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Do I Need a Desktop?

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  • but rather that they might not need anything that their phone can't deliver
    As I said before, power comes before need.

    You find some person living in a small town. Everything they need is within walking distance. They live happily walking everywhere. You offer them a car. They say they don't need the car. They have lived happily without the power and abilities a car provides for their whole lives.

    So you give them the car or force it on them. Eventually they drive somewhere. They discover that there's a whole world outside their small town, and the car gives them access to this world. They didn't know they needed the car because they had no understanding of the power. Once they had it, then it was transformed from a useless block of metal on wheels into a life necessity.

    The power to do has to come first. Only hardcore technologists and progressive people like myself want and know we need things that do not yet exist. Most people are satisfied with whatever it is they have and want no more. The only way to get them to want and need more is to force upon them powers they don't understand. Then when they use them they will finally understand they needed them all along.

    Just years ago it was common to hear people say they didn't need a mobile phone, a landline was fine. People would even say they didn't need a smartphone, that they just need to make calls. Now find for me a person who has a smartphone that doesn't need it. Only the people who have never had one will still say they don't need one.

    Power comes first. Give people all the power possible, even if they think they don't need it. They will discover that they do, and the world will move forwards.
  • edited January 2012
    But he has had a desktop before! He knows what a desktop offers already. And this isn't a permanent decision either. It's just that in the current state of his life, a new desktop seems like an unnecessary purchase. Because the things he used to use his desktop for can be done just as well, or better on his phone, or on a more convenient device, such as a laptop, or gaming console.
    Only hardcore technologists and progressive people like myself want and know we need things that do not yet exist.
    Then why haven't you played Dark Souls? >=(
    People would even say they didn't need a smartphone, that they just need to make calls. Now find for me a person who has a smartphone that doesn't need it. Only the people who have never had one will still say they don't need one.
    I had an iPhone. I didn't like it; making calls and texting was too many clicks, changing songs required me to take it out of my pocket. After a very short while I went back to using my old phone. I have a tablet that I always have on me that I use for smart phone-y things now, and I'm looking for a new phone that's more phone-y and less smart-y. Windows phone seems to be a good choice for this.
    Post edited by Aria on
  • edited January 2012
    Now find for me a person who has a smartphone that doesn't need it. Only the people who have never had one will still say they don't need one.
    I don't need my iPhone :P I *want* my iPhone, but I do not *need* it. Extra functionality is a nice creature comfort, but making/receiving calls is the only part that I actually need.
    Post edited by WarDead on
  • The funny thing is that desktops actually allow you to do LESS than mobile phones, even if simply by the virtue of being un-portable. You can do things more powerfully on a desktop, but they lack versatility. The Arab Spring isn't being fueled by powerful multicore desktops with 16 gigs of RAM, nor would it even be possible were that the more common model of computing. Sure, the videos they uploaded to youtube weren't in 1080p, but they were still part of one of the most significant collisions of technology and society.

    At a certain point, the power of your technological ability is irrelevant in comparison to the mere presence and ease of using that ability.
  • Making calls and texting is the same number of clicks as any other phone. It's only one more click than a regular phone since you have to open the dialer to get to the numpad. You can use the clicker on the headphone cable to change songs. You can also double tab the home button to instantly access the current music playing application from the lock screen. Sounds like you just didn't learn to use your phone. Just like a person who didn't learn to drive wouldn't discover the outside world even if you gave them a car.

    Lots of people now still have desktops who have not yet learned to compute. That is why they do not feel like they need a desktop. Even if I gave you a car, you wouldn't discover anything if you didn't learn to drive. Those of us who do know how to compute can't do without it because we are living in another world. The world outside the small town. We keep inviting you to come check it out, but people keep running back to the past. It's pretty lonely here in the future.
  • Just waste your money and be like me. Have them all and let them collect dust. It's the bestest way to be.

    (⌒-⌒; )
  • I, as a creator, need that power and bandwidth.

    You're right about the general future of technology for people without specialized needs. But we're nowhere near that for someone who works with, as one specific little example, video.

    I upload multi-gigabyte videos that I've edited locally. The raw masters of these are tens of Gigabytes. I generate about 200GB of video and audio from an average convention. I have over a Terrabyte of video and audio data currently in my house.

    To even begin to manage/edit that, I need it local. Even FIOS isn't fast enough to work with it remotely. I have a gigabit Ethernet connection to my local NAS, and also very large, fast local hard drives. I have a very powerful computer with a large amount of RAM, plus a large screen, to work with it. There is no other solution, nor will there be in the next several years.

    Even AUDIO requires real hardware. Pro audio devices are Firewire. Good luck recording audio on a phone or convincing the hardware market to cooperate and come up with a solution any time soon.
  • It's only one more click than a regular phone since you have to open the dialer to get to the numpad.
    That is too many. Texting is like 3 clicks. And none of them can be done without looking at the screen.
    You can use the clicker on the headphone cable to change songs.
    Didn't have that.
    You can also double tab the home button to instantly access the current music playing application from the lock screen.
    No one had that yet.
  • edited January 2012
    The headphones with clicker come included with the phone. Double tapping the home button has been on every iPhone I've ever had. I had the 3G the day it came out.

