What is Post-PC? I'm thinking mobile OS vs. desktop OS
Summary: What does Post-PC really mean, and why does the term get under folks' skin?
My test to leave the laptop/desktop behind for an extended period is going well so far. I haven't missed having a real laptop or a desktop for work even a little bit. Many following this experiment are missing the point of the attempt by getting caught up in the terminology. Perhaps I was mistaken in terming this a "Post-PC experiment" which has lots of folks ignoring what I am trying to do and instead concentrating on what the definition is for "PC", and in some cases even for a "laptop".
See related:
Walking the walk -- the Great Post-PC Experiment
The Great Post-PC Experiment -- Day 1 Notes
Using the term Post-PC has a simple connotation for me, and that's the premise behind my test. A more accurate explanation for what I consider a Post-PC scenario concerns the OS, not the hardware. I believe a Post-PC device is one which uses a mobile OS, not a full OS written for a desktop. In simple terms a Post-PC device is any running Android, iOS, or any other purely mobile OS. Anything running Windows or Mac OS X is of the old-school PC variety.
The point I am trying to address with my test is whether a mobile device of any ilk, running a mobile OS, can be used for extended periods without compromise. That's all I am trying to do, and the whole purpose of my test. I am not trying to declare the death of the PC, either laptop or desktop, or that the tablet is the next major hardware format. It's not, and the desktop OS isn't going anywhere either for a while.
No, I'm testing whether the mobile OS has evolved to the point that makes it possible for me, not anyone else, to leave the device running a full desktop OS behind for business trips, and just bring the mobile OS along. That's the sole purpose of my test, and it's a valid one for me. The less I have to bring on trips the better I like it, but only if it doesn't compromise the professional job that I do.
This simple definition of Post-PC is going to get stretched to the limits by Windows on Arm (WOA), as that's a purely mobile OS based on a full desktop OS. I guess we'll have to address that once it gets released and we see how it works in the field.
I suspect some folks get perturbed at the use of the term "Post-PC" since it was coined by the late Steve Jobs. That's not fair as I feel it is a genuine term for what I describe -- the evolution of the mobile OS to the point that devices previously considered incapable of being someone's primary computer can now do so. That's not a reach, it's already working fine for me so far.
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Talkback
What is 'Post-PC'?: A Fig Newton of Your Imagination
The PC is not dead. Repeating something doesn't make it true.
This amounts to more marketing spin than anything else.
Sorry James for picking on you--you are not the only one who 'regurgitates' this story line.
Post Personal Computer?
A PC is a personal computer and all these devices are PCs, just a little smaller and not as useful as their big brothers. IF your requirements are small, then they are extremely useful, but they are still PCs.
Is it my imagination or is ZDNet getting less and less tech and more and more opinion and word games?
ZDnet has only a couple of real tech writers any more
Who's the gamiest of all?
In particular, he defines what he means -- for purposes of his article -- by Post PC, and also mentions that there will be those who want to get all hung up on what the term means. Which is exactly what you did.
He also explicitly stated that he is not trying to declare the death of the PC (that's an exact quote) and yet Our Linux Advocate insists that the author is "repeating drivel" about the PC being dead.
Yes, there are word games on ZDNet. To catch the perp, look in the mirror.
Fig Newton?
I personally love the idea of Ubuntu extending my phone-OS onto a docking station. Much like the Atrix idea. I look forward to having only one mobile gadget, which I can dock where room (and maybe universal docking stations) exists.
How about we end this sillyness James?
What I fail to understand is WHY you are so stubborn insisting on using a mobile OS with handicapped hardware when clearly better alternatives can be found. What ever happened to learning to use the RIGHT tool for the job?
Sure, you can make a big deal and shout out to the world your 100% Post-PC status. Except you end up looking like a fool for spending hundreds more on solutions that require you to jump through all kinds of hoops to get even simple things done. At the end of the day, you've done nothing except just make a big deal.
A successful mobile worker can adapt to whatever his/her surroundings are, be productive in an instant, and work without compromise when it comes to mobility and connectivity. That "go anywhere, do anything" ability is perfectly met with just a $400 netbook. If it can work for me and my demanding requirements, please explain why it doesn't do it for you?
Exactly
Some things needs to be repeated
'I have proven that 85 - 90 percent of my work can easily be done with the iPad so the real test is in doing the remaining (10 - 15%) tasks I will have to do.' - JK
'I used the iPad 2 in tablet mode most of the time, only using the keyboard for extended writing sessions. This led to me working far more comfortably than I normally do working at a desk all day. The work with the tablet can be done literally anywhere, and even using the keyboard it???s easier to keep an ergonomic setup.' - JK
"Post-PC" silliness
The reason we don't give it a rest? Simple: marketing. That's really it. We've figured out a cool new gadget so we have to come up with reasons why it now renders our other gadgets obsolete so everybody will buy one!
When I take my laptop with me (I'm a developer) it has everything I need. I open the thing and get to work with it. I don't have to decide if I feel like using it like a tablet or a PC nor do I have to keep track of where the keyboard and/or the mouse is - I just use 'em all the time and it always works. No limitations, no fiddling around. I doubt I'll ever be "Post PC".
Hogwash.
Haven't you heard?
So, which is it, post-PC or PC?
Both smartphones and tablets are quite powerful today and they will get more powerful as time rolls on.
