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Last Chance
Dec 31, 2004

Jerry Cotton posted:

For the past fifteen years I've been told the PC is dead every year, all of the year. Oh hey - it's my favourite obsolete and failed technology, it just still happens to be dominant but that's just a minor detail.

PCs are dead, they just don't know it yet

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Sunshine89
Nov 22, 2009

Jerry Cotton posted:

For the past fifteen years I've been told the PC is dead every year, all of the year. Oh hey - it's my favourite obsolete and failed technology, it just still happens to be dominant but that's just a minor detail.

Every year I hear that the desktop PC is on the verge of obsolescence. First, when laptops stopped being 40 pounds with a battery life of 5 minutes and a price tag of $3000, nobody would want a desktop. Then when that didn't happen, our phones became so powerful, we'd just use them for everything! Netbooks didn't take off. Tablets, ultrabooks, tablet-ultrabook hybrids and whatever still didn't manage to kill off the desktop.

All these pop-tech writers just gloss right over the advantages of desktops though. Sticking to the average end-user (ignoring specialized and enthusiast products like workstations and gaming rigs), they offer several advantages. Laptops aren't practical at screen sizes larger than 17", and even those are heavy and have a crappy battery life. Because, unlike a laptop not everything has to be miniaturized so they offer a better price to performance ratio. You can position the keyboard, mouse and screen where you want them, and these are full-sized and more comfortable to use for long periods because portability doesn't have to be taken into consideration. The mini tower is the standard size- mid and full towers are only necessary for specialized uses- and if even that is too large, they make small form factor towers no larger than a console, and all-in-ones like the iMac and PC-lookalikes.

Also, it's just plain more comfortable to not have to hunch over an attached keyboard and screen.

This isn't to say I don't like portable devices- on the contrary, they're awesome. It's just at this point, it's not realistic to say that desktops are going to disappear anytime soon, kind of like a telecommuting revolution didn't happen.

Sunshine89 has a new favorite as of 17:13 on Jul 21, 2013

Taeke
Feb 2, 2010


Sunshine89 posted:

Every year I hear that the desktop PC is on the verge of obsolescence. First, when laptops stopped being 40 pounds with a battery life of 5 minutes and a price tag of $3000, nobody would want a desktop. Then when that didn't happen, our phones became so powerful, we'd just use them for everything! Netbooks didn't take off. Tablets, ultrabooks, tablet-ultrabook hybrids and whatever still didn't manage to kill off the desktop.

All these pop-tech writers just gloss right over the advantages of desktops though. Sticking to the average end-user (ignoring specialized and enthusiast products like workstations and gaming rigs), they offer several advantages. Laptops aren't practical at screen sizes larger than 17", and even those are heavy and have a crappy battery life. Because, unlike a laptop not everything has to be miniaturized so they offer a better price to performance ratio. You can position the keyboard, mouse and screen where you want them, and these are full-sized and more comfortable to use for long periods because portability doesn't have to be taken into consideration. The mini tower is the standard size- mid and full towers are only necessary for specialized uses- and if even that is too large, they make small form factor towers no larger than a console, and all-in-ones like the iMac and PC-lookalikes.

Also, it's just plain more comfortable to not have to hunch over an attached keyboard and screen.

This isn't to say I don't like portable devices- on the contrary, they're awesome. It's just at this point, it's not realistic to say that desktops are going to disappear anytime soon, kind of like a telecommuting revolution didn't happen.

I don't know. I'm sitting in the garden right now, posting from my laptop which wasn't all that expensive and powerful enough to play the latest games on if I want. If I want to study, play on a bigger screen or sit more comfortably behind a desk, I can do all that because I've got an extra screen and usb keyboard set up for that exact reason and it's not like the days of yonder when you had to install drivers to get those to work. You just plug them in, and anyone can do that. I think the desktops will increasingly become the domain of advanced users who need the power, but that the average, more casual user will increasingly opt for a laptop or notebook or whatever with an extra screen and keyboard for when they need them. Why would you limit yourself to something lacking portability when you don't need to?

