Reaching for Nerdvana
Posted By Russ Emerson on March 3, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Last week, my brother sent me a link to an article discussing the future of computing — specifically, what the growth of alternative platforms might mean for the desktop PC market.
As the author of the article notes, “PCs are quickly becoming unnecessary for most of what people want to do.” In large part, I agree. But I an rather more sanguine about the future of the desktop.
I, for one, don’t ever want to give up my 24″ monitor. A full-size keyboard is a must for most of what I do. Even on the laptop my employer has issued to me, I have an attached mouse, as well as a full-size monitor and keyboard.
Now, I’d been contemplating getting myself a tablet-type computing device; the iPad was a contender, but since I am not and never have been an Apple fanboy*, I was open to an Android device, as well.
Rather than spending an arm and a leg — neither of which I can spare — on a high-end device like the new Motorola Xoom, I opted to take the expediently cheap way out. This was mostly to ensure that I didn’t spend too much on something that I might end up not liking altogether too much, but also because I don’t get out too much, so what I can make most use of is something I can tote downstairs to the kitchen or to my bedroom; I can use WiFi, but I have virtually no use at all for 3G, and no use whatsoever for the expense of a data plan that won’t be used.
I opted, then, for the Superpad 10.2″ Tablet PC, loaded with Android 2.1, and which includes a webcam, GPS, HDMI video out, dual USB ports, and 2 micro SD card slots.
I’ve been mucking about with it pretty much non-stop since it arrived, and I do have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. Sure, it’s a cheap chinese piece of crap, but it’s a surprisingly good cheap chinese piece of crap. The Android interface is fairly intuitive, and the performance isn’t bad. Mere minutes after powering up, I had my preferences set — time zone, wireless networking and whatnot — and within a few more minutes I’d visited the Android Market, had the Facebook, Twitter and Amazon Kindle applications installed, and had bought my first e-book (Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card… I don’t know what ever happened to my hard copy.) It was simplicity itself.
Being a 10″ model, it’s more than a bit too large to stick into a pocket, though it would fit well into, say, an Army map case… which I happen to have one of from my soldiering days. If I were going to be using it on the move, I might have considered the more usual 7″ tablet, but for my purposes I think this will work well.
So where do I think this trend will leave the desktop PC market? Despite the growth of mobile computing, I think there will always be market share for large format machines, but I expect that the home PC will, more and more, become a base station of sorts. Hosting files and media. Being a place to sync all the mobile devices.
But I seriously doubt the home PC has too many years remaining as the physically imposing colossus it has been thus far. Even while monitors are getting larger, for example, the PC itself continues to get smaller and less expensive.
It used to be a truism that the PC you want will cost $5000. That hasn’t been true for a long time now, and it’s getting harder and harder to spend anything approaching a bundle on a PC.
Which, given the economy these days, is not a bad thing.
* I owned an Apple IIc, back in the mid-80s. Meh.
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