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I think laptops are becoming irrelevant for many use cases. They are not sufficiently powerful to do heavy data processing without running into thermal issues,
by nextos 11y ago
I think laptops are becoming irrelevant for many use cases. They are not sufficiently powerful to do heavy data processing without running into thermal issues, and they are less mobile than tablets equipped with external keyboards. This is what Microsoft has realised about when they created the Surface product line.
Workstations are surprisingly capable for the money. A big NVMe consumer-grade SSD, some RAM and a good GPU can take you really far. 5 years ago I never thought I would be able to run my stuff on a workstation instead of a big server.
Tablets are very interesting, because they fill in the mobility use case much better than laptops. They are way more ergonomic as long as you have an external keyboard. The shame with the iPad Pro is not being able to run a full OS. I'd love to run say Arch Linux ARM.
- mreiland 11y agoIt almost sounds like you're saying laptops may be on the decline, something that many people claimed laptops were going to do to desktops.
- BillinghamJ 11y agoDesktops did go on the decline. Certainly not eradicated, but the laptop is now the default choice, and the correct choice for most people.
- mreiland 11y agodesktops simply stopped being used in situations where laptops were the better choice, but they were never in danger of ever being displaced by anything. Most of those people who have laptops either have desktops at home or have a docking station with a full blown monitor and keyboard at home. There's a reason for that.
- nextos 11y agoWell, I actually meant tablets with keyboard are a better realisation of the laptop concept. More ergonomic.
- bluedino 11y agoLaptops only really became suitable desktop replacements for people a few years back - probably around 2010
- seanalltogether 11y agoKeeping an eye on university campuses will probably help to determine whether laptops will go away or not. Workplaces move slow and tend to stick with whatever is currently working, but each freshman year at uni gives an opportunity to see where trends are going. Laptops have been pretty much a requirement for all incoming freshmen over the past 15 years, if more students are switching exclusively to tablets, that might reflect into the general population as well over time.