I think when Steve said 'the end of the PC age is approaching' really means the PC is no longer going to be the sole device one does all their computing, gaming etc. on.
Rather people will buy separate devices for separate needs and the processors in those devices will not see as much radical change as they did during the PC era.
Thus the reason why Apple developed the A4 and why no processor improvements have occurred in the new iPhone 4. Why the MacBook Pro 13" didn't get a processor upgrade. Why the 15" and 17" MBP's are running very hot and likely will not see any further processor improvements for quite some time.
It's good for the consumer, because taking care of their computers/devices now will save them a lot of money as there is no need to upgrade for better processor performance, there won't be any worth bothering over, except in desktops.
Therefore, the iPad is a niche use device, just like the iPhone, iPod, iTouch etc. With no significant improvement in processor performance coming, therefore it will be limited in it's software abilities and unable to advance much.
Right now the iPad is a new toy and has fad status, but it's not a good general purpose tool because it's limited in performance (only a 1Ghz processor). It's ties to a closed App store ecosystem is designed to keep the apps from overpowering the device and making it slow in my opinion. Thus why no CPU hog Flash.
I find this post weirdly fascinating. It's structured like it's making the case for something, with paragraphs and a "therefore" and everything, while in fact being a series of disconnected non sequiturs, factually incorrect assertions, baseless assumptions, and mystifying associative leaps.
I'm not even sure what the general idea is supposed to be. iPads are what now? Pointless and frozen? And people will buy them because they'll never change so they'll never have to buy them again? Because of the App Store? Wait, and Apple's other computers are going along with this scheme because...... they're part of some kind of distributed computing craze? So instead of buying one expensive computer which you're obliged to upgrade because they get better you'll buy several Apple computers that never do? Because....
IMO, Apple didn't put in the cameras in the 1st gen iPads because they were testing the waters and wanted a low priced device. In typical Apple fashion, do few things and do them right. Since the iPad is very successful, they are sure to release an upgrade with the additional features after they have milked the last drop out of the 1st generation. There is no competition right now for the iPad, the closest tablet competitors are coming out by the end of the year. Again, the international release for the iPad is dragging on till September at least; so whats the rush for version 2?
I am certain that when iOS 4.0 gets released on the iPad, they will add in the cameras and come out with version 2. I personally want to give an iPad with video conferencing abilities to my parents when it gets released.
4G is just bull shit right now. The power consumption by those chip-sets is ridiculous. Just look at the EVO 4G.
IMO, Apple didn't put in the cameras in the 1st gen iPads because they were testing the waters and wanted a low priced device. In typical Apple fashion, do few things and do them right. Since the iPad is very successful, they are sure to release an upgrade with the additional features after they have milked the last drop out of the 1st generation. There is no competition right now for the iPad, the closest tablet competitors are coming out by the end of the year. Again, the international release for the iPad is dragging on till September at least; so whats the rush for version 2?
I am certain that when iOS 4.0 gets released on the iPad, they will add in the cameras and come out with version 2. I personally want to give an iPad with video conferencing abilities to my parents when it gets released.
4G is just bull shit right now. The power consumption by those chip-sets is ridiculous. Just look at the EVO 4G.
Why wait? Get a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, iChat, camera, microphone and monitor stand is included.
The processor is more than twice as powerful and the screen is bigger. It won't hurt their hands holding it during long Wifi chats. The case closes to protect the device and it has a real keyboard to reinforce touch typing, not hunt and peck typing like the iPad does.
Video chats don't work well over cell networks, it eats up too much bandwidth, so your delegated to using wifi a fast one too) anyway.
Plus older people sometimes have colder fingers that don't register very well on touch screens and pads.
Take a 2 lb book and attach a computer camera to the top, now try and keep it focused on your face. You'll notice how difficult this can become after some time has passed. Your locked, you can't move and do other things like what a laptop with a built in monitor stand can provide.
iPad with a camera is a ergonomic nightmare.
The iPad is a niche device with fad status. Once the fad wears off and people begin to use it they will begin to miss the more ergonomic friendly and powerful features of a real laptop.
I can save you all some money now, just don't buy one.
The iPad has no room to grow, because if it gains more features it's going to need a more powerful processor that generates more heat, enough to need cooling, fans and vents, not to mention a larger battery.
