The PC form factor: "Lots of legacy attached."

[Luc2k]

Well, as wireless networking gets better, servers will be able to compute stuff for our tiny mobile devices. Soon, you will only have a screen and input, and you will be remotely accessing a server for your computer. Kind of like OnLive, but with less failure.

I don't see network latency being completely removed any time soon and what if I don't want my stuff stuck in the cloud at the whims of hackers, corporations and the NSAs of the world? I'll take the big box thank you very much.

[madd-hatter]

I do not agree.

 

 The desktop and the OS it runs is nearly 20 years old, and has remained relatively the same. What has changed is our work habits

 

I don't agree with this either. Anyone who tried to do my job on a phone or tablet would be fired by the end of the week.

I'm sure there are people successfully using tablets for their jobs, but I've never met one.

 

I do see the advantage in areas like medicine and health care, but these fields are a smaller part of the pie, and I'm sure most of these devices are later linked to a PC...

 

Overall, it's nice to have both.

[gohpep]

I don't see network latency being completely removed any time soon and what if I don't want my stuff stuck in the cloud at the whims of hackers, corporations and the NSAs of the world? I'll take the big box thank you very much.

You could also host your own server, so you could have an untouched big box in your house, and all your mobile devices would have the same power as it.

[Arachno 1D]

For screens I would suggest something like a projected mid air image possibly 3D dependent on requirements and for the control a skull cap or head worn neural interface which would combine thought input with gesture control.

[Dot Matrix]

For some reason, I just can't see mind controlled devices taking off. I certainly would never consent to a chip in my head. :s

[techbeck]

I am all for change and making things different/better.  But not at the speed which some try to make things change tho.  Many, if not most, dont adapt to change as quickly. 

[DConnell Member]

Hello,

The same has been said about the mouse and keyboard. There are things that will never die.

 

No they probably won't. But why should they be the only way to get work done?

[Luc2k]

For some reason, I just can't see mind controlled devices taking off. I certainly would never consent to a chip in my head. :s

Afraid of change are we? Besides, nobody said anything about implants. I'm sure you'll look fabulous with a tiara.

[techbeck]

For some reason, I just can't see mind controlled devices taking off. I certainly would never consent to a chip in my head. :s

 

You already have one.... :shiftyninja:

[123456789A]

it's a 'touch'y subject

 

:shifty:

 

Kind of like how there's a lot of heated debate about global warming.

[The Evil Overlord]

Kind of like how there's a lot of heated debate about global warming.

I saw what you did there :rofl:

[Andre S. Veteran]

I used a laptop during my university years, now it's all PCs. PC in the living room for games and multimedia, high-performance gaming PC with a 1khz poll rate mouse and 120hz LightBoost monitor in my room for action games, RTSes, and some more serious programming + writing work. No mobile device would even come close to providing that level of performance, flexibility and comfort. At my workplace, I have currently 5 PCs under my desk, ranging from a Dell Precision to a 4-GPU overclocked monster, 3 monitors and 2 sets of keyboard + mouse. And yes I actually use all this stuff. :p

 

The only mobile device I have is a dumb phone.

 

By the way, the word "legacy" means nothing more than "I don't think people should be using this stuff anymore". Microsoft called C++ "legacy" for a decade, until they realized it still matters and won't really go away anytime soon; now they talk about a "Renaissance". If the mouse is "legacy" because it was designed long ago, then what of the QWERTY keyboard that still figures prominently on every device today? What of the Internet? Some things just work. The mouse is as great an interface as it ever was.

 

My take on the PC is that it's a relatively mature technology, meaning it inevitably sees less evolution and growth than newer form factors, but that certainly doesn't make it irrelevant.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Users, especially younger users, are learning to use tablets and smartphones, like we learned to use desktop systems when we were their age.

 

Then again our recent youth is the most unmotivated, worthless, unethical, attention hungry, cell phone glued youth of all time.

 

So while the younger users are learning to use tablets and smart phones, don't know if that's a good thing.

 

I'm trying to wrap my head around 2 things.

 

1) Having a cell phone in highschool (Graduated 1998)

2) Having Facebook in highschool.

[Dot Matrix]

Then again our recent youth is the most unmotivated, worthless, unethical, attention hungry, cell phone glued youth of all time.

 

So while the younger users are learning to use tablets and smart phones, don't know if that's a good thing.

 

I'm trying to wrap my head around 2 things.

 

1) Having a cell phone in highschool (Graduated 1998)

2) Having Facebook in highschool.

 

I had a phone in high school, and I had Myspace in college. There's nothing to it.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I had a phone in high school, and I had Myspace in college. There's nothing to it.

