The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones • Hacker News Board

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#111

Post by shocks » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:02 PM UTC

gtaylor wrote: post #30

usaphp wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

~$1,000 sounds quite cheap for a gaming machine which can still run any modern game at highest settings. I remember I built mine at about the same time (2010) for $2500, top notch video card, fastest cpu, lots of ram, but its 2013 now and I can not say that it runs any modern game at highest settings.

It was surprisingly easy. I'm not saying you over-paid, but for $2,500 I could have built something pretty ridiculous. Most of my money went into processor and GPU, which are typically your two big ticket items. I trolled around Newegg looking for upper-middle tier components with a higher quantity of good reviews. A lot of the times you won't see a lot of the recently released stuff with useful reviews, so some of t…

Post your specs to give your post some legitimacy… I hope you didn't skimp out on your motherboard…

2010 $1000 rig running all 2013 AAA titles at the highest settings sounds unlikely to me…

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#112

Post by jonny_eh » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:03 PM UTC

fsck--off wrote: post #68

evo_9 wrote: post #35

The PC is dead, it's just not dead for computer professionals, and never will be. But for the rest of the world - think mom, dad, gramps,grammy - why on earth do the need the headaches of a full PC (mac or windows)? A good tablet is basically enough for almost everyone else.

Anecdotally, I've found that "non-technical users" have trouble adjusting to any new UI, including Apple laptops, phones and tablets. For them the choice is between keeping an old computer, on which they already know how to send emails and compose documents, and buying a new tablet on which they will need to learn a whole new set of UI idioms. In addition, physical keyboards and larger screens (and no "ipad neck") ma…

Add Windows 8 to that, and oh boy, there's a lot of tears. My aunt's laptop died so I bought her a new one. Every time I talk to her she's complaining about the Windows 8 UI. She still hasn't figured out how to do some tasks she would do before with Windows Vista (which she had no problem with).

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#113

Post by simba-hiiipower » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:04 PM UTC

Of course PC sales will be low. When you don't have enough memory, you buy more RAM. When your processor is too slow, buy a new CPU, or you get a new heat sink and over clock it. You rarely have the need to buy a whole new box.

i agree that the increased (functional) life of pcs is a contributing factor to slowing unit sales, but its laughable to attribute it to the idea that people who once would have bought a new pc are now just buying more ram and upgrading internals.

the percentage of people who would have any idea how to do that, or even consider it as a viable option, is far to small to have any real impact on demand..

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#114

Post by shocks » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:05 PM UTC

gohrt wrote: post #93

usaphp wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

~$1,000 sounds quite cheap for a gaming machine which can still run any modern game at highest settings. I remember I built mine at about the same time (2010) for $2500, top notch video card, fastest cpu, lots of ram, but its 2013 now and I can not say that it runs any modern game at highest settings.

Modern games are gated by GPU, not CPU. Except a rare one like Dwarf Fortress.

Not true. ARMA or BF3/4 multiplayer on large maps can choke your CPU with ease.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#115

Post by downandout » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:06 PM UTC

If everyone adopted the attitude of the author of this blog, all innovation everywhere in the world would cease instantly because, for most of us in the developed world, everything is good enough already. There are many points throughout computing history at which existing hardware was overkill for the things that we were asking our computers to do. Had we stopped innovating because of that, the world wouldn't be anywhere near where it is today.

In high school I recall lusting after a $4,500 486DX2 66Mhz machine with an astounding 16MB (not GB) of RAM, and a 250MB hard drive. A few months ago I spent a little less than that on a laptop with 2,000X that amount of RAM, 8,000X that amount of hard drive space, and a processor that would have not so long ago been considered a supercomputer.

I for one am glad that we have continued to innovate, even when things were good enough.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#116

Post by wainstead » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:07 PM UTC

When we speak of PCs versus smartphones or tablets we're talking a lot about form factor and portability. I imagine a day when my smartphone has more horsepower than the best desktop today and it can drive a huge 4K monitor while streaming petabits at a time. You'll only need one device and it will be the CPU to all your interfaces.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#117

Post by mahyarm » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:07 PM UTC

simonsarris wrote: post #96

I've felt this way since I built my last desktop in 2008. I was sort-of waiting for the "gee its time to upgrade" mark to roll around in 3 or 4 years, but it hasn't happened yet. Any games I want to play it still runs very well, and it still feels very fast to me even compared to modern off-the-shelf systems. When my friends ask for laptop-buying advice I tell them if they like the keyboard and screen, then its just…

I'm starting to see a trend of tablets-as-laptops where people have a case that integrates a keyboard and they type their papers or whatever else on their iPads or other types of tablets.

Having a 1.5 or 2 pound laptop, with a 12 hour battery life that you can detach the keyboard from for $300 is a much better form factor than the current typical laptop. Many of these tablets also come with wacom pen digitizers or touch, allowing a creative input that is missing in many laptop form factors.

Also you can still create web-apps and other such things with things like node.js and so on android tablets today. Javascript really is the BASIC of this generation.

I won't be surprised to see full IDEs that could be viable in creating general purpose apps in near future. I really think Android & iOS will eventually become the next 'desktop' OS with a full suite of apps as powerful as the current desktop set of applications. Concerns about tablets as consumption only devices will go away probably within the next decade as the world transitions to these 'mobile' OSes.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#118

Post by mattl » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:08 PM UTC

fallingmeat wrote: post #16

Thinkpad T60 purchased (refurb!) in 2007. Still a rock solid machine. It does get a little warm though..

T60 will even run coreboot, if you fancy putting an SSD in there, you'd have near instant boot.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#119

Post by ye » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:08 PM UTC

simonsarris wrote: post #96

I've felt this way since I built my last desktop in 2008. I was sort-of waiting for the "gee its time to upgrade" mark to roll around in 3 or 4 years, but it hasn't happened yet. Any games I want to play it still runs very well, and it still feels very fast to me even compared to modern off-the-shelf systems. When my friends ask for laptop-buying advice I tell them if they like the keyboard and screen, then its just…

You're just not playing the latest games or doing any intensive computations, or just don't care that you could finish your task 3 times faster than on your 2008 CPU.

What's your framerate in Battlefield 3 on a 64 player map at 1920x1080, high settings? Or Crysis 3?

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#120

Post by maxmem » Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 6:09 PM UTC

justincormack wrote: post #108

simonsarris wrote: post #96

I've felt this way since I built my last desktop in 2008. I was sort-of waiting for the "gee its time to upgrade" mark to roll around in 3 or 4 years, but it hasn't happened yet. Any games I want to play it still runs very well, and it still feels very fast to me even compared to modern off-the-shelf systems. When my friends ask for laptop-buying advice I tell them if they like the keyboard and screen, then its just…

I would pay for a silent PC. I paid a lot for a quiet Apple PowerPC Mac pro back in the day and built a quiet PC but they are not silent and I have moved to a quieter place and I can hear them (yes the Mac runs Fedora now). I have some silent ARM machines but they don't quite cut it yet though maybe the new quad core one will.

There are passive coolers for i7s out there. You can even find passively cooled GPUs and PSUs. It's pretty cheap to build a silent pc.