SneezeOfTheDecade
Feb 6, 2011

gettin' covid all
over your posts

Taeke posted:

Why would you limit yourself to something lacking portability when you don't need to?

I think the counterpoint is "Why would you pay more for less computer just because it's portable?".

Taeke
Feb 2, 2010


Besesoth posted:

I think the counterpoint is "Why would you pay more for less computer just because it's portable?".

Because portability will become increasingly important with regards to work, for example, not to mention the comfort of being able to use it in bed, in the garden, on the couch or wherever you want. People are becoming more and more used to being able to access the internet, for example, from their phone while sitting on the toilet or lounging about. I think the ability to do that with your computer will start to outweigh the costs pretty soon.

Fuckface the Hedgehog
Jun 12, 2007

Taeke posted:

I don't know. I'm sitting in the garden right now, posting from my laptop which wasn't all that expensive and powerful enough to play the latest games on if I want. If I want to study, play on a bigger screen or sit more comfortably behind a desk, I can do all that because I've got an extra screen and usb keyboard set up for that exact reason and it's not like the days of yonder when you had to install drivers to get those to work. You just plug them in, and anyone can do that. I think the desktops will increasingly become the domain of advanced users who need the power, but that the average, more casual user will increasingly opt for a laptop or notebook or whatever with an extra screen and keyboard for when they need them. Why would you limit yourself to something lacking portability when you don't need to?

You're projecting. Just because you feel that's correct doesn't mean that what you do works for everyone else. This is the exact same reason why tech journalists decide the desktop is obsolete every year.

Also a laptop with docking station has a much more awkward desk footprint than a tower and a laptop is much less customisable.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
Yeah, uh, I do engineering work (specifically, embedded systems design and PCB design) and gently caress laptops. Multi monitor operation on laptops is retarded, while it's incredibly easy to add more video outputs on a desktop. I need as many screens and as much screen real estate pixel wise as I can get here. I have 3 right now, had 4 until one burnt out (I've been too lazy to recap it) and I can think of uses for another 4-5 pretty easily. I don't really need 3D acceleration very much but screen real estate is always useful.

Stockbrokers and financial types are big on having a million monitors too. They aren't getting on the laptop train anytime soon either.

Sure, for your average home user who just wants to check their gmail, play some facebook games, and surf the web, maybe watch youtube a bunch and play games without cranking the video detail settings all the way up, a laptop might be fine. For anyone who actually wants to get something done, probably not.

Wanamingo
Feb 22, 2008

by FactsAreUseless
I'd think that desktops are going to stick around because of their functionality and that it's laptops that are going to become less popular. Is there really much they can do, at least for the average person, that a phone or tablet can't?

Germstore
Oct 17, 2012

A Serious Candidate For a Serious Time
Having a desktop doesn't mean you won't have a laptop, and having a laptop doesn't mean you won't have a tablet.

Taeke
Feb 2, 2010


Plotterboy posted:

You're projecting. Just because you feel that's correct doesn't mean that what you do works for everyone else. This is the exact same reason why tech journalists decide the desktop is obsolete every year.

Also a laptop with docking station has a much more awkward desk footprint than a tower and a laptop is much less customisable.

I was just thinking of coming back to this thread to edit my post and add that I'm by no means an expert and I was probably projecting, so you could all disregard my post, so you're absolutely right, although I've never heard of anyone using a docking station and frankly, I don't see the benefit of one.

Wanamingo posted:

I'd think that desktops are going to stick around because of their functionality and that it's laptops that are going to become less popular. Is there really much they can do, at least for the average person, that a phone or tablet can't?

Also, this is a very good point.

As for people who need multiple monitors for their work, those are the specialised users I was referring to that would need a proper desktop.

sleepy gary
Jan 11, 2006

Who cares.