Sorry, no. I don't understand why you're taking such an incredibly incorrect facts. You're ignoring the natural progression of technology. Costs of fab processes continue to go down and efficiency of chips continue to increase because smaller transistors run faster and take less power. But it takes time. All Apple needs to do is go up a process step next year and they can probably double the number of transistors without consuming any more power or even spending more money.
Whether you choose to believe it or not, iPhones have been getting faster, getting more features and running longer on a battery on every generation. The A4 is now in a device about a tenth the internal volume of the iPad, all without a fan. There is no reason believe that the iPad isn't going to follow the same trajectory.
Sorry, no. I don't understand why you're taking such an incredibly incorrect facts. You're ignoring the natural progression of technology. Costs of fab processes continue to go down and efficiency of chips continue to increase because smaller transistors run faster and take less power. But it takes time. All Apple needs to do is go up a process step next year and they can probably double the number of transistors without consuming any more power or even spending more money.
Whether you choose to believe it or not, iPhones have been getting faster, getting more features and running longer on a battery on every generation. The A4 is now in a device about a tenth the internal volume of the iPad, all without a fan. There is no reason believe that the iPad isn't going to follow the same trajectory.
I'm just stating the scale of improvements in processor performance for portable devices is not going to increase relative to desktop and console processors because of the heat issue.
No substantial performance increases, no substantial software increases on portable devices.
"substantial" of course is relative to the computer using experience of the reader.
We will see more niche devices from Apple, in fact if one has a good idea for one, they can make a lot approaching Apple with the idea and concept.
Apple is on a mission to fracture the personal computer into many 'iDevices", bonus if you can use the A4...double bonus if it's tied to the App Store.
Steve Jobs is killing his own invention, how quaint.
I'm just stating the scale of improvements in processor performance for portable devices is not going to increase relative to desktop and console processors because of the heat issue.
No substantial performance increases, no substantial software increases on portable devices.
"substantial" of course is relative to the computer using experience of the reader.
We will see more niche devices from Apple, in fact if one has a good idea for one, they can make a lot approaching Apple with the idea and concept.
Apple is on a mission to fracture the personal computer into many 'iDevices", bonus if you can use the A4...double bonus if it's tied to the App Store.
Steve Jobs is killing his own invention, how quaint.
Um, OK, that's not helping much.
-- The "no performance increases due to heat constraints" thing is patently absurd. Performance per watt, which is practically a base metric for CPUs, is constantly improving. Are you saying we've reached the end of the road for that improvement? Because that's obviously and foolishly wrong. I mean, so wrong it's startling.
-- Which leads you to the "no substantial software increases", which doesn't actually mean anything. Apple just released a new phone that adds video chat, HD video recording, on phone video editing, etc. Are you saying that that's it? No further advances? I don't even know how to respond to that.
-- You're causally dismissing Apple's stuff as "niche" devices, sales numbers would indicate otherwise.
-- And then a little ahistorical snark on the inevitable movement of desktop computing into increasingly powerful devices of many form factors. Had you been there, you could have just as easily bemoaned the "fracturing" of good old mainframe computers into many "personal" computers, which I'm sure you would have regarded as niche devices.
Meanwhile, back in the real world it looks like this: devices like the iPad and iPhone will continually get more powerful, adding functionality that used to require "real" computers. Such devices will be much easier to use and much more ubiquitous than desktops ever were, and it's the desktop devices that will be relegated to niche status, with only the most computationally intensive tasks requiring the big iron (just as mainframes continue to have a a role in backend number crunching). This is just the movement of technology at this time, and it's not just Apple that knows it and is beginning the transition.
Our entire idea of "computing" will gradually change, as persistently connected mobile devices continue to proliferate. The idea that one must drag around a large and heavy device in order to "use a computer" will seem a quaint anachronism, if it doesn't already. And this transformation will in no way compromise, reduce, debase or cripple the average person's experience of or relationship to "computing", an idea you seem to be sort of fixated on. If I wish I will still be able to purchase desktop class hardware (that will also continue to get more powerful) in order to do things like high-end video editing, scientific visuality, 3D modeling, etc. Everybody wins!
-- The "no performance increases due to heat constraints" thing is patently absurd. Performance per watt, which is practically a base metric for CPUs, is constantly improving. Are you saying we've reached the end of the road for that improvement? Because that's obviously and foolishly wrong. I mean, so wrong it's startling.