I don't get the whole idea of "Post PC"
Pagan jim
PC Stands for IBM PC
I look forward to the day when my personal computing device (whatever arch that be) is my phone, my PDA, my media player, and my "desktop PC." This is something I've wanted for almost a decade. If it can happen with wireless USB and without a dock, all the better.
Like you, I doubt the traditional desktop (probably mostly workstations) will die, but the market is sure to be a much smaller percentage.
PC Stands for ...
My wife is the perfect example of this. She almost never uses her laptop anymore because her iPhone does 99% of what she needs a computing device to do. She keeps up with her friends, manages her calendar and plays a game or two. That's about it. She used the laptop before this because it was what was available.
The presence of the mobile devices don't portend the "death" of the PC in any sense except that people who wouldn't have chosen a PC to start with now have an option to use something else. That's all it is. There's just more options. If the PC were to "go away" it would only be because no one needed the capability any longer. I use both PC and iPhone. I *know* (for myself at least) that neither will "go away". I simply have more options. Now when I'm just "out and about" I have a communication/computing device on my belt that I couldn't have before. I now don't have to take the laptop quite as many places - unless I need to really work. That doesn't invalidate the laptop it just changes when and where I need to use it.
But ... we all gotta have something to talk (and argue) about so I guess this is as good as anything. At least it's not a Linux vs. Windows discussion this time, which is equally irrelevant!
-Max
It is not the term Post-PC
I think that people take exception to the indication that we are in a "Post-PC" [b]era[/b] based on wrong conclusions by misreeding the facts.
Becuase smartphone sales are up, and Pc sales are down a bit isn't because they are being replaced, a big factor is tha today's OEM PC are much more upgradedable.
In the past the Dell, HP, Acer machines had memory limits and the like, today you can upgrade them to 8 Gigs of RAM and such: a system designed to run Vista can easily run Windows 7, so it's easier and cheaper to get a little more RAM and an upgrade.
Even the drivers are availiable anymore on these website.
So the fact that I bought my wife the iPhone, and upgraded her PC to Win 7 doesn't mean the PC was replaced, it just means her usage of a PC is not included into any recent OEM sales figures.
And just because she suppliments her use of the PC with a smartphone doesn't mean she prefers, or can can use the smartphone as her primary system of choice.
But that won't stop people from saying that "the PC is dead because these families bought smartphones last year, not PC's, so they apparently do not have a need for a PC".
I dislike it
I dislike You
Why would you use a term ...
... that is both inaccurate and inflammatory, for any other reason than to drive traffic to your article? The term Post-PC, and the way it is generally used, presumes the imminent death of the personal computer. And what is supposed to be killing of personal computers? Smartphones and tablets - which are even more personal, personal computers? This makes no sense. It is obvious to anyone with half a brain, that the PC world is not being killed off, but is rather being expanded, with ever more personal computing devices. All James Kendrick is raving about, is how he is able to do increasing amounts of work, on a new PC form factor. All of this will become crystal clear, when Windows 8 is released on slates and hybrid slate / laptop devices.
If James Kendrick and other Zdnet writers want to do semantic gymnastics to justify their use of the highly charged term Post-PC, let them. It is obvious to any reasonable person that the term is flawed, and is simply being used to generate clicks.
Post != Death
There is nothing any more inflammatory about calling these days Post-PC then calling the 1920s The Jazz Age when the majority of the population did not embrace jazz and a majority of the music performed and recorded was something other than jazz.
One more point from a junior high history book comes to mind. The authors pointed out that people did not wake up in 462 AD and say to each other, "Hey, the Roman Empire which collapsed here in the west a couple hundred years back has now just ended in the east as well."
One takes a look at Apple selling more mobile devices last year than they've sold computers in aggregate, and how does one react? Does one say that Apple is an outlier and this means nothing. You could, but, Apple's rivals seem to think that, well, shall we say "Something's going on." or perhaps "We want our business to be that business."
Or, let's look at it this way. In 1960 the small business employee used an adding machine or mechanical cash register. Large companies had mainframes. In 1990, the small business used a hybrid computing cash register and the large companies had networked pcs on many desks. Nowadays, we get information via e-mail (or apps) from our employers, make our contribution to the discussion via our phones in the form of return e-mail or completing a data form and submitting. The employee collaborates in the company's functioning without having to be at their desk.
Maybe Post-Desk is a better term.
But please, let's not got irritated that Post-PC is imprecise. 7 character terms are inherently so. Maybe the term will be ridiculed in the future the way "Information Super-highway" is now. And let's not think that the people who use the term are saying, that today or next week, it's 462 A.D. for the personal computer. That is not what they are saying.
This morning I was doing administration with a RDBMS. So much easier with a laptop. Later today I may write some code so updates can be done without needing raw SQL. This will be done on a laptop. I'm on the road, so I connect to my desktop pc, and that is a necessity for me as well.
But, last night I read Alice in Wonderland and reviewed reference materials on the scala programming language on my iPad. In five years, am I - are we - going to be doing more or less on mobile devices? The PC remains an essential tool. It has hit its peak as the essential tool. That's what Post-PC means.
Yes, but
Likewise we don't call the advent of digital photography the "post-camera" age, or the period after the fall of the roman empire "post-government".
Post-desk isn't too bad. I might throw post-complexity or "computing for the masses" in there too.
"Post-pc" is really a rubbish phrase because it implies more than it should. Other than the silly name though, James is still demonstrating a valid point.
So then you'd agree that Apple is by far the largest PC maker...