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>"The Internet made the operating system of the computer used to access it irrelevant" Hyperbolic statements like this one make me stop reading. There's still

>"The Internet made the operating system of the computer used to access it irrelevant" Hyperbolic statements like this one make me stop reading. There's still PLENTY of important Desktop computing.

joehart42 10y ago
For professionals and hobbyists yes. For most people, not at all.
- roadnottaken 10y ago
  Aren't most (many?) adults professionals? Most college-educated people I know spend most of their working hours in front of a computer not a smartphone.
  - freehunter 10y ago
    I'm a professional, working a technical role for one of the largest tech companies in the world. I'm using a MacBook, but I've done a (proof of concept) week of work entirely from an iPhone SE. Some of my coworkers use Red Hat, some use Windows. I know one guy working on an iPad Pro, although he's a little less technical than the rest of us so most of his day is spent in PowerPoint. But my job mainly consists of interacting with remote machines through a web browser or SSH. Thanks to the Internet, I don't need to worry about what physical form factor my machine is. If all you need is Word, Excel, a web browser, and email, you're basically set no matter where you go. Desktops are less relevant today than ever before. For many people, the desktop OS is just a VM host and their browser is the real "OS".
    - roadnottaken 10y ago
      I largely agree with you, but there are still a lot of common office functions (e.g. printing) that aren't well-served by browser-based computing. Added to which, many businesses still use custom or industry-specific desktop software that hasn't migrated to the browser yet. Personally, I'm with you -- I don't care about OS and do most of my work through browser/terminal. But there is still some critical scientific software that keeps me on Windows/OSX and I wouldn't dream of doing graphic design in a browser. I also agree that "Desktops are less relevant today than ever before" but they're far from irrelevant... Maybe in a decade or two.
robterrell 10y ago
I don't think he's saying desktop computing is irrelevant. I think he's saying which OS you use to access the internet is irrelevant. I read your comment on a mobile device, and switched to my laptop to write this comment. Two different operating systems, same internet.
- roadnottaken 10y ago
  Yeah, I'm not saying smartphones aren't good or significant. Just that they haven't replaced desktop-computing -- just added to it. The article says things like "Android and iOS have replaced Windows in importance" But Windows still seems plenty-important, to me. I don't see how one replaced the other, it's just that mobile is under more dynamic development right now because it's new.
  - TarpitCarnivore 10y ago
    The article is not saying desktop computing is irrelevant, they're saying the choice of operating system is.
  - Eridrus 10y ago
    I think web apps made desktop OSs much less important for most people; I don't think switching to osx would have really been viable for most people if it wasn't for web browsers/standards.

>"The Internet made the operating system of the computer used to access it irrelevant" Hyperbolic statements like this one make me stop reading. There's still PLENTY of important Desktop computing.

joehart42 10y ago

For professionals and hobbyists yes. For most people, not at all.

roadnottaken 10y ago
Aren't most (many?) adults professionals? Most college-educated people I know spend most of their working hours in front of a computer not a smartphone.
- freehunter 10y ago
  I'm a professional, working a technical role for one of the largest tech companies in the world. I'm using a MacBook, but I've done a (proof of concept) week of work entirely from an iPhone SE. Some of my coworkers use Red Hat, some use Windows. I know one guy working on an iPad Pro, although he's a little less technical than the rest of us so most of his day is spent in PowerPoint. But my job mainly consists of interacting with remote machines through a web browser or SSH. Thanks to the Internet, I don't need to worry about what physical form factor my machine is. If all you need is Word, Excel, a web browser, and email, you're basically set no matter where you go. Desktops are less relevant today than ever before. For many people, the desktop OS is just a VM host and their browser is the real "OS".
  - roadnottaken 10y ago
    I largely agree with you, but there are still a lot of common office functions (e.g. printing) that aren't well-served by browser-based computing. Added to which, many businesses still use custom or industry-specific desktop software that hasn't migrated to the browser yet. Personally, I'm with you -- I don't care about OS and do most of my work through browser/terminal. But there is still some critical scientific software that keeps me on Windows/OSX and I wouldn't dream of doing graphic design in a browser. I also agree that "Desktops are less relevant today than ever before" but they're far from irrelevant... Maybe in a decade or two.

robterrell 10y ago

I don't think he's saying desktop computing is irrelevant. I think he's saying which OS you use to access the internet is irrelevant. I read your comment on a mobile device, and switched to my laptop to write this comment. Two different operating systems, same internet.

roadnottaken 10y ago
Yeah, I'm not saying smartphones aren't good or significant. Just that they haven't replaced desktop-computing -- just added to it. The article says things like "Android and iOS have replaced Windows in importance" But Windows still seems plenty-important, to me. I don't see how one replaced the other, it's just that mobile is under more dynamic development right now because it's new.
- TarpitCarnivore 10y ago
  The article is not saying desktop computing is irrelevant, they're saying the choice of operating system is.
- Eridrus 10y ago
  I think web apps made desktop OSs much less important for most people; I don't think switching to osx would have really been viable for most people if it wasn't for web browsers/standards.