Archive 2012 · The PC is dying, but very, very slowly

runamuck
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p.3 #1 · p.3 #1 · The PC is dying, but very, very slowly

pocketfulladou wrote:
I don't think the PC itself is dying, but it's surely heading to more of a application server/servlet model with "dumb" tablet running any given browser instead of a full OS. I'd call it something more like the death of the giant front-end operating system.
That is SSSOOO 1980's. Been there, done that.

Streaming content? Joke, bad joke, worse joke. I tried watching Bill Maher's live feed. Comcast's poor servers were so overloaded I got 5 seconds of audio, and it stopped. It would pick up 15 seconds later. I missed 95% of the show in the first 3 minutes before I gave up and started reading a BOOK. You know, those paper things with lots of pages? No electricity required, unless it's dark in the room.

Yes, we have wonderful technology. Too bad it doesn't work because the infrastructure is so severely lacking. I just got a popup box saying 'it appears you are on a slow network. Do you want to use Opera Turbo to increase your speed? So much for cable.

Wwhat's going on walls? Finger paintings by the kids. No frames, just wrinkled and warped papers. At what point will the P&S become a piece of scrap because all those pictures that were so much fun to take mean nothing to anyone and just take up space on memory chips? Go to a birthday party and 15 people all have cameras, taking the same pictues that will be deleted in a few days to make room for the next party.

The computer is slowly degrading into an email terminal, and a place to watch strangers' lives on youtube. Soon we will have octacore processors to handle the youtube movies and facebook wall postings or whatever they are.

Apr 03, 2012 at 07:02 PM

RDKirk
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p.3 #2 · p.3 #2 · The PC is dying, but very, very slowly

Yes, but your big screen might be how you stream tv shows or video from some central place, it might be how you view the person(s) you are speaking to on the phone, it might be how you shop for your new shoes...and it might be how you edit your images all without having a computer sitting next to you. Might not be today, but possibly tomorrow. If you want to call this gizmo a specialized computer that is OK, but it will definitely be different than what we consider a computer today. This has absolutely nothing to do with you...Show more →

If you notice, I keep using the term "big iron." I do that to distinguish between the devices that ordinary mass-market consumers use and the devices that professionals will use.

In this thread--which is supposedly on a professionally oriented forum--there appears to be a failure to distinguish between the two. That's why I made the earlier point that professional music producers don't use MP3. Sure, they don't use tape...but they don't use ordinary mass-market consumer-level MP3 shlock either. They use professional "big iron."

Professionals will always use "big iron" compared to whatever schlock is being sold to the consumer mass market. More advanced, yes, but consumerware will always be consumerware and professionals will always be using "big iron."

Apr 03, 2012 at 10:05 PM

chez
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p.3 #3 · p.3 #3 · The PC is dying, but very, very slowly

RDKirk wrote:
If you notice, I keep using the term "big iron." I do that to distinguish between the devices that ordinary mass-market consumers use and the devices that professionals will use.

In this thread--which is supposedly on a professionally oriented forum--there appears to be a failure to distinguish between the two. That's why I made the earlier point that professional music producers don't use MP3. Sure, they don't use tape...but they don't use ordinary mass-market consumer-level MP3 shlock either. They use professional "big iron."

Professionals will always use "big iron" compared to whatever schlock is being sold to the consumer mass market. More...Show more →

As long as you are willing to pay for your "Big Iron" systems when the schlock computer devices head off in other directions. Yeh, there are still a few Professional photographers that still use film, but the majority moved onto digital... Just like a few photographers will continue to use the "BIG IRON" while the majority will migrate with technology.

Let's see what IRON you'll be using in 10 years.

Apr 03, 2012 at 10:44 PM

Skarkowtsky
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p.3 #4 · p.3 #4 · The PC is dying, but very, very slowly

RDKirk wrote:
That's why I made the earlier point that professional music producers don't use MP3. Sure, they don't use tape...but they don't use ordinary mass-market consumer-level MP3 shlock either. They use professional "big iron."