 

Have we ever seen a photo of you? :laugh:

[Dot Matrix]

Have we ever seen a photo of you? :laugh:

Nope.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Nope.

 

Party pooper! :P

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Cell phones and tablets are currently useless for anyone who does anything more than type and are only so popular because they provide a good experience when using those apps and websites that make the existence of the user seem much more important than it actually is.

[exotoxic]

Then again our recent youth is the most unmotivated, worthless, unethical, attention hungry, cell phone glued youth of all time.

 

So while the younger users are learning to use tablets and smart phones, don't know if that's a good thing.

 

Yeah, when i got my PC i was only 11 years old or so. In between playing a few games i took time to learn how things worked, taking it apart, learned QBASIC. Things which you can't do on these new devices. 

[Dot Matrix]

Cell phones and tablets are currently useless for anyone who does anything more than type and are only so popular because they provide a good experience when using those apps and websites that make the existence of the user seem much more important than it actually is.

I really feel though that tablets are going to drive new user experiences. Gestures will become a common feature of future machines - Either through actual touchscreens, motion sense, and/or augmented keyboards, that'll assist in OS operations.

[IsItPluggedIn]

Touch screens are not useful in a lot of work places, however there is specific jobs/careers where they are.

 

As said the whole idea of holding your arms up to touch the screen is absurd, then there is the idea of having a touch device on the desk, which is just as useful as a KB/mouse.

 

Touch screens are fine for smaller devices, but smaller devices are not good for many tasks, ever try to use a spreadsheet with a lot of data in it on your phone/tablet. Not fun.

 

I struggle to use a lot of things on my laptop let alone a smaller screen.

 

KB/mouse will not be replaced by voice commands, think about it. A whole office full of people talking to their computers. lol good chuckle.

 

The mind control would replace the KB/mouse but not in the near future. 

 

We had 500 ipads rolled out across our network, only 28 of them were checking in to our mgmt software. We have ran an audit of the rest of them, most were sitting in cupboards because they were not useful for peoples needs.

 

I know that the interfaces would need to change to facilitate touch but it will make people less productive. 

 

I hate it when people say that PC's are going away. PC's aren't going away, sales are down because people are keeping their PC's longer and home uses are using tablets which is what they are designed for.

 

Interfaces may be archaic but input methods are fine.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

Personally i would love to know what people who think the mouse is dead and touch is the future actually do on PC?

Sure touch is great on a phone, or a small tablet. However using either to do anything more than consume content is just counter productive i think. Sure its possible, however nothing beats the tried and tested mouse and keyboard.

Just the thought of having my arms stretched out touching a 24" screen all day is not something i would ever desire at all. The larger the screen, the less useful touch becomes.

[cooky560 Veteran]

I couldn't disagree more, I LOVE my desktop PC and sitting in a nice comfy chair, with a nice large high quality screen infront of a machine with a degree of performance is easily my preferred way of using a computer

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Personally i would love to know what people who think the mouse is dead and touch is the future actually do on PC?

Sure touch is great on a phone, or a small tablet. However using either to do anything more than consume content is just counter productive i think. Sure its possible, however nothing beats the tried and tested mouse and keyboard.

Just the thought of having my arms stretched out touching a 24" screen all day is not something i would ever desire at all. The larger the screen, the less useful touch becomes.

It'd definitely be uncomfortable. Is it really that hard for some people to believe that a traditional mouse/keyboard-equipped PC and smartphone/tablet has its uses? And that they can be used interchangeably? I recently built a gaming PC for heavy multimedia and gaming. I also have a Nexus 5 that I use for watching YouTube videos while I take a dump. I would never want to lose my mouse for anything but basic media consumption (e.g. reading emails and watching YouTube videos on my smartphone). If I need to do any serious work, I'd use my PC. I can alt-tab through so many windows and point/click with pinpoint precision. The thought of not having a mouse for serious work (and gaming) makes me frown. It's just so.. inefficient.

 

There's room to use PCs alongside tablets and smartphones. The idea that one has to replace the other is wishful thinking that has very little basis in reality.

[Davo]

The major point being made is that we use a keyboard and mouse because that's what we've been using, hence why it's called legacy.

 

I feel that I'm at my most productive with a keyboard, mouse, and a monitor but that's because it's what I know. A touchpad or Wacom tablet could very well be more precise but it's not what I'm used to. I think that the sooner other people admit this, then the sooner we can have real conversations about advancing technology. I really disliked all the negative feedback about Windows 8 because rather than highlighting everything that was actually poorly implemented, a town mob with pitchforks started calling for the destruction of the Start Menu.