My question is whether or not we're going to have one more generation of optical storage media. Seems like probably not.

Shugojin
Sep 6, 2007

THE TAIL THAT BURNS TWICE AS BRIGHT...


kastein posted:

^^ every year since what, 1993? has been the Year of the Linux Desktop.

I'm not saying linux on the desktop is bad, just that it's not mainstream. Hell, I was happy running FreeBSD on my desktop for years, and will probably go back to that soon.

I like it, it just depends on what I'm doing. For now I'm a dual boot man so I can gently caress around with video games with minimal fuss, but nearly everything I do for work I do on linux.

e: Re: optical media - it seems more and more poo poo we do as cloud storage, or at least flash memory. Console games might make it stick longer though, unless they start making it possible to slap in bigger hard drives with near hot-swap ease.

Shugojin has a new favorite as of 18:22 on Jul 21, 2013

Totally Reasonable
Jan 8, 2008

aaag mirrors

Laptops are going to have a place with reporters and other writing professionals for a good long time. Nobody is going to enjoy typing at 65wpm on something with a <10" screen.

blugu64
Jul 17, 2006

Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

kastein posted:

^^ every year since what, 1993? has been the Year of the Linux Desktop.

2014 is our year. I can feel it.

Arsenic Lupin
Apr 12, 2012

This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.


Germstore posted:

Having a desktop doesn't mean you won't have a laptop, and having a laptop doesn't mean you won't have a tablet.

This. Our four-person household has four smartphones, 3 tablets, 4 laptops, and 2 desktops. Each serves a different purpose. That said, the adults share one desktop and use the laptops as primary computers.

I think the desktop will continue to survive as long as wired is appreciably faster than wireless and as long as big monitors are a thing.

LethalGeek
Nov 4, 2009

Shugojin posted:

e: Re: optical media - it seems more and more poo poo we do as cloud storage, or at least flash memory. Console games might make it stick longer though, unless they start making it possible to slap in bigger hard drives with near hot-swap ease.

The Wii U allows you to plug in any USB HDD and it will format it for itself and let you dump anything you want on there. So yeah that's coming.

nocal
Mar 7, 2007

Totally Reasonable posted:

Laptops are going to have a place with reporters and other writing professionals for a good long time. Nobody is going to enjoy typing at 65wpm on something with a <10" screen.

Coincidentally, reporters are obsolete technology.

Lowen SoDium
Jun 5, 2003

Highen Fiber
Clapping Larry

Taeke posted:

I was just thinking of coming back to this thread to edit my post and add that I'm by no means an expert and I was probably projecting, so you could all disregard my post, so you're absolutely right, although I've never heard of anyone using a docking station and frankly, I don't see the benefit of one.


Also, this is a very good point.

As for people who need multiple monitors for their work, those are the specialised users I was referring to that would need a proper desktop.

Docking stations are very common in a lot of corporate office environments. My company issues docks to everyone who has a laptop.

I will also say that my new Dell Latitude 6430 with Nvidia/Intel hybrid graphics and it runs 2 external monitors and the display on the laptop simultaneously and it works great. It is the first laptop I have ever had that could do that.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
As long as laptops have fewer than four large monitors, I'll by in Team Desktop :colbert:. Also, I whale on my giant keyboard.

El Estrago Bonito
Dec 17, 2010

Scout Finch Bitch
Laptops have no appeal to me at this point. Any casual internet use I can do from my phone and so if I'm going to have a dedicated box for playing games and watching movies it better loving anything on the retail market. Plus there aren't really any laptops that pack as much RAM or as good a graphics card as my desktop, I'm sure some specialty company like Falcon Northwest might but I haven't ever seen one.

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

kastein posted:

^^ every year since what, 1993? has been the Year of the Linux Desktop.

I'm not saying linux on the desktop is bad, just that it's not mainstream. Hell, I was happy running FreeBSD on my desktop for years, and will probably go back to that soon.

