4 ms·

When did they stop being interesting?

by zouhair 10y ago

immigrantsheep 10y ago
this! exactly what I wanted to write
freehunter 10y ago
I would actually argue that this is the least interesting that PCs have ever been. The only thing they're doing that's interesting is copying features from more interesting form factors like tablets and cell phones. The PC (laptop/desktop, doesn't matter the OS) is complete. This years fastest processor is exactly the same speed as last year. This years video card plays the same games as last year. What interesting things do we have? A touchscreen? It's interesting because it turns out PC into a tablet. Folds over on itself? Turns the PC into a tablet. 4K is nice but it's not any more interesting than any other resolution. VR is nice but that doesn't make a PC more interesting, it makes VR interesting. You can do VR without a PC. PCs are commodity products with little compelling reason to upgrade anymore. VR is the most interesting thing happening, and most people are doing it on their phone instead of on a PC. They sell the Gear VR at Walmart, for crying out loud.
- literallycancer 10y ago
  High refresh rate screens are quite interesting. Which also means you need better components to run things at reasonable FPS.
- Taek 10y ago
  I disagree. Good VR needs a good video card, and the recent 1080 from Nvidia is a strong improvement to the previous generation. You will notice a difference. Have you tried a Vive? GearVR vs Vive is like 2012 Chromebook vs modern MacBook pro. You need a modern desktop to drive the Vive. And I feel like a lot of people who say VR doesn't excite them haven't tried the Vive, it's much more exciting than any other product on the market. SSDs are getting much faster. 4K monitors are cheaper, and better. If you don't game, modern processors can drive multiple 4K monitors. Running a Bitcoin full node on a desktop is reasonable, running it on a laptop is noticeably detrimental. You need too much juice. Plus the 100GB hurts a lot more on a laptop, where in a desktop you can get 5TB for $100 during sales. Torrenting, Tor nodes, media centers, all things that don't work as well on laptops as they do on desktops. As a software developer I can very confidently say that my desktop is much better for development than my laptop. Both the processor and the SSD make a huge difference.
bostand 10y ago
Jobs (or was it Cook?) said something about the post-PC era and the verge ran with it. Now they are admitting they were wrong in the own way...
- exodust 10y ago
  It was Jobs. The term "post-PC" was never that smart I thought. I remember him in the interview, dead serious look on his face as he pressed the point. The thing is, "PC" doesn't necessarily need to remain stuck in the past, defined as "keyboard in front of big monitor". That said, I'm right now sitting at a keyboard in front of big monitor, a big tower under the desk blowing hot air. I have Planet Coaster running on my second monitor. I now must return to PC (on my PC). Making highly detailed roller coasters and amusement parks is very addictive, and cannot be done on a mobile or non-PC device at this level of detail. Sometimes you just need a PC to get to the good stuff.
- majewsky 10y ago
  > Jobs (or was it Cook?) said something about the post-PC era I think it was Trump. /s
seanmcdirmid 10y ago
The PC market stopped growing a few years ago, post market growth usually means innovation slows down because everyone can see the ceiling of the market. The market still isn't growing that much, but we are seeing interesting innovative computers nonetheless. Perhaps a redefinition of the market to cross over with tablets.
Silhouette 10y ago
Probably somewhere around the late 2000s or early 2010s, I'd say. By that point, you could already buy a PC with enough power to do almost anything that most people needed. They ran Windows 7, which is arguably still the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced. Everyone's major important software ran on Windows PCs first and anything else second. Everyone's hardware came with Windows drivers. There has been some useful progress in hardware since that time, particularly in the areas of storage, networking/communications, graphics/displays and lower energy consumption. However, in terms of the fundamental capabilities and "shape" of a PC, things haven't really changed much since that time. More importantly, there has been relatively little real innovation in mainstream PC software for years, it's just that often now you only rent it, it keeps changing itself around, and it tries to spy on you all the time. The interesting innovations in software are almost entirely in either the mobile space or online services today.

