Is the end nigh? PC market freefall accelerates.

[ebola]

The worrying thing about this is software , not hardware

if you go back to 1995 and tell me that in 2020, all computers will have 4gb ram and fit in your pocket and have 4 2ghz cores. I'd quite happy with that vision of the future. if i want even more power, i just fill more pockets..

The problem is that people are buying far fewer 'real computers' and instead buying locked down consumer devices. (i know android can be rooted.. but you need a 'real computer' to do it)

Ubuntu touch with desktop convergance is really interesting but I doubt it will catch on.

 

[UniversalTruth]

The sad truth is that people will buy what you tell or force them to buy!

 

[tuna]

The sad truth is that people will buy what you tell or force them to buy!

I do not agree so it can't be the truth then.

 

[ebola]

The sad truth is that people will buy what you tell or force them to buy!

people can make short term decisions that aren't in their best interest in the long term. Voluntarily allowing others to centralize control, then they become controlled & superfluous.

 

[tuna]

people can make short term decisions that aren't in their best interest in the long term. Voluntarily allowing others to centralize control, then they become controlled & superfluous.

Oh, did you just realize this?

 

[ebola]

Oh, did you just realize this?

its a subtle difference.

People certainly aren't *forced* to buy phones instead of computers.

 

[Blazkowicz]

The sad truth is that people will buy what you tell or force them to buy!

Go buy a Microsoft Surface RT. It's in your interest.. or else, who knows what could happen to you. Also you will spend $100/month on freemium games, preferably the ransomware ones that put many roadblocks and/or slow your gameplay down by 50x.

I'll come back to check in a few monthes, and if you complied I'll make the greatest freemium game ever and will make it available to you.

 

[eastmen]

its a subtle difference.

People certainly aren't *forced* to buy phones instead of computers.

But they are. People don't carry their computer around with them so it doesn't act as a status symbol .

When people see that apple logo on the back of a persons phone that is a status symbol .

So if you want to be cool then you need that device.

Its no different than people wearing $300 beats head phones even though a $50 pair of jbl would put out similar sound. The big b on the head phones is what makes people cool.

 

[tuna]

But they are. People don't carry their computer around with them so it doesn't act as a status symbol .



When people see that apple logo on the back of a persons phone that is a status symbol .



So if you want to be cool then you need that device.



Its no different than people wearing $300 beats head phones even though a $50 pair of jbl would put out similar sound. The big b on the head phones is what makes people cool.

I think apple phones are to common to be a status symbol. Also, they ARE really nice.

 

[ebola]

But they are. People don't carry their computer around with them so it doesn't act as a status symbol .

When people see that apple logo on the back of a persons phone that is a status symbol .

So if you want to be cool then you need that device.

people are forced to want to be cool?
This is just herd mentality - a majority decides what is "cool" . Marketing doesn't tell people how to think - it acheives power by resonating with how they naturally think.. Predicting what they want before they realised it themselves.

You cant say the desire to be "cool" is something forced - it is an emergent phenomenon.

The sad fact here is.. The majority have decided that they just dont need general purpose computers

Open moko was out there.. The Ubuntu phone project is out there.. Etc. we could have real pocket computers just waiting fora docking station but people dont want it

 

[UniversalTruth]

people are forced to want to be cool?

yes, because otherwise the society will throw them out of it, and that's exactly what happens to people who think differently.

This is just herd mentality - a majority decides what is "cool"

You are weird - people just follow what the fashion is, and that fashion is hugely influenced by the media and other methods for manipulation.

Marketing doesn't tell people how to think - it acheives power by resonating with how they naturally think.. Predicting what they want before they realised it themselves

Actually, marketing does something different - takes from people the ability to think and thinks instead of them, so, when this quality is absent, people just take what you show them, what you tell them... etc

oh, and good point about the resonating - I guess people's mentality is so easy to be manipulated, that what they are doing is exactly to make people want what they want...

It's not like I didn't have childhood with no phones, no internet, no computers! And I was happy! Now I am not so much! Exactly because of this too much technology bullshit around me.

 

[silent_guy]

People are willing to pay a bit more money for, what they think, is the best product. What a concept.

If you're not happy with technology around you, then get rid of it. What are you doing on this forum?

 

[ebola]

You are weird - people just follow what the fashion is, and that fashion is hugely influenced by the media and other methods for manipulation.

you dont understand how media influence works.

IF you tell people what they want to hear.
IF show people what they want to see
- THEN they follow you.

'they' dont so much manipulate the masses through the media - 'they' knew how to invent or deliver what you wanted, better than any rivals.

Computers used to be for us geeks. Then they became mainstream with the internet.. but you know what, most people still dont really want them. they just want to share photos, watch films etc etc.

Actually, marketing does something different - takes from people the ability to think and thinks instead of them, so, when this quality is absent, people just take what you show them, what you tell them... etc

nope. People have questioned their elders, rebelled etc for ages.
Thinking is hard work. the brain is an energy intensive organ.
People avoid it if they can

just like they use a car instead of walking, if they can.

oh, and good point about the resonating - I guess people's mentality is so easy to be manipulated, that what they are doing is exactly to make people want what they want...

It's not like I didn't have childhood with no phones, no internet, no computers! And I was happy! Now I am not so much! Exactly because of this too much technology bullshit around me.

That's just rose tinted spectacles.

There's one concrete difference between 2014 and the 1980's though, that would be the cause of anyones misery:-
There's 3billion extra people to divide the land between, and less fossil fuels left in the ground.
But life would be a lot worse without the tech.

