Re: Arguably there's no longer a practical use for desktops for everyday users. - Edit 1
Before modification by MrFarstrider at 02/04/2011 09:35:12 AM
I agree that desktops processing power in terms of graphics and program processing has become so large that it greatly exceeds the needs of almost anybody except the gaming niche which I think is getting even smaller due to console gaming. Laptops however do not fall under that category and a large number of home PC consumers still use desktops. So I think the desktop/laptop category is still an accurate classification of home computing.
I have no doubt that smartphones are an absolute necessity for people in the business and legal world. But I would consider that another niche market compared to main stream consumer needs that are usually met by home computing options. Smartphones are essentially PDAs with cell phones integrated into them. Up until now, PDAs haven't been seen outside of the business market. I'm not sure I see the need for them in the mainstream "Best Buy" mobile computing market now. But thats what I am really trying to get at here.
Agreed fully on the point of computing is used for an internet portal rather than a program portal. All of those programs that you used to access on a desktop is accessed online or those programs gain additional functionality online. I believe Office is about the last program oriented thing you still do but it also gains some functionality by being connected to the WWW.
I don't buy into the idiocy Gizmodo was spouting yesterday about tablets replacing laptops in the near future, but no casual user really needs the power of a desktop computer these days. As for smartphones, they're an absolute necessity for anybody in the business and legal world. The ability to read PDFs, for example, is critical.
The current state of thinking in the technology world, to my knowledge, is that we're seeing a paradigm shift from the Internet as something you access at certain points to the Internet as a ubiquitous presence. It's very similar to the paradigm shift telephony underwent in the previous decade; before, you called people at fixed locations, whereas now you can call them anywhere.
The current state of thinking in the technology world, to my knowledge, is that we're seeing a paradigm shift from the Internet as something you access at certain points to the Internet as a ubiquitous presence. It's very similar to the paradigm shift telephony underwent in the previous decade; before, you called people at fixed locations, whereas now you can call them anywhere.
I have no doubt that smartphones are an absolute necessity for people in the business and legal world. But I would consider that another niche market compared to main stream consumer needs that are usually met by home computing options. Smartphones are essentially PDAs with cell phones integrated into them. Up until now, PDAs haven't been seen outside of the business market. I'm not sure I see the need for them in the mainstream "Best Buy" mobile computing market now. But thats what I am really trying to get at here.
Agreed fully on the point of computing is used for an internet portal rather than a program portal. All of those programs that you used to access on a desktop is accessed online or those programs gain additional functionality online. I believe Office is about the last program oriented thing you still do but it also gains some functionality by being connected to the WWW.