When did they stop being interesting?

by zouhair 10y ago

When did they stop being interesting?

immigrantsheep 10y ago

this! exactly what I wanted to write

freehunter 10y ago

I would actually argue that this is the least interesting that PCs have ever been. The only thing they're doing that's interesting is copying features from more interesting form factors like tablets and cell phones. The PC (laptop/desktop, doesn't matter the OS) is complete. This years fastest processor is exactly the same speed as last year. This years video card plays the same games as last year. What interesting things do we have? A touchscreen? It's interesting because it turns out PC into a tablet. Folds over on itself? Turns the PC into a tablet. 4K is nice but it's not any more interesting than any other resolution. VR is nice but that doesn't make a PC more interesting, it makes VR interesting. You can do VR without a PC. PCs are commodity products with little compelling reason to upgrade anymore. VR is the most interesting thing happening, and most people are doing it on their phone instead of on a PC. They sell the Gear VR at Walmart, for crying out loud.

literallycancer 10y ago
High refresh rate screens are quite interesting. Which also means you need better components to run things at reasonable FPS.
Taek 10y ago
I disagree. Good VR needs a good video card, and the recent 1080 from Nvidia is a strong improvement to the previous generation. You will notice a difference. Have you tried a Vive? GearVR vs Vive is like 2012 Chromebook vs modern MacBook pro. You need a modern desktop to drive the Vive. And I feel like a lot of people who say VR doesn't excite them haven't tried the Vive, it's much more exciting than any other product on the market. SSDs are getting much faster. 4K monitors are cheaper, and better. If you don't game, modern processors can drive multiple 4K monitors. Running a Bitcoin full node on a desktop is reasonable, running it on a laptop is noticeably detrimental. You need too much juice. Plus the 100GB hurts a lot more on a laptop, where in a desktop you can get 5TB for $100 during sales. Torrenting, Tor nodes, media centers, all things that don't work as well on laptops as they do on desktops. As a software developer I can very confidently say that my desktop is much better for development than my laptop. Both the processor and the SSD make a huge difference.

bostand 10y ago

Jobs (or was it Cook?) said something about the post-PC era and the verge ran with it. Now they are admitting they were wrong in the own way...

exodust 10y ago
It was Jobs. The term "post-PC" was never that smart I thought. I remember him in the interview, dead serious look on his face as he pressed the point. The thing is, "PC" doesn't necessarily need to remain stuck in the past, defined as "keyboard in front of big monitor". That said, I'm right now sitting at a keyboard in front of big monitor, a big tower under the desk blowing hot air. I have Planet Coaster running on my second monitor. I now must return to PC (on my PC). Making highly detailed roller coasters and amusement parks is very addictive, and cannot be done on a mobile or non-PC device at this level of detail. Sometimes you just need a PC to get to the good stuff.
majewsky 10y ago
> Jobs (or was it Cook?) said something about the post-PC era I think it was Trump. /s

seanmcdirmid 10y ago

The PC market stopped growing a few years ago, post market growth usually means innovation slows down because everyone can see the ceiling of the market. The market still isn't growing that much, but we are seeing interesting innovative computers nonetheless. Perhaps a redefinition of the market to cross over with tablets.

Silhouette 10y ago

Probably somewhere around the late 2000s or early 2010s, I'd say. By that point, you could already buy a PC with enough power to do almost anything that most people needed. They ran Windows 7, which is arguably still the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced. Everyone's major important software ran on Windows PCs first and anything else second. Everyone's hardware came with Windows drivers. There has been some useful progress in hardware since that time, particularly in the areas of storage, networking/communications, graphics/displays and lower energy consumption. However, in terms of the fundamental capabilities and "shape" of a PC, things haven't really changed much since that time. More importantly, there has been relatively little real innovation in mainstream PC software for years, it's just that often now you only rent it, it keeps changing itself around, and it tries to spy on you all the time. The interesting innovations in software are almost entirely in either the mobile space or online services today.