4 ms·

I expected PCs to be in every home pretty much forever. Now a lot of non-tech people prefer phones and tablets.

by geowwy 9y ago

flatline 9y ago
I’m a tech person and hardly ever use my home computer any more. And nowadays I only have the one.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
Muuuchem 9y ago
Curious, aren't phones and tablets essentially just smaller personal computers?
- PostOnce 9y ago
  As kobeya points out https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719171 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719171 they are not the same thing they do less; the software is restricted, especially on iOS, there are _rules_ set out by the manufacturer about what is acceptable in software on the platform, both thematically and functionally. An app generally can't interfere with other apps, it can't be a dope wars style game about drugs; there are a lot more caveats, but I am far from aware of them all. For a long time you couldn't get a compiler or interpreter on iOS, so you couldn't use your "computer" to make more software... so it wasn't general-purpose at all, since you by definition couldn't change its purpose without the ability to make new software.
  - ajdlinux 9y ago
    The bigger difference, to me, isn't so much that the walled-garden ecosystems restrict a phone/tablet's use as a general-purpose computer, than the form factors and interfaces of the device being appropriate for different forms of content creation, manipulation and consumption. Phones and tablets are great for consuming certain types of content, and having a portable camera with networking has enabled a lot of content creation. But a phone isn't a great device for doing something like long-form writing.
    - hackits 9y ago
      I don't know about you, but for most reviews and new articles it easier for me to put it on in the back-ground than having to deal with advertisement and pop-up windows on web-pages when reading text.
  - thaumasiotes 9y ago
    > especially on iOS, there are _rules_ set out by the manufacturer about what is acceptable in software on the platform, both thematically and functionally. But iOS is not a phone. Windows could set rules about what was acceptable on the platform, but that wouldn't change what a personal computer was. There are no rules about what's acceptable on an iPhone.
    - PostOnce 9y ago
      it's either impossible or near impossible for normal people to change the operating system on an iPhone so iOS essentially is the phone, since there are no iPhones without it. It's not like you can just pop in an SD card with Linux on it...
  - swyx 9y ago
    ok i expected HN to have the pmarca thesis in mind - aren't phone browsers still open software? am i being too idealistic?
vortico 9y ago
To avoid redundancy, here's why I don't think phones and tablets will take over the concept of a personal computer in the future. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719836 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719836 I believe the situation is even better. Desktops and laptops, no longer needing to support the layman on their phones and tablets, will actually become more oriented toward the needs of power users, although their total userbase may decrease. In a decade, Macs will no longer be heading toward being "Facebook machines" because you can do that on your phone, so Apple will focus more on the target userbase of creative digital artists. Windows machines will always need to support word processors and CAD programs but in ways that are cleaner to install and manage. Linux will keep growing to keep up with the number of programmers in the world, so more professional and amatuer solutions will be made available. There are too many cheap, low quality PC hardware solutions in the market now. Their users will switch to phones and tablets. Higher class hardware will remain the same as the power users will keep buying these.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Yeah, but I'm not sure if I would have become a programmer if "real" computers only targeted the professional market, while you had much cheaper appliances that solved the needs of my parent. Will a single mother be able to afford the difference just so her child can geek out? Turning computing into a privilege of the upper middle class doesn't appeal to me.
  - vortico 9y ago
    The "learning programming was much easier back in the day" rhetoric is exaggerated. Programming on any device is much easier than it was 10 years ago in VBScript, which was easier than 10 years before. Downloading some $1 app to write code on an iPad is way easier to dive into than learning BASIC on an IBM PC. There are even apps that actually specifically help kids learn instead of dumping a 200 page manual on you. Also, phones and tablets will remain to be as expensive or more than the future "working man" desktop computer, so this isn't a matter of one wealth class vs. another.
jenscow 9y ago
This should be a good thing. Hopefully now that the non-tech people are moving away from traditional PC/laptop, this trend of dumbing down for the "average user" (read: lowest common denominator) can be stopped.
- abricot 9y ago
  the "dumbing down" is what made it successful - and attainable - in the first place.
  - jenscow 9y ago
    Exactly. It can stop now.

