[ale] So what do we do when the PC goes away?

[Brian Stanaland]

I don't know. If there was a real Linux distro I could run on my original
Transformer I'd probably quit using my Thinkpad with Fedora.The keyboard
dock is great for short typing sessions on the couch. It also has USB ports
and video out so I can have a real keyboard, mouse, monitor set up when
needed. It wouldn't be able to run long software compiles or other
intensive things like that. But there's always Amazon Web Services or
similar out there.

-- Brian


On Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 9:37 AM, Charles Shapiro <hooterpincher at gmail.com>wrote:

> Well, I can definitely see a 2-tier world,with techno-peasants using
> smartphones and tablets, and the technorati using traditional PCs with
> keyboard, mouse, and monitor.  For serious development -- or even long
> writing sessions -- it's hard to beat a traditional desktop or laptop.
>  On the media consumption side a simpler UI can be better.
>
> The more interesting question is how open these devices will be.  If I
> can't crack the machine, I ain't gonna use it.  Google's nexus series
> are an interesting step in the right direction, as this (
>
> http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/10/30/1748236/googles-nexus-4-7-10-strategy-openness-at-all-costs
> ) slashdot article indicates.  I believe that Cyanogen has some
> experimental builds that will work on the Nexus 7, at least.    Of
> course, even the simplest unlock, bootloader change, et cetera is
> going to require a conventional PC, at least so far.  A number of
> cheap cellphone storefronts around town now offer cellphone unlocking
> services at $20-30 a pop.  When I inquired at one, I was told that
> they won't install a new bootloader or a 3rd-party built OS.  So
> you're on your own for the really interesting parts.
>
> -- CHS
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 8:19 PM, Michael H. Warfield <mhw at wittsend.com>
> wrote:
> > On Wed, 2012-10-31 at 19:54 -0400, Jim Lynch wrote:
> >> I keep reading that the pc is doomed and will die before long.  They
> >> don't define long however.  All these smart devices like tablets, phones
> >> and things yet to be invented will replace them.  Now it's possible that
> >> 9th generation programming languages will take verbal instructions to
> >> generate apps, but somehow I doubt it.  I shudder to think how I'd
> >> develop a complex C++ app on a tablet or a phone.
> >
> > Ah, hahahahahahahahaha....
> >
> > The "pundents" predicted the demise of the mainframe.  And it's still
> > here.  People have been trying to kill off Windows XP and drive a stake
> > through its black heart and it's still here.  PC dying?  Yeah, right.
> > Like that will happen in my lifetime.  It may lose is dominance as the
> > number one major platform but it will not die, no mater how much it may
> > fade.  Not in any of our lifetimes.
> >
> >>   A tablet can never replace my 22" screen.  After all I'm pretty sure
> >> my vision will not improve in the future.  Are we going to have eyeball
> >> implants that will send the screen directly to the brain? Maybe type by
> >> thinking?  That seems dangerous given the way my mind wanders off at
> >> times.  I'm thinking that a scantily clothed blond wouldn't do at all in
> >> the middle of my database update.
> >>
> >> To borrow from the NRA, "I'll give you my keyboard and mouse when you
> >> pry  it from my cold, dead hands."
> >>
> >> Jim.
> >> ****
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
> > --
> > Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
> >    /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932 |
> http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
> >    NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the best
> of all
> >  PGP Key: 0x674627FF        | possible worlds.  A pessimist is sure of
> it!
> >
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-- 
The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths
imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth.
He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and
intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men.
It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like
knowledge, courage and honor.
It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty —

and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies.

-- H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun (12 February 1923)
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