Apple is not evil. In fact, I'm planning to buy a 27" iMac later this year to replace my Windows 7 machine. It's a great PC.
Love the iMacs. I actually had an original bondi blue 233mhz G3 model back then. After some machines inbetween, finally got another one in late 2006, the fabled original 24" C2D 2.16ghz model. Neither survived through the years but really don't regret either of them, good machines for their time.
But I'd still say the iPad is a computer.
Just because you can't currently write your own code on it (are you sure about this? You can create HTML and do word processing) doesn't mean someone won't eventually create the app for it. If you say its not a PC because Apple restricts that, well that's highly subjective. I could jailbreak it, write a coding app and use the iPad to write more code... is it now a PC? Is the difference as to what makes a PC, in your mind, based on what the OS manufacturer allows you to do?
By that definition, one could cherry pick almost any OS feature and say 'not having this feature means its not a PC'. At one point Windows didn't have many of the features it has today, does that mean that a Windows 2.0 based 386 PC is not a real PC? I could choose to say that because it didn't have multitasking because of software limits, it was not a real PC.
"A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. PCs include any type of computer that is used in a "personal" manner."
and
"A personal computer may be a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet PC, or a handheld PC"
Good enough for me.
Steve Ballmer himself called it a PC. And if that's not definitive, I don't know what else is!
I dont see any proof PC sales were impacted by the iPad. PC sales at the end of 2009 were predicted to grow 12% in 2010 Gartner, they grew 13.8% according to Gartner. They went from 300 million in 2009 to 350 million in 2010.
Can you get rid of your computer and use nothing but an iPad?
Your numbers are deceptive. As you can see from the articles posted below, sales were strong early in the year, but slowed down dramatically as the year went on. Finally, it dropped 6.6% the last quarter in the USA (while Mac Sales were up 23% YOY).
Reasons given for the slowing of PC sales during the year is the iPad, as there were really no tablets around other than the Samsung for the past 2.5 months.
I wouldn't class the iPad as a pc based on the fact it has artificial restrictions to determin its use. E.g You can't write your own apps and distribute them freely.
Because of this its different to a pc. In the same way an Xbox or Playstation arnt pcs despite the technical similarities.
A windows 7 based tablet however would be a pc as it has the same functionality as a pc.
You can write your own apps and distribute them freely. Apple doesn't charge for free apps.
Really, you're making things up here. Even if what you said were true, it would have nothing to do with what a computer is. Could anyone write apps for an IBM mainframe, and distribute them freely. Well, no. Is it a computer? Well, yes.
The distinction is clear. All Personal Computers today share a common characteristic: You can program a PC to perform a general purpose function of your own choosing without restrictions from the vendor. The PC is your computer to do as you wish.
The iPad fails by this measure. Apple's walled garden of applications is antithetical to the spirit of a general purpose computer. Any application you write for iPad may be denied by Apple.
Windows, OS X, Linux, Android...none of these have any vendor restrictions.
Moreover, all Web-enabled PCs have no vendor restrictions with regards to what Web content you may access. Of course, I'm referring to Adobe Flash.
Even more insane, iPad does not allow you to view QuickTime streaming video over RTSP, Apple's own proprietary protocol!
When it comes to the iPad, you can throw "general purpose" right out the window. It is not a PC.
You are so wrong on so many levels. What you are saying isn't even logical, besides not being correct.
This story seemed to be written with an axe to grind.
These studies arent saying that the iPad is unimportant or making any claims about relative features. Tablets were tallied in a separate category simply so that readers get a better indication of what is going on. When done reading the entire report, the reader knows exactly what is going on with the sales of all of these items. If they had been lumped together, the study would be less informative.
The iPad is not a "computer." except that it "computes" and does other "computer-like" things. If this strange not-a-computer gizmo has any effect on the sales of real computers remains to be seen, except that it already appears to be doing that.
Comments
Apple is not evil. In fact, I'm planning to buy a 27" iMac later this year to replace my Windows 7 machine. It's a great PC.
