Hardware is dead • Hacker News Board

Re: Hardware is dead

#91

Post by ghshephard » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 7:43 PM UTC

bigdubs wrote: post #69

thaumaturgy wrote: post #7

Hardware is dead; long live hardware. The free-fall in PC prices in the 90s "killed" the PC, except that every major PC manufacturer still sells high-end models, and retailers still make money on them. The free-fall in automotive prices in the 20s "killed" the automobile, except that people kept buying faster, sleeker, newer models anyway. Like so many other electronics and everyday devices, the commoditization of ta…

So not to be that dude, but ... "The King is dead, long live the King." refers to the accession of a new monarch. It implies in the language an immediate, uninterrupted rule of the line. It should not be used when something has died, and it's just dead and there is no implied line of succession. A terrible but relevant example would be "the iPhone is dead, long live the iPhone.", implying that the 4s is dead and 5 no…

Except that the iPhone 4S (and iPhone 4) - are very much alive. I'm sure if we look we can come up with a relevant example - but, regardless of how we look at it, the meta point "The old reign is gone, but the new reign begins, ensuring uninterrupted persistence" - is quite likely true of hardware. Every generation or so, the themes associated with hardware will die, but they will be replaced with new ones.

Re: Hardware is dead

#92

Post by ghshephard » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 7:43 PM UTC

thaumaturgy wrote: post #71

bigdubs wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So not to be that dude, but ... "The King is dead, long live the King." refers to the accession of a new monarch. It implies in the language an immediate, uninterrupted rule of the line. It should not be used when something has died, and it's just dead and there is no implied line of succession. A terrible but relevant example would be "the iPhone is dead, long live the iPhone.", implying that the 4s is dead and 5 no…

Whoops; thank you. I didn't know that.

Don't give in so quickly - your use was fine, and in keeping with the concept of "X is Dead, Long Live X"

Re: Hardware is dead

#93

Post by robomartin » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 7:48 PM UTC

Let's make an important clarification here: When the word "hardware" is used in this article (and this thread) it is really to mean "commodity consumer hardware". There's far more to the hardware business than what you can buy at BestBuy or Walmart. That said, even industrial and specialty hardware is under pricing pressure in markets where reasonable volumes can be had.

That's the secret, really. Any market where product can be manufactured in volume is a market that can be targeted by the benefits provided by the Chinese manufacturing machine. Limited volume products are not a good fit for this system.

That said, I don't really understand the surprise or revelation perhaps implied by the author. What is so special about a tablet? In terms of the hardware involved and the manufacturing process, well, nothing. Absolutely nothing. A tablet is no different than any other electronic device.

And, yes, while a stereo amplifier or a CATV tuner use different components, a tablet is subject to exactly the same manufacturing process and obeys the same economic rules. Any product that can be manufactured in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions of units per month will, eventually, race for the bottom in terms of pricing. This does not necessarily equate to lower quality.

The question that we should really be asking is: Why are we paying so much for tablets in the US?

Re: Hardware is dead

#94

Post by gmrple » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 7:52 PM UTC

noonespecial wrote: post #85

pyre wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah. I mis-understood you on the touch screen part. You made a web interface that you access via cheap tablets. I was thinking that you were replacing physical switches with wall-mounted mini touchscreens.

Yes. That's really where the magic comes from. We've had model controller and view smashed together poorly in single purpose devices for so long, it takes a bit of a mental reorientation to understand that a light switch even has a M, a V, and a C. Once you do though, you get the awesomeness of programming together your lights, security system, and garage door opener into one view with a software "controller" that ca…

What do you mean by "...has a M, a V, and a C."?

Re: Hardware is dead

#95

Post by telcodud » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 8:06 PM UTC

gmrple wrote: post #94

noonespecial wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. That's really where the magic comes from. We've had model controller and view smashed together poorly in single purpose devices for so long, it takes a bit of a mental reorientation to understand that a light switch even has a M, a V, and a C. Once you do though, you get the awesomeness of programming together your lights, security system, and garage door opener into one view with a software "controller" that ca…

What do you mean by "...has a M, a V, and a C."?

Model-view-controller. Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model%E2%80%93view%E2%80%93cont...

Re: Hardware is dead

#96

Post by happycube » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 8:15 PM UTC

dholowiski wrote: post #62

A $45 knock off tablet, bought in China miles from the manufacturer doesn't equate to a $45 price tag in the USA. Put a brand name on it (and some quality control), put in the 8 or 16gb the market requires (this tablet was 4gb) and shipping and import fees, and you're easily up to the $200 we're paying today. This is a non-story.

More like $75-100 in the US. Search for Allwinner on Amazon, filter to fufilled by Amazon/Prime items, and there are a few offers for 7" tablets and mini PC's. I just got an mini PC that I'm going to play with tonight (assuming it actually works ;) )

Re: Hardware is dead

#97

Post by tomjen3 » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 8:20 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #38

I guess the key will become content. Tablet makers will want to be "the only tablet that can do X" where X won't necessarily be a technical hardware feature but rather a deal made with a content producer to be the only platform for their content to be distributed on. That way you can sell devices at a huge markup despite the hardware being identical to lower end models.

They may want that, but lets see what happen when somebody ships the only tablet that can do BitTorrent.

Re: Hardware is dead

#98

Post by dgregd » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 8:23 PM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #80

thaumaturgy wrote: post #7

Hardware is dead; long live hardware. The free-fall in PC prices in the 90s "killed" the PC, except that every major PC manufacturer still sells high-end models, and retailers still make money on them. The free-fall in automotive prices in the 20s "killed" the automobile, except that people kept buying faster, sleeker, newer models anyway. Like so many other electronics and everyday devices, the commoditization of ta…

Came here to say exactly that. Markets are zombies and dollars are brains. But the title is less thrilling than "Ok everyone knows how to make a tablet now, that won't be a high margin business." In this case margin being the proxy for expertise in putting together a tablet. But there actually is a story here which VentureBeat came so close too and missed, the cost of compute. Even in the 80's when I went to work for…

What about AMD, should they copy ARM business model to compete with Intel in desktop market? Or maybe AMD is too similar to Intel and cannot adapt ARM licence model due to its internal costs structure? (Innovator's Dilemma)

Re: Hardware is dead

#99

Post by happycube » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 8:25 PM UTC

diminish wrote: post #25

thaumaturgy wrote: post #7

Hardware is dead; long live hardware. The free-fall in PC prices in the 90s "killed" the PC, except that every major PC manufacturer still sells high-end models, and retailers still make money on them. The free-fall in automotive prices in the 20s "killed" the automobile, except that people kept buying faster, sleeker, newer models anyway. Like so many other electronics and everyday devices, the commoditization of ta…

Actually Intel's ultrabook rebranding was also a clever step to make laptops expensive/more profitable again, while they were in a free spiral fall due to (Taiwan's)Acer's netbooks. That said, hardware will only be dead if US companies give up on producing hardware, and it becomes commodity produced elsewhere, similar to clothing manufactured; only Apple will remain the Prada of hardware.

Add a keyboard(/trackpad?) case to one of these 7" tablets and you pretty much get the original Asus netbook concept, only faster, cheaper, and more versatile.

Re: Hardware is dead

#100

Post by diminish » Mon, Sep 17, 2012, 8:29 PM UTC

Hardware will die, when web sites or apps will give them for free (as a true commodity). Imagine, you get a nexus tablet when you sign up for Gmail or Google Apps.