End of PeeCees?

[Jules Richardson]

Chuck Guzis wrote:
> On today's BBC "Analysis", there's a little segment on the issue of
> personal computers being obsolete because of the rise of The Internet.
> Supposedly, we're going to be using our televisions or mobile phones in
> place of them.  The whole segment hinges on the statement of MS that the
> desktop PC is dead and that the future is The Internet and we'd all better
> get used to it.

What I don't get is that even if a standard TV was of sufficient resolution to 
support computer apps (AFAIK it's not, even with the high definition stuff 
that's coming out), surely watching TV is typically a social activity whilst 
using a computer tends to be a private one. Who the hell wants to sit in the 
lounge using the TV to surf and read email, with other household members 
peering over their shoulder?

Sure, a TV and a computer has a display (heck, can't even just say 'CRT' any 
more), but that's about as far as the similarity goes.

Ahh well, fingers crossed MS will invest heavily in it, nobody will buy it, 
and they'll go bankrupt ;)  (more likely, MS will invest heavily in it, 
everyone will buy it and because MS says it's good, and then everyone will be 
pissed off but it'll be too late by then...)

I still can't get my head around anyone wanting a (low quality) camera on 
their phone. Internet on the TV - you must be joking!

> So, for someone who doesn't watch television and can't see the screen on a
> mobile, is there any better platform than a desktop PC?

SGI or Sun workstation [1] (assuming you mean 'PC' in the modern sense) :-)

[1] Although 'workstation' these days means a piece of wood that you put your 
workstation on ;)

> I don't know if this is off-topic because MS's announcement is supposedly
> of Momentous Import and reflects a change in the way we do things.

Remember the hype over thin clients? :-)  (well, the second time around - X 
terminals actually did that job pretty well, but the thin client nonsense of 
the late 90's was bollocks)

cheers

Jules