Love the iMacs. I actually had an original bondi blue 233mhz G3 model back then. After some machines inbetween, finally got another one in late 2006, the fabled original 24" C2D 2.16ghz model. Neither survived through the years but really don't regret either of them, good machines for their time.
But I'd still say the iPad is a computer.
Just because you can't currently write your own code on it (are you sure about this? You can create HTML and do word processing) doesn't mean someone won't eventually create the app for it. If you say its not a PC because Apple restricts that, well that's highly subjective. I could jailbreak it, write a coding app and use the iPad to write more code... is it now a PC? Is the difference as to what makes a PC, in your mind, based on what the OS manufacturer allows you to do?
By that definition, one could cherry pick almost any OS feature and say 'not having this feature means its not a PC'. At one point Windows didn't have many of the features it has today, does that mean that a Windows 2.0 based 386 PC is not a real PC? I could choose to say that because it didn't have multitasking because of software limits, it was not a real PC.
Wikipedia defines the iPad as a PC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer
"A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. PCs include any type of computer that is used in a "personal" manner."
and
"A personal computer may be a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet PC, or a handheld PC"
Good enough for me.
Steve Ballmer himself called it a PC. And if that's not definitive, I don't know what else is!
http://www.fool.com/investing/genera...d-is-a-pc.aspx
I dont see any proof PC sales were impacted by the iPad. PC sales at the end of 2009 were predicted to grow 12% in 2010 Gartner, they grew 13.8% according to Gartner. They went from 300 million in 2009 to 350 million in 2010.
Can you get rid of your computer and use nothing but an iPad?
Your numbers are deceptive. As you can see from the articles posted below, sales were strong early in the year, but slowed down dramatically as the year went on. Finally, it dropped 6.6% the last quarter in the USA (while Mac Sales were up 23% YOY).
Reasons given for the slowing of PC sales during the year is the iPad, as there were really no tablets around other than the Samsung for the past 2.5 months.
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/dat...4-Analysts.htm
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/jacks-b...ough-10021485/
A PC isn't defined by whether is needs to be hooked into something else for a few uses.
But, really, what it's called is irrelevant. Apple will sell between 25 and 40 million next year, and if it defines its own category, that's fine too.
I wouldn't class the iPad as a pc based on the fact it has artificial restrictions to determin its use. E.g You can't write your own apps and distribute them freely.
Because of this its different to a pc. In the same way an Xbox or Playstation arnt pcs despite the technical similarities.
A windows 7 based tablet however would be a pc as it has the same functionality as a pc.
You can write your own apps and distribute them freely. Apple doesn't charge for free apps.
Really, you're making things up here. Even if what you said were true, it would have nothing to do with what a computer is. Could anyone write apps for an IBM mainframe, and distribute them freely. Well, no. Is it a computer? Well, yes.
The distinction is clear. All Personal Computers today share a common characteristic: You can program a PC to perform a general purpose function of your own choosing without restrictions from the vendor. The PC is your computer to do as you wish.
The iPad fails by this measure. Apple's walled garden of applications is antithetical to the spirit of a general purpose computer. Any application you write for iPad may be denied by Apple.
Windows, OS X, Linux, Android...none of these have any vendor restrictions.
Moreover, all Web-enabled PCs have no vendor restrictions with regards to what Web content you may access. Of course, I'm referring to Adobe Flash.
Even more insane, iPad does not allow you to view QuickTime streaming video over RTSP, Apple's own proprietary protocol!
When it comes to the iPad, you can throw "general purpose" right out the window. It is not a PC.
You are so wrong on so many levels. What you are saying isn't even logical, besides not being correct.
These studies arent saying that the iPad is unimportant or making any claims about relative features. Tablets were tallied in a separate category simply so that readers get a better indication of what is going on. When done reading the entire report, the reader knows exactly what is going on with the sales of all of these items. If they had been lumped together, the study would be less informative.