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mobile computers replacing desktopmobile computers replacing desktopPosted Sep 9, 2012 19:30 UTC (Sun) by khim (subscriber, #9252)In reply to: mobile computers replacing desktop by giraffedata Parent article: Improving Ubuntu's application upload process
That seems really unrealistic to me. The handheld parts are so constrained by the mobility requirement that the desktop would be far less capable per unit cost than if it were made entirely of desktop-optimized parts. Any savings from reusing parts would be outweighed by the loss from weakening both the desktop and the handheld. Déjà_vu: you explanation replicates reasons which should have kept DEC and Sun viable forever. Just replace "desktop" with "workstation" and "handheld" with "personal computer". Remember these times when first personal computers stuffed everything in one case with a keyboard and used TV instead of big, professional monitor? It's quite literally impossible to put hot, powerful CPU, powerful graphic and all the goodies workstations offered in such a tiny box. Couple of decades later it was supposed to keep laptop a niche product. Today it's supposed to keep desktop alive and well. There is a separate proposition that I think some people confuse with this docking idea: most desktop computers will actually be replaced by handhelds. I.e. people will compute on their hands, not at their desks. There will be far fewer big screens and mice. This will happen to some extent, but I doubt a lot of users will use tiny tablet (10"-11" is tiny when compared with 30" monitor) when alternative will be available. If you'll compare quater-century old workstations with today's personal computers and with personal computers of that era then you'll find that, suprisingly, PCs of today resemble these old workstation more then they resemble these old PCs relics - but it does not change anything: people switched to more affordable PCs when they could and over time brought niceties they lost after said switch while companies which tried to sell these wonderful machines wend bankrupt. Today's phone is not powerful enough to drive today's desktop but it is more powerful then all these old workstations!
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mobile computers replacing desktop Posted Sep 9, 2012 22:44 UTC (Sun) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954) [Link] I guess I'm not following your analogy. You're saying a Sun workstation is to an Apple II as MacBook is to iPhone?If so, I don't see it. An Apple II is an inexpensive approximation of a Sun workstation. An iPhone does a whole different job from a MacBook.
mobile computers replacing desktop Posted Sep 9, 2012 23:27 UTC (Sun) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] I guess I'm not following your analogy. You're saying a Sun workstation is to an Apple II as MacBook is to iPhone? In sense, yes. An iPhone does a whole different job from a MacBook. Sure, you can use it as phone, as camera, as a music player - but these things are not important here. What is important is that you can use it as a poor's-man-MacBook, too. Well, this is less true for an iPhone, because you can not actually program it on the phone, but with Android you can do that... in many ways, in fact. You can write simple scripts or use Java or C++. Sure, just like CAD or office these IDEs are poor substitute for full-blown analogues found on desktop (or laptop), but there are no reason to believe they will always be underpowered.
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