is actually a "average joe" market that did not exist in the 80s. Google "big data" and you'll see why. Plus, the Internet is nothing without servers and databases.

 

[Torn Mind]

the average user, doing what an average user does cant tell the difference between a pentium, an i3 and a quad core i5; innovation is pretty much over at the high end as far as performance is concerned. so they "innovated" at the low end and invented crap like desktop atom, e1, etc...sheet that was so bad it would make you want to buy something faster after a few months. the problem now is that that isnt working anymore because everyone know that stuff is crap. so now theyre rebranding dat sheet as "atom pentium" hoping to fool us yet again

I personally can notice browser lag all the way up until a 3770K with 3 cores enabled is overclocked to 3.9-4.0 GHz with an X25-M SSD. But at 3.3 Ghz, the increase in slowness is very slight. Hence, an i3-3240 or FX-4350 WITH AN SSD should be enough for most "average users" to walk away satisfied if they're your typical Facebook+IM+Flash games loafer at work.

 

[smakme7757]

The majority drives the market. The majority do not need high end CPUs unfortunately.

Web Browsing, Free to play games, Facebook, Email, Office apps, Instant messaging etc. Do not require that much performance to run smoothly.

The performance parts are aimed at servers and because AMD isn't putting up much of a fight these days Intel doesn't need to over invest in R&D at the moment.

However I'm sure they have plans for the future. Haswell has been in the works for over 5 years, so we just need to wait and see what's next.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

There is good enough for most people and then there is atom which is utter crap

 

[OBLAMA2009]

There is good enough for most people and then there is atom which is utter crap

ezackly, anyone is going to notice what garbage atom is. its like 10 times as slow as even core 2, so even if the new sheet is twice as fast, thats still 5 times a sheety as what youre used to, 2xsheety=stillsheety

 

[Jeff7181]

There is good enough for most people and then there is atom which is utter crap

Atom is perfectly adequate for my Astaro firewall. Even with an IPsec VPN configured.

 

[pcunite]

I personally can notice browser lag all the way up until a 3770K with 3 cores enabled is overclocked to 3.9-4.0 GHz with an X25-M SSD. But at 3.3 Ghz, the increase in slowness is very slight. Hence, an i3-3240 or FX-4350 WITH AN SSD should be enough for most "average users" to walk away satisfied if they're your typical Facebook+IM+Flash games loafer at work.

I wonder if that is because the CPU is moving from its idle (1.6Ghz) state to full power.