 

[UniversalTruth]

There is hard concrete evidence that happiness levels from 1950s till now are in constant decline... that is because we go further and further away from the natural us as more things become artificial!

perhaps you are partially right about the 'if then' case but don't forget that people also have no choice, in some cases they just follow you because of lack of choice...

see, for example, the lack of any innovations in the PC sector, many people say what should be done in order to at least try to improve things but those excuse themselves that the priorities are somewhere else!

 

[dobwal]

They need to refocus on the desktop. There are few reasons even for gamers to upgrade from a sandy bridge era cpu to an ivy bridge. Haswell doesn't look to give many more reasons either.

They have really stoped the advancements at the higher end for lower power requirements at the low end.

Its sad that I will be able to buy a phone with an 8 core cpu in it before I can buy an 8 core intel cpu

No point. Personal computing is simply diversifying. Nothing MS can do about that reality other than make Windows more attractive in other form factors.

More PC gamers upgrading to higher end cpus will change nothing as there is not enough of them to drive 100s of million in annual unit sales.

Instead of MS wasting its time trying to offer an all in one GUI, it would be better off offering distinct and separate GUIs that cater to each market segment. Let the user pick at install what GUI they prefer with the ability to transition back and forth at a whim afterwards.

Might not make sense to allow a mobile phone to run a traditional desktop GUI under the current circumstance. But mobile phones if not now will in the future be capable of acting as mobile desktops. Bluetooth keyboard/mouse and an interfacing to a 20-30 inch display will probably make users call for something more than Window phone 8 type GUI.

Providing a desktop like experience will never die. That experience being driven by a big box under or on your desk probably will for most home users.

 

[Grall]

There is hard concrete evidence that happiness levels from 1950s till now are in constant decline... that is because we go further and further away from the natural us as more things become artificial!

Non sequitur fallacy detected. I seriously doubt the 1950s were the least bit more natural compared to today's society. Both decades are utterly alien compared to the lives human beings have lived for more than 998 of the last 1000 centuries of our existence. Also, [Citation needed] regarding alledged 'happyness levels'. What's your source for this? Sounds like hearsay.

 

[Blazkowicz]

Nostalgy used to be better..

 

[UniversalTruth]

Grall, you can easily google using 'happiness level 1950s' and see by yourself the results

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/4771908.stm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100311073603AArMfun
http://consumer.org.my/index.php/tips/personal-finance/381-more-wealth-less-happiness
http://web.missouri.edu/ikerdj/papers/St Cloud MN- Econ of Happiness.htm#_ednref3

Since the 1950s, however, as we have become increasingly disconnected, continuing increases in wealth have failed to bring further increases in happiness. A growing body of scientific research, including a recent article in the prestigious Science journal, confirms that the supposed link between wealth and happiness is largely an illusion.[3] The Positive Psychology Center of the University of Pennsylvania provides a number of credible references and resources supporting the proposition that beyond some very modest level of income, a person’s happiness depends far more on the quality of their personal relationships and their sense of purpose and meaning in life than on their level of income or wealth.

http://youtu.be/gLBE5QAYXp8?t=15m44s

 

[eastmen]

people are forced to want to be cool?
This is just herd mentality - a majority decides what is "cool" . Marketing doesn't tell people how to think - it acheives power by resonating with how they naturally think.. Predicting what they want before they realised it themselves.

You cant say the desire to be "cool" is something forced - it is an emergent phenomenon.

The sad fact here is.. The majority have decided that they just dont need general purpose computers

Open moko was out there.. The Ubuntu phone project is out there.. Etc. we could have real pocket computers just waiting fora docking station but people dont want it

I guess you never went to high school ?

My little cousin got lumia icon and was made fun of at school because it wasn't an iPhone or a Samsung.

I had a few co workers make fun of me when I bought a surface pro , they laughed that i'd spend 1k on a Microsoft product when I could have gotten a mac air.

Of course they stopped laughing when they saw what it could do.


But marketing and the need to fit in play very big parts of peoples lives. There is a reason why every single beats by dre advert features celebs . This was a company that didn't even exist 5 years ago and no their head phones are very where even though the quality of them are quite poor compared to other products out there at even lower prices.



Like I said , a pc can't be a status symbol because you don't carry it around with you constantly. But clothing , watches , cars , cell phones those are all status symbols and its why people constantly invest in them.


Of course the iphones are stagnating and the galaxy s5 seems to have hit a brick wall , so I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing cell phones slow down in sales also.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I guess you never went to high school ?

My little cousin got lumia icon and was made fun of at school because it wasn't an iPhone or a Samsung.

I had a few co workers make fun of me when I bought a surface pro , they laughed that i'd spend 1k on a Microsoft product when I could have gotten a mac air.

Of course they stopped laughing when they saw what it could do.


But marketing and the need to fit in play very big parts of peoples lives. There is a reason why every single beats by dre advert features celebs . This was a company that didn't even exist 5 years ago and no their head phones are very where even though the quality of them are quite poor compared to other products out there at even lower prices.



Like I said , a pc can't be a status symbol because you don't carry it around with you constantly. But clothing , watches , cars , cell phones those are all status symbols and its why people constantly invest in them.


Of course the iphones are stagnating and the galaxy s5 seems to have hit a brick wall , so I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing cell phones slow down in sales also.

Pc's used to be a status symbol. It's not that long ago most households didn't even had a pc and when they got one i'd often be in the living room and if somebody bought a new one it would always get some attention during parties etc. Obviously now everybody's got multiple pc's/laptops and nobody cares anymore as it's not special anymore.

You are correct about marketing being important but it also very much depends on the social circle you are in. For example if I look at me and my friends we don't really care what somebody buys. We buy what we like/suits our needs/budget. OTOH my ex see was pretty set on getting an iphone after the contract on her s3 runs out because the people at her work all had apple products as well even though for her i'd probably be a worse product as she has terrible eyesight and would probably benefit from having a bigger screen.