To paraphrase an old saying, "Linux is the operating system of the future of the past." (Originally it was Unix :v:)

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

Taeke posted:

Because portability will become increasingly important with regards to work, for example, not to mention the comfort of being able to use it in bed, in the garden, on the couch or wherever you want. People are becoming more and more used to being able to access the internet, for example, from their phone while sitting on the toilet or lounging about. I think the ability to do that with your computer will start to outweigh the costs pretty soon.

things_written_in_1987.txt

(Incidentally, all this is why I just said PC, not desktop PC. Funnily enough, about 100% of the people I work with that have company laptops only ever use them in their docks.)

Benly
Aug 2, 2011

20% of the time, it works every time.
Basically everyone I know who's bought a computer lately that wasn't planning to use it as a SWEET GAMING RIG bought a laptop. They're competitively priced, competitively powerful, and the smaller space requirement and mobility are a big draw to people in relatively unstable situations.

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

EDIT: I was very wrong and should learn to read.

According to IDC:

Worldwide, 2012
Desktop PC 148,400,000
Portable PC 202,000,000

3D Megadoodoo has a new favorite as of 07:12 on Jul 22, 2013

Benly
Aug 2, 2011

20% of the time, it works every time.

Jerry Cotton posted:

All this anecdotal evidence about who uses what where* is very nice and all but according to the numbers, almost seventy five per cent of PCs sold last year were for businesses, and over eighty per cent were desktops, which is hardly a surprise.

*) Also, how the heck does one comfortably use a laptop in bed? Unless by 'use' one means 'watch a movie on'.

This actually makes me curious what percentage of personal PC purchases were desktops, though.

Radio Help
Mar 22, 2007

ChipChip? 
Wow I thought this thread was "Post the very best in obsolete and failed technology" not "lets debate whether desktop PCs will be obsolete in the hypertech world of futuristic tomorrowland"

Content:

What does it even do?? Have I been giving myself cancer by adding my fabric softener at the beginning of the load? Did I miss something?

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

Radio Help posted:


What does it even do?? Have I been giving myself cancer by adding my fabric softener at the beginning of the load? Did I miss something?

Fabric softener is the obsolete technology because about ½ of textiles say "do not use fabric softener" on the tag and every drat kid is hell of allergic so no-one uses it anyway. (I guess a lot of people do though, it's probably a regional thing?). What is that ball anyway?

Magnus Praeda
Jul 18, 2003
The largess in the land.

Jerry Cotton posted:

What is that ball anyway?

You put fabric softener in it and toss it in the washing machine so you don't have to remember it partway through the cycle. It's kinda worthless though not technically obsolete.

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

Magnus Praeda posted:

You put fabric softener in it and toss it in the washing machine so you don't have to remember it partway through the cycle. It's kinda worthless though not technically obsolete.

Don't all washing machines since 1990 or something have a separate compartment to put the softener in? I don't think I've ever seen one without it, apart from one of these fuckers (I remember my mother actually dragged it out of storage and used it on the yard once when the new one broke down):

Davfff
Oct 27, 2008

Plotterboy posted:

You're projecting. Just because you feel that's correct doesn't mean that what you do works for everyone else. This is the exact same reason why tech journalists decide the desktop is obsolete every year.

Also a laptop with docking station has a much more awkward desk footprint than a tower and a laptop is much less customisable.

When I got my first job out of high school as a salesman at a computing store (about 12 years ago), as a generalisation, we had a range of 2 or 3 desktop PCs for every laptop, and (generally again) we'd probably sell at least 4 desktops for every laptop. Both were displayed equally prominently.

By the time I left 2 years later, it was down to an even 50:50 split.

Nowadays, if I walk into the same computer store, there's a range of between 15-20 laptops and maybe 3 or 4 full desktops squirreled away in a corner.