Yea? Why no quad core laptops? Too hot.
Quote:
-- Which leads you to the "no substantial software increases", which doesn't actually mean anything. Apple just released a new phone that adds video chat, HD video recording, on phone video editing, etc. Are you saying that that's it? No further advances? I don't even know how to respond to that.
Lets see you record a few hours of footage in HD, do few conversions, add a few dissolves, wipes and fades etc and bundle the whole shebang to burn to a BlueRay disk for distribution on the iPhone. Not.
Those features on the iPhone are good in name only. Heck with enough money I could get a C-64 to do the same thing, if I wanted to wait 30 years for the result.
Quote:
-- You're causally dismissing Apple's stuff as "niche" devices, sales numbers would indicate otherwise.
You misinterpreted me as stating "niche" as low market share. "Niche" I mean means it's device with a set purpose and not a general purpose tool like a computer is. A Playstation 3 is a "niche" 3D gaming device for instance, despite Sony selling millions of them.
Quote:
Meanwhile, back in the real world it looks like this: devices like the iPad and iPhone will continually get more powerful, adding functionality that used to require "real" computers. Such devices will be much easier to use and much more ubiquitous than desktops ever were, and it's the desktop devices that will be relegated to niche status, with only the most computationally intensive tasks requiring the big iron (just as mainframes continue to have a a role in backend number crunching). This is just the movement of technology at this time, and it's not just Apple that knows it and is beginning the transition.
Not likely, not until the processor industry solves the heat performance issue, which so far it hasn't been able to do, thus why IBM left the market. People like you are just accepting lower quality video editing on a iPhone as a substitute for the real thing.
Quote:
Our entire idea of "computing" will gradually change, as persistently connected mobile devices continue to proliferate. The idea that one must drag around a large and heavy device in order to "use a computer" will seem a quaint anachronism, if it doesn't already. And this transformation will in no way compromise, reduce, debase or cripple the average person's experience of or relationship to "computing", an idea you seem to be sort of fixated on. If I wish I will still be able to purchase desktop class hardware (that will also continue to get more powerful) in order to do things like high-end video editing, scientific visuality, 3D modeling, etc. Everybody wins!
Desktops don't have the heat issues of portables. That's why one can buy 8 core MacPro's and higher core versions of 20, 40 and even 100 cores are on the way.
But try to get a quad core MacBook Pro. None to be seen. Even the new 13" MacBook Pro has last generation processors compared to the new 15" and 17" models.
Brick wall. End of the Road. Splat. Done. Dual Core A4's coming soon.
Serious video editing is another niche, maybe a tenth of a percent of people do that. The power of the personal computer is that you can use it for just about anything, but most computers are really used for incredibly light duty tasks, filling out purchase orders, making spreadsheets that might fill a page, accounting, composing letters & emails, reading documents, browsing the web, watching videos and playing music. Netbooks and the iPad have the power to do all that just fine, no chest-thumping quad core needed.
If you really need flight-simulator or FPS kind of games with multiple screens, that's fine, but most people that actually play games don't play hardware-demanding games benefiting from quad core, dual GPU and all that. It was only a few months ago that more than a quarter of gamers on Steam had quad core, everyone else had single and dual core. Heck, the #1 console game system is also the lowest performance one too. If that doesn't tell you something, then nothing will.
Face detection, digital centering and anti-shake is all that's needed. And that's not a difficult problem to solve. On the iPhone 4, it can be solved entirely via software.
Serious video editing is another niche, maybe a tenth of a percent of people do that. The power of the personal computer is that you can use it for just about anything, but most computers are really used for incredibly light duty tasks, filling out purchase orders, making spreadsheets that might fill a page, accounting, composing letters & emails, reading documents, browsing the web, watching videos and playing music. Netbooks and the iPad have the power to do all that just fine, no chest-thumping quad core needed.
If you really need flight-simulator or FPS kind of games with multiple screens, that's fine, but most people that actually play games don't play hardware-demanding games benefiting from quad core, dual GPU and all that. It was only a few months ago that more than a quarter of gamers on Steam had quad core, everyone else had single and dual core. Heck, the #1 console game system is also the lowest performance one too. If that doesn't tell you something, then nothing will.