Who ever suggested they use MP3 format to record

If you re-read the post, I'm referring to the end-user product. The same way the computer manufacturers use whatever high-end methods they choose to create a computer, it's distributed to the consumer as a desktop, all-in-one, laptop, tablet or smartphone. If record producers want to use a reel to reel to record, they wil. It will STILL be delivered to the customer as an MP3 in 2012.

For the record, I've worked on many high-end, powerful machines as a graphic designer and photo assistant. Some purchased, some custom-built. Computers are computers, be them shitty, OK or phenomenal performers. BUT, any of the three categories are available to anyone who wants one, not just professionals, although I, like you, use mine in a professional setting. Your "Big Iron" stance is similar to mine, I'm not sure if you're aware.

I agree that right now, there are two distinguishable camps: traditional computers in boxes, and small gadgets. All I'm saying is that I believe the two will be infused some day, and the "Big Iron" machines will be just as small as our hand held devices. Microchips have become even smaller, so have processors--that's a simple truth. It's just a matter of time until a full-blown powerhouse of a computer fits in our palm. I implied all this earlier, but it seems you chose to ignore it.

Apr 04, 2012 at 07:37 AM

RDKirk
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p.3 #5 · p.3 #5 · The PC is dying, but very, very slowly

I agree that right now, there are two distinguishable camps: traditional computers in boxes, and small gadgets. All I'm saying is that I believe the two will be infused some day, and the "Big Iron" machines will be just as small as our hand held devices. Microchips have become even smaller, so have processors--that's a simple truth. It's just a matter of time until a full-blown powerhouse of a computer fits in our palm. I implied all this earlier, but it seems you chose to ignore it.

No, you're been ignoring me. I spoke of the 80s when I was using a primitive image editor that needed a minicomputer to do what I can do now with Photoshop on a laptop...at the time, we were only doing word processing and spreadsheets on laptops.

In the future, the power we now have in tower machines may be palm sized...but the level of professional work will also continue to expand. The wedding photographer today who might do a few minutes of simple video will tomorrow have to turn out the equivalent of "Titanic" in 3D...and that won't be done on a palm-sized machine.

Apr 04, 2012 at 01:40 PM

Skarkowtsky
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p.3 #6 · p.3 #6 · The PC is dying, but very, very slowly

Actually, I think I said the same thing, through a different example, when I said this:

"Early laptops were nothing more than word processors. Today, one can stream video, edit photos, edit video, scour the internet, play Blu Ray and more from a laptop. The same will happen with tablets."

I'm NOT saying that powerful computers, by which I MEAN processors and components to support them won't be in demand in the 'future' (whenever that is), I'm saying I think the technology is in place to make those computers small in physical dimensions.

Like you've said, you needed a mini computer, now you don't. In 15 years, we might be saying "We needed a Quadcore tower, now we don't". That's all I've been saying.

Since you're going to use 3D as an example. I'm currently using a render machine as my main computer from tethered shoots, to photo editing, web-browsing...you get the idea. It was custom-built in a Shuttle casing that was made JUST to render MAYA files. This computer will smoke most of what's out there, especially what a photographer typically uses to edit RAWs.

In dimension, it's only 7.5 wide, 12 inches deep, 7.5 inches high. A monster on the inside, BUT, the physical sizes of components for powerful computers have reduced in physical size. Ten years ago, a computer with the same power would have been housed in a large casing. Who's to say it won't be even smaller in 10 years, with the same power? And, like you and I both said earlier, with an option to connect an external display, keyboard, tablet or mouse, the computer of tomorrow will have all the comforts we currently rely on.

If my theory is correct, manufacturers will continue to make things smaller and smaller without sacrificing performance, from mundane tasks to demanding workflow.

Apr 04, 2012 at 01:51 PM

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