ANIME MONSTROSITY
Jun 1, 2012

by XyloJW

LethalGeek posted:

The Wii U allows you to plug in any USB HDD and it will format it for itself and let you dump anything you want on there. So yeah that's coming.

Speaking of obsolete and failed technology :smug:

John Liver
May 4, 2009

Radio Help posted:


What does it even do?? Have I been giving myself cancer by adding my fabric softener at the beginning of the load? Did I miss something?

I still don't get why Downy thought modeling their product after a grenade was a good idea.

sleepy gary
Jan 11, 2006

John Liver posted:

I still don't get why Downy thought modeling their product after a grenade was a good idea.

I always thought it was cool, but I never used one. I think the shape is dictated by its requirement to pop open from centrifugal force during the first spin cycle, but I am not a Laundrologist.

DrBouvenstein
Feb 28, 2007

I think I'm a doctor, but that doesn't make me a doctor. This fancy avatar does.

Radio Help posted:

Have I been giving myself cancer by adding my fabric softener at the beginning of the load? Did I miss something?

You're not giving yourself cancer, but your washing away most of the fabric softener. The reason the ball existed was so it would automatically open after the wash cycle and on your clothes in the rinse cycle. On older machines without an automatic fabric softener dispenser, you had to remember to add it manually after the wash cycle stopped.

Mr. Beefhead
May 8, 2003

I can make beans into peas.

Jerry Cotton posted:

Fabric softener is the obsolete technology because about ½ of textiles say "do not use fabric softener" on the tag and every drat kid is hell of allergic so no-one uses it anyway. (I guess a lot of people do though, it's probably a regional thing?). What is that ball anyway?

You don't even use the dryer sheet kind in your neck of the woods?

Auryn
Dec 20, 2004

Do those of you who don't use fabric softener live in warmer climates? Because during winter around here, my clothes get so much static cling that if I don't use fabric softener I walk around with my pants glued to my legs and crackling with every step.

Radio Help
Mar 22, 2007

ChipChip? 

DrBouvenstein posted:

You're not giving yourself cancer, but your washing away most of the fabric softener. The reason the ball existed was so it would automatically open after the wash cycle and on your clothes in the rinse cycle. On older machines without an automatic fabric softener dispenser, you had to remember to add it manually after the wash cycle stopped.

Goddammit.

DicktheCat
Feb 15, 2011

Auryn posted:

Do those of you who don't use fabric softener live in warmer climates? Because during winter around here, my clothes get so much static cling that if I don't use fabric softener I walk around with my pants glued to my legs and crackling with every step.

I can only speak for myself, but I would say yes. I live in loving Atlanta, and we don't really do the fabric softener thing. Well... I used to, then I went to college and became poor. It's just an expense to me.


Does it really do that much?

DrBouvenstein
Feb 28, 2007

I think I'm a doctor, but that doesn't make me a doctor. This fancy avatar does.

DicktheCat posted:

Does it really do that much?

I don't use liquid, only the sheets, and YES! The other goon isn't kidding when he says how badly clothes (especially things like dress pants,) cling to themselves, each other, and you when it's dry out.

From what I understand, dryer sheets work by having a small amount of a wax-like substance in them, and in the warm dryer, it sort of "melts" and coats all your clothes, so they feel "softer," and the chemical keeps the actual fabric itself from rubbing against itself as much so less static charge builds up.

The thing that's annoying about them, is that you should never use them on towels, because the substance coats them and makes them really bad at doing their job. The day I learned to dry my towels separately from the rest of my clothes changed my life.

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sweeperbravo
May 18, 2012

AUNT GWEN'S COLD SHAPE (!)

DrBouvenstein posted:

The thing that's annoying about them, is that you should never use them on towels, because the substance coats them and makes them really bad at doing their job. The day I learned to dry my towels separately from the rest of my clothes changed my life.
I've mentioned this to people and the response I get is "BUT THEN THE TOWELS WON'T BE SOFT."

What I'm saying is, you're the only person on this planet who gets me.

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