Yes, 3D gaming has gone to consoles, been happening for quite some time.
The PS3 has a nine core Cell, the X-Box 3 G5 processors.
I guess a 8 core Mac Pro with a decent graphics card should beat the Cell, but certainly not on price.
But we are talking consoles and desktops, no heat issues there really. Unlike portables.
Face detection, digital centering and anti-shake is all that's needed. And that's not a difficult problem to solve. On the iPhone 4, it can be solved entirely via software.
On the iPhone it won't be needed, it's a small device and rather easy to control, gripping the device in one's hand to steady it. The arm can be extended half way as the screen is small so it has to be closer to the eyes anyway.
The iPad is different, it's heavy and requires two hands to hold it at arms length, because the screen is larger so the eyes can take in the whole screen.
People like to gesture when they talk, this would be rather difficult with both hands occupied. Not to mention being able to work the device during chat video chat sessions.
Nah, a nice laptop with built in monitor stand and iChat and camera included is better.
You aren't seriously suggesting that the A4 (a smartphone processor) could be a viable alternative to any of the processors in use in Macs today, are you? Unless you're thinking that the computers would use iOS, an Atom would walk all over the A4 in OS X, let alone a Core 2 Duo or Core i5.
Why wait? Get a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, iChat, camera, microphone and monitor stand is included.
The processor is more than twice as powerful and the screen is bigger. It won't hurt their hands holding it during long Wifi chats. The case closes to protect the device and it has a real keyboard to reinforce touch typing, not hunt and peck typing like the iPad does.
Video chats don't work well over cell networks, it eats up too much bandwidth, so your delegated to using wifi a fast one too) anyway.
Plus older people sometimes have colder fingers that don't register very well on touch screens and pads.
Take a 2 lb book and attach a computer camera to the top, now try and keep it focused on your face. You'll notice how difficult this can become after some time has passed. Your locked, you can't move and do other things like what a laptop with a built in monitor stand can provide.
iPad with a camera is a ergonomic nightmare.
The iPad is a niche device with fad status. Once the fad wears off and people begin to use it they will begin to miss the more ergonomic friendly and powerful features of a real laptop.
I can save you all some money now, just don't buy one.
They already use a Windows PC and I use an iMac to do Skype video chat. It is all about convenience. The point about gestures is good. Let us see what Apple comes up with.
Not going to lie, I think that's a shortsighted decision. There will always be a new product... every year. The price points are great, rev 2 can be just as easily purchased when it comes out. It's a worthwhile purchase for me.
Comments
Ok, whatever.
I think when Steve said 'the end of the PC age is approaching' really means the PC is no longer going to be the sole device one does all their computing, gaming etc. on.
Rather people will buy separate devices for separate needs and the processors in those devices will not see as much radical change as they did during the PC era.
Thus the reason why Apple developed the A4 and why no processor improvements have occurred in the new iPhone 4. Why the MacBook Pro 13" didn't get a processor upgrade. Why the 15" and 17" MBP's are running very hot and likely will not see any further processor improvements for quite some time.
It's good for the consumer, because taking care of their computers/devices now will save them a lot of money as there is no need to upgrade for better processor performance, there won't be any worth bothering over, except in desktops.
Therefore, the iPad is a niche use device, just like the iPhone, iPod, iTouch etc. With no significant improvement in processor performance coming, therefore it will be limited in it's software abilities and unable to advance much.
Right now the iPad is a new toy and has fad status, but it's not a good general purpose tool because it's limited in performance (only a 1Ghz processor). It's ties to a closed App store ecosystem is designed to keep the apps from overpowering the device and making it slow in my opinion. Thus why no CPU hog Flash.
I find this post weirdly fascinating. It's structured like it's making the case for something, with paragraphs and a "therefore" and everything, while in fact being a series of disconnected non sequiturs, factually incorrect assertions, baseless assumptions, and mystifying associative leaps.
I'm not even sure what the general idea is supposed to be. iPads are what now? Pointless and frozen? And people will buy them because they'll never change so they'll never have to buy them again? Because of the App Store? Wait, and Apple's other computers are going along with this scheme because...... they're part of some kind of distributed computing craze? So instead of buying one expensive computer which you're obliged to upgrade because they get better you'll buy several Apple computers that never do? Because....
