rant - Desktop is dead? baah humbug

geobro

my packard bell desktop cost me £40 all in upgraded ram for $15 now it runs sweet as anything and quiet love the thing and it has been on since feb runs at 10c one of my best buys

Nice to see someone is having a good experiance with their product.

But I kicked my PB to the curb back in '95 (It only lasted two years) and haven't looked back yet. Most desktops will run at least a decade if you take care of them. I haven't seen a smartphone or tablet last even half that long.

Of course, desktops aren't being lunked around and dropped in toilets or the hard ground either.

reply to post by TDawgRex

But won't the device still be connected to a online provder?

Certainly. Why wouldn't it?

Will most of the apps still work if you allow the contract to expire so that it is no longer transmitting nor receiving?

No contract needed to use the processor and hardware on-board the device.

And how would you transfer data from one secure (disconnected) computer/device to another?

Some phones can transfer data now just by touching them together.

TDawgRex

usertwelve
reply to post by Ghostinshell

 

I predict the desktop as we know it will disappear soon. What we can expect is that the phone or device you carry in your pocket will be powerful enough to run full desktop applications so when we need to sit at a desk and work we just plug in our device to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse platform.

I think that's the plan. Why sell to the consumer something that they can upgrade and repair and run for years on end when they can sell something that is limited, in both power and tech and dies in a year or two and HAS to be replaced.

But as long as they sell desktops or at least the parts, I'll always have one.

I suspect, the "consumer" market will be more faster moving. always, becoming more fragmented as "cooler" devices are made.

"desktops" at least for the "consumer" side, will just become a smaller more stable market.

usertwelve
reply to post by Ghostinshell

 

I predict the desktop as we know it will disappear soon. What we can expect is that the phone or device you carry in your pocket will be powerful enough to run full desktop applications so when we need to sit at a desk and work we just plug in our device to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse platform.

Never happen. Never will the day come that a game plays better on a tablet or console over a PC, and never will a day come that video rendering is easy on a tablet, or any other thousand things I could think of if I tried. Processing power is harder and harder to achieve the smaller you get, much like accelerating a vehicle gets harder and harder the faster you're going. Until quantum computing becomes an everyday reality, big lunky desktops will be around in force. The gaming community alone is enough to demand 100m+ PC's.

reply to post by mattdel

Moore's Law
It will happen.

usertwelve
reply to post by mattdel

 

Moore's Law
It will happen.

yes, the infallible moores law; yes things will get smaller and more powerful. but that does not mean, large
screens or machines with more complex or more powerful setups will not exist.

mattdel

usertwelve
reply to post by Ghostinshell

 

I predict the desktop as we know it will disappear soon. What we can expect is that the phone or device you carry in your pocket will be powerful enough to run full desktop applications so when we need to sit at a desk and work we just plug in our device to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse platform.

Never happen. Never will the day come that a game plays better on a tablet or console over a PC, and never will a day come that video rendering is easy on a tablet, or any other thousand things I could think of if I tried. Processing power is harder and harder to achieve the smaller you get, much like accelerating a vehicle gets harder and harder the faster you're going. Until quantum computing becomes an everyday reality, big lunky desktops will be around in force. The gaming community alone is enough to demand 100m+ PC's.

whats starting to happen is the market is breaking apart. the "enterprise" and the 'consumer' now have very different needs. and another group I will call the proconsumer.

each one has different needs, enterprise needs larger screens, more complex setups etc. the consumer, in many cases can get away with some pretty simple setups. while the proconsumer is pretty much a hybird.

the "PC" will not die, it will evolve. as will our entire computing paradigm....

reply to post by Ghostinshell

What do large screens have to do with a desktop computer?

usertwelve
reply to post by Ghostinshell

 

What do large screens have to do with a desktop computer?

trying using excel in any usable fashion on a phone or small tablet.

reply to post by Ghostinshell

A monitor is not a desktop computer. Did you miss my previous post?

POST

And in case my words are not clear here are a few of many ways it can already be done.
Can a Phone Replace a Computer if it has a Keyboard, Monitor and Mouse?

Convert Your Dual Core Cell Phone Into a Fully Functional Desktop PC

reply to post by usertwelve


yes, that's possible; and, its an extension of what we do now for laptops. I know, that will come soon to smart phones. on the consumer side more and more will change. and as, tablets, and phones become more
powerful so does the "PC".

i am NOT saying "devices" will not become powerful and useful enough that the use cases will be greatly expanded. i actually fully expect that.

what I *am* saying is the the PC will not die, it will evolve and become more mature. sure, on the consumer side more people will opt for devices only at somepoint. but that does not mean the PC and its use cases will die. what I suspect, is that people will tend to have just one PC per family ala something more like an iMAC.
and it will be more like a "hub", and most of your day to day will be with devices. unless of course your
some sort of power user or developer or some such.