I just wish all devices were more like PC's.<p>My desktop computer is a glorious, glorious device. I have millions of different bits of software for it, many operating systems, open source, proprietary, etcetera. It's all there. It really feels like my machine. If I don't want Windows, I blow it away and install Linux, BSD, Plan 9, code my own bootloader, whatever.<p>My laptop is a bit less so (can't find the perfect form factor for me, can't upgrade it, etc) but it's very similar. It's mine. I have spice, vnc, rdp, ssh, sftp, ftp, irc, <insert a million other things here regardless of whether I actually ever use them> as commandline tools that just work and aren't filled with adverts or in app purchases or 'please add this to your google account'.<p>Phones and tablets? Complete write off. My smartphone is basically a toaster. Android and iOS make what could be a general purpose computer into a Fisher Price experience. It's really sad to me.<p>I'd love a modern version of the Psion Series 5. The Pyra (<a href="https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/" rel="nofollow">https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/</a>) looks like a decent candidate. All I need is a Linux distribution with an API or commandline 'sms' and 'call' tool.<p>The mainstream is basically focused on creating a slightly more interactive version of a portable television, which I find deeply saddening.
I feel like the features proposed to make PC's 'cool' are all things that a power user isn't interested in or actively avoids.<p>My educated guess is that this won't win over the masses who love tablets and it will further alienate the PC core audience.
The article seems to be saying that PC makers are looking for some way to woo back tablet/mobile users to using PCs instead.<p>But tablet sales are flat too, aren't they?<p>Rather what they're looking for is to sell some reason for people to upgrade their 5 year old PC that still works fine. And all they can think of is "thinner" and crazy gimmicks.
When I was young, my Dad paid $4000AUD for a 486-DX clone. I can see the day coming where I'll have to pay that again to get a decent desktop.<p>Have you seen the low-end laptop market? 1366x768 and terrible build quality everywhere.<p>Everyone else might love their tablets and phones, but you can pry my desktop from my cold, dead hands.
Things a PC should be better than a laptop at:<p>1. Graphics power<p>2. CPU power<p>3. RAM<p>4. Size (smaller)<p>5. Any/all of the above<p>(Storage wasn't included in that list as who hasn't already externalised all storage?)<p>I'm seriously considering not buying another laptop and instead purchasing an Intel NUC.<p>I've got to that point where owning a laptop has led me to have a NAS, a decent DAC and stereo, a big panel for viewing films... aside from web browsing it feels like the things I do on my laptop are not in the laptop's sweet spot (gaming, graphics, video editing, encoding, compiling, spinning up VMs and dockers, etc).<p>Then I look at my full-size keyboard, my external display that is better than the laptop display and I wonder why I have a laptop. A machine that is compromised in every way to make it portable when I barely take it anywhere (and always will have a work laptop I do work trips with, and a smartphone for recreation trips).<p>I'd rather a tiny, but powerful, silent PC.<p>I view my primary PC (the laptop presently) as disposable... because I've externalised storage, display, audio... I feel I just want a small powerful generalised computing machine. Nothing more.<p>PS: If anyone can recommend something not far from the NUC in size, but with higher CPU + RAM capabilities, and potentially that looks aesthetically pleasing then I'm all ears.<p>PPS: Not the Mac Mini, it's ugly, has a large footprint, tops out at 16GB (costs a lot to get there) and all of the ports seem very outdated. More towards a Mac Pro in CPU and RAM, but with a lower price tag and can run Linux (or whatever) without sulking. The NUC for me would be a cheap stop-gap until something like this emerges.
Windows laptop makers should really concentrate on fixing the simple things first, since currently they are actively trying to drive people away from their products. My last HP Spectre x360 with Windows 8.1 (and now Windows 10) was an absolute disappointment:<p>- it couldn't connect to my Fritzbox WLAN router (very mainstream here in Germany) unless I installed an old Intel driver from 2014, the last time this happened to me was 10 years ago when trying to install Linux on a laptop<p>- the touchpad is barely usable since it uses some crappy 3rd party driver (Synaptics), sometimes the touchpad simply stops recognizing gestures, and the Synaptics control panel has a "Reset" button which must be pressed in this case<p>- the keyboard tends to ignore the second keystroke if the same key is pressed quickly in succession<p>- HighDPI displays on Windows machines are useless since at least half of the tools (even Microsoft's own VC runtime installers) are upscaled and the upscaling quality is really terrible<p>- plus it had the usual amount of crapware preinstalled (including completely useless custom driver update and customer support tools)<p>My current Asus Zenbook is slightly better, but still has a crappy 3rd party touchpad driver.<p>With this situation, it is no wonder that people are moving away from laptops and Windows.
Speculating from a single anecdote, I have a nontechnical friend that switched to using a smartphone instead of a PC.<p>Part of it is that the smartphone can do everything they need from a computer. Browsing the internet, messaging and email, etc. But that answer alone isn't very satisfying, because even when doing nontechnical stuff on a smartphone, like browsing reddit or watching youtube, I find it very inconvenient compared to a desktop.<p>I think the real reason is, when she needed to use her computer for something, it took 15 minutes to start up. That's super inconvenient. People talk about how small 15 second delays can discourage behavior and cause frustration. 15 minutes is just ridiculous, and really discourages using the thing unless you really need to.<p>I installed a pure copy of windows 7 on an old computer recently. Nothing installed on it at all, no connection to the internet, nothing put on it by the manufacturer. And the specs weren't that good. Yet it took 30 seconds to boot up. I was amazed, I didn't think that was possible for a modern PC. Even my phone takes longer to boot up.
Hah, I need a huge 4K screen and a full size keyboard to do programming. I only use a laptop when I travel, and even then I bring along a full size bluetooth keyboard. (I had to look through endless lists of Bluetooth keyboards before I finally found one, and only one, that was full size.)<p>And I want an even bigger screen! I'd like one the size of my desk, with retina pixel density.
Saying phones are stealing market share from PCs is like saying that shoes are stealing market share from cars because people spend more time wearing shoes than driving cars. They're different devices with different purposes. Phones are OK for media consumption but terrible for anything creative (other than maybe photography.)
The pen-portrait of the nested computers was fine. I looked around a bit for a photo or a movie, but to no avail. I guess that's not the kind of news that the NYT likes to report. But I'm not a paying subscriber, so I guess I can't complain.