Nope. Just can't do it.
I am certain that when iOS 4.0 gets released on the iPad, they will add in the cameras and come out with version 2. I personally want to give an iPad with video conferencing abilities to my parents when it gets released.
4G is just bull shit right now. The power consumption by those chip-sets is ridiculous. Just look at the EVO 4G.
IMO, Apple didn't put in the cameras in the 1st gen iPads because they were testing the waters and wanted a low priced device. In typical Apple fashion, do few things and do them right. Since the iPad is very successful, they are sure to release an upgrade with the additional features after they have milked the last drop out of the 1st generation. There is no competition right now for the iPad, the closest tablet competitors are coming out by the end of the year. Again, the international release for the iPad is dragging on till September at least; so whats the rush for version 2?
I am certain that when iOS 4.0 gets released on the iPad, they will add in the cameras and come out with version 2. I personally want to give an iPad with video conferencing abilities to my parents when it gets released.
4G is just bull shit right now. The power consumption by those chip-sets is ridiculous. Just look at the EVO 4G.
Why wait? Get a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, iChat, camera, microphone and monitor stand is included.
The processor is more than twice as powerful and the screen is bigger. It won't hurt their hands holding it during long Wifi chats. The case closes to protect the device and it has a real keyboard to reinforce touch typing, not hunt and peck typing like the iPad does.
Video chats don't work well over cell networks, it eats up too much bandwidth, so your delegated to using wifi a fast one too) anyway.
Plus older people sometimes have colder fingers that don't register very well on touch screens and pads.
Take a 2 lb book and attach a computer camera to the top, now try and keep it focused on your face. You'll notice how difficult this can become after some time has passed. Your locked, you can't move and do other things like what a laptop with a built in monitor stand can provide.
iPad with a camera is a ergonomic nightmare.
The iPad is a niche device with fad status. Once the fad wears off and people begin to use it they will begin to miss the more ergonomic friendly and powerful features of a real laptop.
I can save you all some money now, just don't buy one.
The iPad has no room to grow, because if it gains more features it's going to need a more powerful processor that generates more heat, enough to need cooling, fans and vents, not to mention a larger battery.
Sorry, no. I don't understand why you're taking such an incredibly incorrect facts. You're ignoring the natural progression of technology. Costs of fab processes continue to go down and efficiency of chips continue to increase because smaller transistors run faster and take less power. But it takes time. All Apple needs to do is go up a process step next year and they can probably double the number of transistors without consuming any more power or even spending more money.
Whether you choose to believe it or not, iPhones have been getting faster, getting more features and running longer on a battery on every generation. The A4 is now in a device about a tenth the internal volume of the iPad, all without a fan. There is no reason believe that the iPad isn't going to follow the same trajectory.
Sorry, no. I don't understand why you're taking such an incredibly incorrect facts. You're ignoring the natural progression of technology. Costs of fab processes continue to go down and efficiency of chips continue to increase because smaller transistors run faster and take less power. But it takes time. All Apple needs to do is go up a process step next year and they can probably double the number of transistors without consuming any more power or even spending more money.
Whether you choose to believe it or not, iPhones have been getting faster, getting more features and running longer on a battery on every generation. The A4 is now in a device about a tenth the internal volume of the iPad, all without a fan. There is no reason believe that the iPad isn't going to follow the same trajectory.
I'm just stating the scale of improvements in processor performance for portable devices is not going to increase relative to desktop and console processors because of the heat issue.
No substantial performance increases, no substantial software increases on portable devices.
"substantial" of course is relative to the computer using experience of the reader.
We will see more niche devices from Apple, in fact if one has a good idea for one, they can make a lot approaching Apple with the idea and concept.
Apple is on a mission to fracture the personal computer into many 'iDevices", bonus if you can use the A4...double bonus if it's tied to the App Store.
Steve Jobs is killing his own invention, how quaint.
I'm just stating the scale of improvements in processor performance for portable devices is not going to increase relative to desktop and console processors because of the heat issue.
No substantial performance increases, no substantial software increases on portable devices.
"substantial" of course is relative to the computer using experience of the reader.
We will see more niche devices from Apple, in fact if one has a good idea for one, they can make a lot approaching Apple with the idea and concept.