I expected PCs to be in every home pretty much forever. Now a lot of non-tech people prefer phones and tablets.

by geowwy 9y ago

I expected PCs to be in every home pretty much forever. Now a lot of non-tech people prefer phones and tablets.

flatline 9y ago

I’m a tech person and hardly ever use my home computer any more. And nowadays I only have the one.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

Muuuchem 9y ago

Curious, aren't phones and tablets essentially just smaller personal computers?

PostOnce 9y ago
As kobeya points out https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719171 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719171 they are not the same thing they do less; the software is restricted, especially on iOS, there are _rules_ set out by the manufacturer about what is acceptable in software on the platform, both thematically and functionally. An app generally can't interfere with other apps, it can't be a dope wars style game about drugs; there are a lot more caveats, but I am far from aware of them all. For a long time you couldn't get a compiler or interpreter on iOS, so you couldn't use your "computer" to make more software... so it wasn't general-purpose at all, since you by definition couldn't change its purpose without the ability to make new software.
- ajdlinux 9y ago
  The bigger difference, to me, isn't so much that the walled-garden ecosystems restrict a phone/tablet's use as a general-purpose computer, than the form factors and interfaces of the device being appropriate for different forms of content creation, manipulation and consumption. Phones and tablets are great for consuming certain types of content, and having a portable camera with networking has enabled a lot of content creation. But a phone isn't a great device for doing something like long-form writing.
  - hackits 9y ago
    I don't know about you, but for most reviews and new articles it easier for me to put it on in the back-ground than having to deal with advertisement and pop-up windows on web-pages when reading text.
- thaumasiotes 9y ago
  > especially on iOS, there are _rules_ set out by the manufacturer about what is acceptable in software on the platform, both thematically and functionally. But iOS is not a phone. Windows could set rules about what was acceptable on the platform, but that wouldn't change what a personal computer was. There are no rules about what's acceptable on an iPhone.
  - PostOnce 9y ago
    it's either impossible or near impossible for normal people to change the operating system on an iPhone so iOS essentially is the phone, since there are no iPhones without it. It's not like you can just pop in an SD card with Linux on it...
- swyx 9y ago
  ok i expected HN to have the pmarca thesis in mind - aren't phone browsers still open software? am i being too idealistic?

vortico 9y ago

To avoid redundancy, here's why I don't think phones and tablets will take over the concept of a personal computer in the future. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719836 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15719836 I believe the situation is even better. Desktops and laptops, no longer needing to support the layman on their phones and tablets, will actually become more oriented toward the needs of power users, although their total userbase may decrease. In a decade, Macs will no longer be heading toward being "Facebook machines" because you can do that on your phone, so Apple will focus more on the target userbase of creative digital artists. Windows machines will always need to support word processors and CAD programs but in ways that are cleaner to install and manage. Linux will keep growing to keep up with the number of programmers in the world, so more professional and amatuer solutions will be made available. There are too many cheap, low quality PC hardware solutions in the market now. Their users will switch to phones and tablets. Higher class hardware will remain the same as the power users will keep buying these.

icebraining 9y ago
Yeah, but I'm not sure if I would have become a programmer if "real" computers only targeted the professional market, while you had much cheaper appliances that solved the needs of my parent. Will a single mother be able to afford the difference just so her child can geek out? Turning computing into a privilege of the upper middle class doesn't appeal to me.
- vortico 9y ago
  The "learning programming was much easier back in the day" rhetoric is exaggerated. Programming on any device is much easier than it was 10 years ago in VBScript, which was easier than 10 years before. Downloading some $1 app to write code on an iPad is way easier to dive into than learning BASIC on an IBM PC. There are even apps that actually specifically help kids learn instead of dumping a 200 page manual on you. Also, phones and tablets will remain to be as expensive or more than the future "working man" desktop computer, so this isn't a matter of one wealth class vs. another.

jenscow 9y ago

This should be a good thing. Hopefully now that the non-tech people are moving away from traditional PC/laptop, this trend of dumbing down for the "average user" (read: lowest common denominator) can be stopped.

abricot 9y ago
the "dumbing down" is what made it successful - and attainable - in the first place.
- jenscow 9y ago
  Exactly. It can stop now.