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The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

contemporary-home-computing.org

171–180 of 186 posts

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#171
post #138

My 15-year old daughter just recently got her first desktop. Why? Well, because instead of just consuming (which she does on her phone) or doing homework (chromebook), she wanted to do video editing, and also drawing using a Wacom tablet. She found that the non-desktop options were just not that great. Had it been a passing fancy, no doubt she would have done without the desktop, but it wasn't, so she got a tricked o…

> My 15-year old daughter just recently got her first desktop. Why? Well, because instead of just consuming (which she does on her phone) or doing homework (chromebook), she wanted to do video editing, and also drawing using a Wacom tablet. She found that the non-desktop options were just not that great. My about-to-be-a-college-junior daughter has been creating for years on an iPad, and she's pretty good at it. She'…

Wacom now makes small, affordable tablet+display devices now. It's no longer "take out a second mortgage for a Cintiq" as your only option.

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#172
post #13

The home computer has been replaced with the iPhone. What boggles my mind is that the industry accepts Apple's restrictions on what kind of computing can happen, how their software can be distributed, and how their gross/margins are taxed. These devices have done a perverse thing to our field. Consumers love them, but fuck are they awful for freedom, business, and small time success. We used to build platforms in the…

Turns out the PC was an accident of history. Not an endpoint like some of us saw it, but simply an unfortunate stepping stone to the ultimate goal of making a really smart toaster. The end goal was never really to empower people, it was just to create a new market for rent-seeking via lock-in on a shiny new black box. No repairs allowed. No modding allowed. And you can go fuck yourself if you want the source code for…

I disagree. Micro-computing was not "intended" for anything, it just was and that's it.

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She's doing storyboarding-type work, and we did check into the iPad option first before getting the Wacom (which I think might be Intuos). It did not measure up. Of course, the iPad does all kinds of other stuff, but I think that might be the problem. The Wacom is made for drawing, and that's about it, and thus it is very good at it, apparently.

Ipad Pro, procreate, and if you really need to a paper-like sheet over it (various manufacturers).. it's 98% of what wacom experience is like (2% being the physical buttons). On the flip sode, taking your ipad pro out and drawing outside... A lot better than taking the portable wacom outside. I have decades now (shit, I'm old) experience with these tyoes of devices in professional settings. There are two classes now,…

That's the difference in a nutshell: I simply can't get comfortable with indirect drawing. Maybe with enough practice, but there's never been a forcing function to get that practice. It almost feels painful, to either look at my hand or look at the drawing.

Which leaves the Cintiq, and when I used one, I thought the screen quality couldn't touch the iPad, plus it's at least as expensive for a single-purpose tool. It wouldn't surprise me if the Cintiq's have caught up with iPad on that dimension now, my experience is about seven years out of date.

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#174
post #139

For the average person this might be kind true, however I can think of at least three places where desktop computers are very much cultural and symbolic: * “Gamers” or other enthusiasts with their battlestations [1] * Finace workstations with many monitors and Bloomberg terminals [2] * Potentially musician workstations as well [3] Any other niche ideas? [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/battlestations/ [2] https://images.…

Obviously software developers. If I would not be a software dev I would ditch laptop/computer and go with mobile phone alone. For day to day reading/banking/mailing all I need is there. I think I could go full mobile phone if I would have cloud server + cloud IDE because I can connect big screen to the phone with mouse and keyboard anyway. Only dev tools are not really accessible on Android/IOS. Having everything I n…

It's a pipe dream though because company revenues need people buying more devices, not less.

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#175
post #13

The home computer has been replaced with the iPhone. What boggles my mind is that the industry accepts Apple's restrictions on what kind of computing can happen, how their software can be distributed, and how their gross/margins are taxed. These devices have done a perverse thing to our field. Consumers love them, but fuck are they awful for freedom, business, and small time success. We used to build platforms in the…

Apple has ~20% smartphone marketshare worldwide. It's higher in the US, but the last numbers I saw put them <50%. In what world is that a monopoly?

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SpaceMouse works just fine on laptops, it's just kind of pointless when your software is pushing 15fps because of the shitty graphics card. You can't get Quattro cards on laptops, as far as I know. So anyone using CAD software regularly is stuck using desktops.

You can use an external GPU on a laptop though.

Lots of asterisks belong here. There are still a ton of compatibility issues, but when it works it can be a great option.

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like having my case light up with the temperature of the components. I've never succeeded making it anything but a deep green and it gives me a nice and fuzzy feeling, knowing that everything is at an optimal temperature while the fans lazily spin behind the tempered glass.

Ha! That's such a fantastic idea. I always keep my lights either off, or on white because I kind of dislike RGB lighting. I might have to look into this, did you use any specific software for this?

It is a setting in the nzxt control panel for me (I only used nzxt cooling components in my current build), but other manufacturers often have plugin architecture for the LED control, so it's usually not that hard to setup on others as well.

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha! That's such a fantastic idea. I always keep my lights either off, or on white because I kind of dislike RGB lighting. I might have to look into this, did you use any specific software for this?

It is a setting in the nzxt control panel for me (I only used nzxt cooling components in my current build), but other manufacturers often have plugin architecture for the LED control, so it's usually not that hard to setup on others as well.

Interesting, I inadvertently own both a Corsair case and RAM, so I might be able to make something neat happen. Thanks for the info!

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#179
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s wrong with 64 bit software?

Arguably, a lot of the same things that are wrong with 32 bit software. If we're being pedantic, both of them should still be supported: but they aren't.

Should it still support 16 bit software?

Re: The home computer as a cultural object is physically vanishing (2007)

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is honestly an absurd proposition. A 13 inch screen Ipad pro with a keyboard and 2TB of memory is $2500. Video editing is something you want power, and a lot of screen real estate, and a good form factor. Even with the GPU shortage, you can buy an extremely powerful, capable, video editing desktop with two large 27" monitors for $1k. Even before you consider limitations in sandboxing, multi-application usage, an…

There's nothing absurd about it, you're just looking for something to get mad about. Your reference to the so-called Apple Tax makes that perfectly clear. What I actually said is that I, personally, find it fabulous for video editing. I made it clear that I'm an amateur who doesn't make heavy use of any advanced features, and furthermore said that I'm sure that the daughter made the right choice for her . You blew in…

If you are suggesting that desktop computers will be replaced by tablets, I say NO. They are supplemented by them.

I have an earnest question, as I have had to resort to mounting an SMB share in “Files” app because iTunes is an insufferable PÓS: How can you access files on the device and transfer them to a computer, for example?

I think that proprietary platform limited software on iPad is not typically mature as a main video editor or DAW. I record audio and produce music, and while my iPhone and iPad are great for making midi sequences, and even though I CAN connect a usb audio interface, it’s clunky and the opposite of why I would use the device, aka on the train or away from home. I typically record my drum set or guitar or trumpet with a rather large setup involving a rackmount audio interface, hardware mic preamps of good quality, and let’s face it: drum sets are large.

I know many folks that use their tablet connected to their desktop DAW over the LAN to control parameters on a synth or effects processor. In live sound setups it’s a great remote. It’s not a replacement for a larger computer, and size and scale of peripherals and the tasks involved are large. The form factors have legitimately distinct purposes.

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