7 ms·

From the article: "Goodenough invented the heart of the battery that is all but certainly powering the device on which you are reading this." ^ rumors of the d

by nocman 10y ago

From the article: "Goodenough invented the heart of the battery that is all but certainly powering the device on which you are reading this." ^ rumors of the demise of the desktop are greatly exaggerated. Yeah, I get it, a lot of people read internet articles on a tablet or phone, but using the phrase "all but certainly" is way beyond the scope of reality. A brief google search suggests mobile usage is probably between the 50% and 60% of internet traffic. Yeah I think mobile will continue to grow, but I don't think the desktop will disappear in the near future, if it ever does completely. Of course, the blurring of the lines between the two could cause making the distinction to become more challenging.

savanaly 10y ago
A charitable interpretation of the "all but certainly" line is that they meant to imply given that you are reading this on a mobile device, that device is all but certainly powered by the device invented by Goodenough. In fact, that's how I read it. After all, rising above the level of semantics, what is the topic of the sentence? That the things he invented have widespread use. Percent of people reading a given article on mobile vs desktop is not close to the topic of the sentence so that's probably not what they intended their words to be a commentary on.
hbosch 10y ago
> brief google search suggests mobile usage is probably between the 50% and 60% of internet traffic. Devil's advocate: author could have been making his assumption based on Quartz (qz.com) readership profile, which I would assume probably consists of a high number of mobile and laptop (also Li batteries) users – probably more than desktop (assuming we are not counting laptops as desktop).
elif 10y ago
besides the obvious of laptops being a large part of the 40-50% "desktop" figure you use, the CMOS battery in your desktop tower is lithium.
- infecto 10y ago
  hahahaha was about to point out the same exact thing.
- YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 10y ago
  CMOS battery does not power a running computer, though.
  - elif 10y ago
    Correct. if you never shut down or restart your computer, it is never powered by lithium batteries, however that niche is consistent with the authors use of "all but certain"
- Dylan16807 10y ago
  Lithium is not lithium ion.
malcolmgreaves 10y ago
This is an incredibly off-topic rant.
rishabhparikh 10y ago
This is my problem with many HN comments. Picking some irrelevant point to nit-pick.
- Bjartr 10y ago
  This is what I love about many HN comments. Picking some point of interest they care about and starting a discussion about it.
BrailleHunting 10y ago
"Desktop" ambiguously conflates desktops and laptops. Mobile web views have definitely surpassed desktop/laptop views. Desktop/laptop web eyeballs marketshare is in free-fall (concave-down trend). Actual desktop sales are continuing to crater, which is why IBM got out of the biz long ago. Laptop sales nearly floundering. https://qz.com/825014/mobile-website-views-surpassed-desktop-views-for-the-first-time-ever-in-october-2016/ https://qz.com/825014/mobile-website-views-surpassed-desktop...
- walshemj 10y ago
  but all traffic is not equal you might do research or look at a news ap on mobile but serious revenue comes from desktop
  - BrailleHunting 10y ago
    You missed the boat. Mobile revenue edge out desktop revenue in 2016, and it's concave down... which means dying. Desktops continue to die back to a new equilibrium because they're less portable and less practical than a device that can go almost anywhere but a Dave Chappelle show. They won't go away completely but their importance is greatly and permanently diminished to the point of irrelevance for most average people, hence again why PC makers are struggling. Everyone these days has a smartphone but not everyone has or needs a desktop. That's a fact of life as technologies change. Old PC homebrewers and $10k rig gamers will continue to tout their resistance to getting a cell phone and the superiority of their own, particular religion.
ReverseCold 10y ago
I didn't even see anything wrong with that sentence until you pointed that out. My desktop exists for computing power, and I just manage it's tasks from my laptop (which I read the article on).
ruleabidinguser 10y ago
i mean i prefer the desktop so i sure hope it doesnt
seanalltogether 10y ago
According to Gartner and Fortune, of the 2.3 billion devices sold worldwide in 2016, roughly 100 million were desktop devices, the rest were portable in some fashion (laptop, tablet, phone) That's a 96% certainty. http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3560517 http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3560517 http://fortune.com/2016/06/09/pc-sales-are-worse-than-you-think/ http://fortune.com/2016/06/09/pc-sales-are-worse-than-you-th...
- daurnimator 10y ago
  I would expect that desktop PCs have a longer lifetime than portable devices. ==> most people I know have a desktop 2-7 years old, but have a phone from the last year.
  - ralfd 10y ago
    But do your friends trash their phone when it gets 2 years old phone or do they sell it on EBay or hand it down to family members?
    - daurnimator 10y ago
      Most people I know (including myself) seem to break their screen in under 2 years, and have to buy a new one. Meanwhile, PCs are often shared by family members