Apple is on a mission to fracture the personal computer into many 'iDevices", bonus if you can use the A4...double bonus if it's tied to the App Store.
Steve Jobs is killing his own invention, how quaint.
Um, OK, that's not helping much.
-- The "no performance increases due to heat constraints" thing is patently absurd. Performance per watt, which is practically a base metric for CPUs, is constantly improving. Are you saying we've reached the end of the road for that improvement? Because that's obviously and foolishly wrong. I mean, so wrong it's startling.
-- Which leads you to the "no substantial software increases", which doesn't actually mean anything. Apple just released a new phone that adds video chat, HD video recording, on phone video editing, etc. Are you saying that that's it? No further advances? I don't even know how to respond to that.
-- You're causally dismissing Apple's stuff as "niche" devices, sales numbers would indicate otherwise.
-- And then a little ahistorical snark on the inevitable movement of desktop computing into increasingly powerful devices of many form factors. Had you been there, you could have just as easily bemoaned the "fracturing" of good old mainframe computers into many "personal" computers, which I'm sure you would have regarded as niche devices.
Meanwhile, back in the real world it looks like this: devices like the iPad and iPhone will continually get more powerful, adding functionality that used to require "real" computers. Such devices will be much easier to use and much more ubiquitous than desktops ever were, and it's the desktop devices that will be relegated to niche status, with only the most computationally intensive tasks requiring the big iron (just as mainframes continue to have a a role in backend number crunching). This is just the movement of technology at this time, and it's not just Apple that knows it and is beginning the transition.
Our entire idea of "computing" will gradually change, as persistently connected mobile devices continue to proliferate. The idea that one must drag around a large and heavy device in order to "use a computer" will seem a quaint anachronism, if it doesn't already. And this transformation will in no way compromise, reduce, debase or cripple the average person's experience of or relationship to "computing", an idea you seem to be sort of fixated on. If I wish I will still be able to purchase desktop class hardware (that will also continue to get more powerful) in order to do things like high-end video editing, scientific visuality, 3D modeling, etc. Everybody wins!
-- The "no performance increases due to heat constraints" thing is patently absurd. Performance per watt, which is practically a base metric for CPUs, is constantly improving. Are you saying we've reached the end of the road for that improvement? Because that's obviously and foolishly wrong. I mean, so wrong it's startling.
Yea? Why no quad core laptops? Too hot.
-- Which leads you to the "no substantial software increases", which doesn't actually mean anything. Apple just released a new phone that adds video chat, HD video recording, on phone video editing, etc. Are you saying that that's it? No further advances? I don't even know how to respond to that.
Lets see you record a few hours of footage in HD, do few conversions, add a few dissolves, wipes and fades etc and bundle the whole shebang to burn to a BlueRay disk for distribution on the iPhone. Not.
Those features on the iPhone are good in name only. Heck with enough money I could get a C-64 to do the same thing, if I wanted to wait 30 years for the result.
-- You're causally dismissing Apple's stuff as "niche" devices, sales numbers would indicate otherwise.
You misinterpreted me as stating "niche" as low market share. "Niche" I mean means it's device with a set purpose and not a general purpose tool like a computer is. A Playstation 3 is a "niche" 3D gaming device for instance, despite Sony selling millions of them.
Meanwhile, back in the real world it looks like this: devices like the iPad and iPhone will continually get more powerful, adding functionality that used to require "real" computers. Such devices will be much easier to use and much more ubiquitous than desktops ever were, and it's the desktop devices that will be relegated to niche status, with only the most computationally intensive tasks requiring the big iron (just as mainframes continue to have a a role in backend number crunching). This is just the movement of technology at this time, and it's not just Apple that knows it and is beginning the transition.
Not likely, not until the processor industry solves the heat performance issue, which so far it hasn't been able to do, thus why IBM left the market. People like you are just accepting lower quality video editing on a iPhone as a substitute for the real thing.
Our entire idea of "computing" will gradually change, as persistently connected mobile devices continue to proliferate. The idea that one must drag around a large and heavy device in order to "use a computer" will seem a quaint anachronism, if it doesn't already. And this transformation will in no way compromise, reduce, debase or cripple the average person's experience of or relationship to "computing", an idea you seem to be sort of fixated on. If I wish I will still be able to purchase desktop class hardware (that will also continue to get more powerful) in order to do things like high-end video editing, scientific visuality, 3D modeling, etc. Everybody wins!
