[ale] So what do we do when the PC goes away?

[Charles Shapiro]

Well, I can definitely see a 2-tier world,with techno-peasants using
smartphones and tablets, and the technorati using traditional PCs with
keyboard, mouse, and monitor.  For serious development -- or even long
writing sessions -- it's hard to beat a traditional desktop or laptop.
 On the media consumption side a simpler UI can be better.

The more interesting question is how open these devices will be.  If I
can't crack the machine, I ain't gonna use it.  Google's nexus series
are an interesting step in the right direction, as this (
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/10/30/1748236/googles-nexus-4-7-10-strategy-openness-at-all-costs
) slashdot article indicates.  I believe that Cyanogen has some
experimental builds that will work on the Nexus 7, at least.    Of
course, even the simplest unlock, bootloader change, et cetera is
going to require a conventional PC, at least so far.  A number of
cheap cellphone storefronts around town now offer cellphone unlocking
services at $20-30 a pop.  When I inquired at one, I was told that
they won't install a new bootloader or a 3rd-party built OS.  So
you're on your own for the really interesting parts.

-- CHS



On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 8:19 PM, Michael H. Warfield <mhw at wittsend.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 2012-10-31 at 19:54 -0400, Jim Lynch wrote:
>> I keep reading that the pc is doomed and will die before long.  They
>> don't define long however.  All these smart devices like tablets, phones
>> and things yet to be invented will replace them.  Now it's possible that
>> 9th generation programming languages will take verbal instructions to
>> generate apps, but somehow I doubt it.  I shudder to think how I'd
>> develop a complex C++ app on a tablet or a phone.
>
> Ah, hahahahahahahahaha....
>
> The "pundents" predicted the demise of the mainframe.  And it's still
> here.  People have been trying to kill off Windows XP and drive a stake
> through its black heart and it's still here.  PC dying?  Yeah, right.
> Like that will happen in my lifetime.  It may lose is dominance as the
> number one major platform but it will not die, no mater how much it may
> fade.  Not in any of our lifetimes.
>
>>   A tablet can never replace my 22" screen.  After all I'm pretty sure
>> my vision will not improve in the future.  Are we going to have eyeball
>> implants that will send the screen directly to the brain? Maybe type by
>> thinking?  That seems dangerous given the way my mind wanders off at
>> times.  I'm thinking that a scantily clothed blond wouldn't do at all in
>> the middle of my database update.
>>
>> To borrow from the NRA, "I'll give you my keyboard and mouse when you
>> pry  it from my cold, dead hands."
>>
>> Jim.
>> ****
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> --
> Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
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