by nocman 10y ago

savanaly 10y ago

A charitable interpretation of the "all but certainly" line is that they meant to imply given that you are reading this on a mobile device, that device is all but certainly powered by the device invented by Goodenough. In fact, that's how I read it. After all, rising above the level of semantics, what is the topic of the sentence? That the things he invented have widespread use. Percent of people reading a given article on mobile vs desktop is not close to the topic of the sentence so that's probably not what they intended their words to be a commentary on.

hbosch 10y ago

> brief google search suggests mobile usage is probably between the 50% and 60% of internet traffic. Devil's advocate: author could have been making his assumption based on Quartz (qz.com) readership profile, which I would assume probably consists of a high number of mobile and laptop (also Li batteries) users – probably more than desktop (assuming we are not counting laptops as desktop).

elif 10y ago

besides the obvious of laptops being a large part of the 40-50% "desktop" figure you use, the CMOS battery in your desktop tower is lithium.

infecto 10y ago
hahahaha was about to point out the same exact thing.
YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 10y ago
CMOS battery does not power a running computer, though.
- elif 10y ago
  Correct. if you never shut down or restart your computer, it is never powered by lithium batteries, however that niche is consistent with the authors use of "all but certain"
Dylan16807 10y ago
Lithium is not lithium ion.

malcolmgreaves 10y ago

This is an incredibly off-topic rant.

rishabhparikh 10y ago

This is my problem with many HN comments. Picking some irrelevant point to nit-pick.

Bjartr 10y ago
This is what I love about many HN comments. Picking some point of interest they care about and starting a discussion about it.

BrailleHunting 10y ago

"Desktop" ambiguously conflates desktops and laptops. Mobile web views have definitely surpassed desktop/laptop views. Desktop/laptop web eyeballs marketshare is in free-fall (concave-down trend). Actual desktop sales are continuing to crater, which is why IBM got out of the biz long ago. Laptop sales nearly floundering. https://qz.com/825014/mobile-website-views-surpassed-desktop-views-for-the-first-time-ever-in-october-2016/ https://qz.com/825014/mobile-website-views-surpassed-desktop...

walshemj 10y ago
but all traffic is not equal you might do research or look at a news ap on mobile but serious revenue comes from desktop
- BrailleHunting 10y ago
  You missed the boat. Mobile revenue edge out desktop revenue in 2016, and it's concave down... which means dying. Desktops continue to die back to a new equilibrium because they're less portable and less practical than a device that can go almost anywhere but a Dave Chappelle show. They won't go away completely but their importance is greatly and permanently diminished to the point of irrelevance for most average people, hence again why PC makers are struggling. Everyone these days has a smartphone but not everyone has or needs a desktop. That's a fact of life as technologies change. Old PC homebrewers and $10k rig gamers will continue to tout their resistance to getting a cell phone and the superiority of their own, particular religion.

ReverseCold 10y ago

I didn't even see anything wrong with that sentence until you pointed that out. My desktop exists for computing power, and I just manage it's tasks from my laptop (which I read the article on).

ruleabidinguser 10y ago

i mean i prefer the desktop so i sure hope it doesnt

seanalltogether 10y ago

According to Gartner and Fortune, of the 2.3 billion devices sold worldwide in 2016, roughly 100 million were desktop devices, the rest were portable in some fashion (laptop, tablet, phone) That's a 96% certainty. http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3560517 http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3560517 http://fortune.com/2016/06/09/pc-sales-are-worse-than-you-think/ http://fortune.com/2016/06/09/pc-sales-are-worse-than-you-th...

daurnimator 10y ago
I would expect that desktop PCs have a longer lifetime than portable devices. ==> most people I know have a desktop 2-7 years old, but have a phone from the last year.
- ralfd 10y ago
  But do your friends trash their phone when it gets 2 years old phone or do they sell it on EBay or hand it down to family members?
  - daurnimator 10y ago
    Most people I know (including myself) seem to break their screen in under 2 years, and have to buy a new one. Meanwhile, PCs are often shared by family members