Desktops don't have the heat issues of portables. That's why one can buy 8 core MacPro's and higher core versions of 20, 40 and even 100 cores are on the way.
But try to get a quad core MacBook Pro. None to be seen. Even the new 13" MacBook Pro has last generation processors compared to the new 15" and 17" models.
Brick wall. End of the Road. Splat. Done. Dual Core A4's coming soon.
If you really need flight-simulator or FPS kind of games with multiple screens, that's fine, but most people that actually play games don't play hardware-demanding games benefiting from quad core, dual GPU and all that. It was only a few months ago that more than a quarter of gamers on Steam had quad core, everyone else had single and dual core. Heck, the #1 console game system is also the lowest performance one too. If that doesn't tell you something, then nothing will.
iPad with a camera is a ergonomic nightmare.
Only for someone with no concept in engineering.
Face detection, digital centering and anti-shake is all that's needed. And that's not a difficult problem to solve. On the iPhone 4, it can be solved entirely via software.
Serious video editing is another niche, maybe a tenth of a percent of people do that. The power of the personal computer is that you can use it for just about anything, but most computers are really used for incredibly light duty tasks, filling out purchase orders, making spreadsheets that might fill a page, accounting, composing letters & emails, reading documents, browsing the web, watching videos and playing music. Netbooks and the iPad have the power to do all that just fine, no chest-thumping quad core needed.
If you really need flight-simulator or FPS kind of games with multiple screens, that's fine, but most people that actually play games don't play hardware-demanding games benefiting from quad core, dual GPU and all that. It was only a few months ago that more than a quarter of gamers on Steam had quad core, everyone else had single and dual core. Heck, the #1 console game system is also the lowest performance one too. If that doesn't tell you something, then nothing will.
Yes, 3D gaming has gone to consoles, been happening for quite some time.
The PS3 has a nine core Cell, the X-Box 3 G5 processors.
I guess a 8 core Mac Pro with a decent graphics card should beat the Cell, but certainly not on price.
But we are talking consoles and desktops, no heat issues there really. Unlike portables.
Only for someone with no concept in engineering.
Face detection, digital centering and anti-shake is all that's needed. And that's not a difficult problem to solve. On the iPhone 4, it can be solved entirely via software.
On the iPhone it won't be needed, it's a small device and rather easy to control, gripping the device in one's hand to steady it. The arm can be extended half way as the screen is small so it has to be closer to the eyes anyway.
The iPad is different, it's heavy and requires two hands to hold it at arms length, because the screen is larger so the eyes can take in the whole screen.
People like to gesture when they talk, this would be rather difficult with both hands occupied. Not to mention being able to work the device during chat video chat sessions.
Nah, a nice laptop with built in monitor stand and iChat and camera included is better.
You just made my day.
You must have no life.
Dual Core A4's coming soon.
You aren't seriously suggesting that the A4 (a smartphone processor) could be a viable alternative to any of the processors in use in Macs today, are you? Unless you're thinking that the computers would use iOS, an Atom would walk all over the A4 in OS X, let alone a Core 2 Duo or Core i5.
Why wait? Get a MacBook or a MacBook Pro, iChat, camera, microphone and monitor stand is included.
The processor is more than twice as powerful and the screen is bigger. It won't hurt their hands holding it during long Wifi chats. The case closes to protect the device and it has a real keyboard to reinforce touch typing, not hunt and peck typing like the iPad does.
Video chats don't work well over cell networks, it eats up too much bandwidth, so your delegated to using wifi a fast one too) anyway.
Plus older people sometimes have colder fingers that don't register very well on touch screens and pads.
Take a 2 lb book and attach a computer camera to the top, now try and keep it focused on your face. You'll notice how difficult this can become after some time has passed. Your locked, you can't move and do other things like what a laptop with a built in monitor stand can provide.
iPad with a camera is a ergonomic nightmare.
The iPad is a niche device with fad status. Once the fad wears off and people begin to use it they will begin to miss the more ergonomic friendly and powerful features of a real laptop.
I can save you all some money now, just don't buy one.
They already use a Windows PC and I use an iMac to do Skype video chat. It is all about convenience. The point about gestures is good. Let us see what Apple comes up with.