    For you people who aren't doing anything that requires serious computing power, I grant you that if you continue doing as you do, then you won't need powerful hardware. My question is, why aren't you doing anything that requires serious computing power?
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • edited January 2012
    But those headphones are bad! Alright, yes, I had the clicker. I didn't have the clicker on the headphones I used.

    Double click home to get music:
    I'm pretty sure the first iPhone didn't have that (on the first software version). Maybe I'm misremembering. But even with that, you still have to take it out of your pocket to switch songs. That is many more efforts than I'm willing to give for something that was instant on my old phone.
    Post edited by Aria on
  • I recently discovered the double tap of the home button with a slide to the right to access the brightness/volume/mute functions of the iPad. That is the best thing for me especially when I'm doing stuff with the iPad before I go to sleep in bed.
  • But those headphones are bad! Alright, yes, I had the clicker. I didn't have the clicker on the headphones I used.

    Double click home to get music:
    I'm pretty sure the first iPhone didn't have that (on the first software version). Maybe I'm misremembering. But even with that, you still have to take it out of your pocket to switch songs. That is many more efforts than I'm willing to give for something that was instant on my old phone.
    Oh, you had the very first iPhone? As in iPhone 1? Yeah, it sucked balls.
  • Even AUDIO requires real hardware. Pro audio devices are Firewire. Good luck recording audio on a phone or convincing the hardware market to cooperate and come up with a solution any time soon.
    Gorillaz recorded an album entirely on an iPad while on tour, it peaked at #24 on the US Top 200. Amazingly far from being the rule, but proves mobile hardware's viability within at least the music recording industry (which probably has the laxest requirements for audio quality oddly enough).

  • Yes, iPhone 1. Are the others really that different? I also have an iPad 2, my boyfriend has a newer iPhone, I honestly think they all feel the exact same, cept for the iPad being bigger and not lagging.
  • Yes, iPhone 1. Are the others really that different? I also have an iPad 2, my boyfriend has a newer iPhone, I honestly think they all feel the exact same, cept for the iPad being bigger and not lagging.
    The iPhone 1 didn't even have apps.
  • I, as a creator, need that power and bandwidth.

    You're right about the general future of technology for people without specialized needs. But we're nowhere near that for someone who works with, as one specific little example, video.

    I upload multi-gigabyte videos that I've edited locally. The raw masters of these are tens of Gigabytes. I generate about 200GB of video and audio from an average convention. I have over a Terrabyte of video and audio data currently in my house.

    To even begin to manage/edit that, I need it local. Even FIOS isn't fast enough to work with it remotely. I have a gigabit Ethernet connection to my local NAS, and also very large, fast local hard drives. I have a very powerful computer with a large amount of RAM, plus a large screen, to work with it. There is no other solution, nor will there be in the next several years.

    Even AUDIO requires real hardware. Pro audio devices are Firewire. Good luck recording audio on a phone or convincing the hardware market to cooperate and come up with a solution any time soon.
    Yes, specialized needs are not yet replaced. However, the progress in miniturization is quite astounding. I could see specialized handhelds in the future. Maybe a phone built with video editing in mind.


  • Yes, iPhone 1. Are the others really that different? I also have an iPad 2, my boyfriend has a newer iPhone, I honestly think they all feel the exact same, cept for the iPad being bigger and not lagging.
    The iPhone 1 didn't even have apps.
    Actually, the iPhone 1 did have apps. They were made available to it as soon as iOS 2.0 (or whatever they called it at the time) came out (I had an iPhone 1). The only difference between the iPhone 1 and iPhone 3G was, well, the 3G.

  • Yes, iPhone 1. Are the others really that different? I also have an iPad 2, my boyfriend has a newer iPhone, I honestly think they all feel the exact same, cept for the iPad being bigger and not lagging.
    The iPhone 1 didn't even have apps.
    Actually, the iPhone 1 did have apps. They were made available to it as soon as iOS 2.0 (or whatever they called it at the time) came out (I had an iPhone 1). The only difference between the iPhone 1 and iPhone 3G was, well, the 3G.

    I assumed that anyone with an iPhone 1 had it in the pre-3G days when it had no apps.

  • edited January 2012
    Scott, what do you think I have been using for the past 4 years? Evan gave me his original iPhone when he upgraded to the 3G.
    Yes, iPhone 1. Are the others really that different? I also have an iPad 2, my boyfriend has a newer iPhone, I honestly think they all feel the exact same, cept for the iPad being bigger and not lagging.
    I just upgraded from iPhone 1 to the 4s. It is CRAZY different. The original iPhone didn't have 3G, GPS, or the ability to run multiple apps. Also, I can TELL my phone to tell Pete something, and it will send him a text message for me. Very useful when driving.

    Post edited by Nuri on
  • That is true. Siri does make it so you don't need to look at the phone. You can tap the button on the headphone cord and tell it to do anything.
  • edited January 2012
    "SEND MY WIFE DIRECTIONS TO HELL!"

    EDIT: By the way, that doesn't actually work. But that'd be some awesome functionality. Siri is still pretty badass overall.
    Post edited by TheWhaleShark on
  • All this PC talk has me thinking about getting a new desktop...
  • All this PC talk has me thinking about getting a new desktop...
    Me too. I'm overhauling my rig when I get back in June. New GPU, six more hard drives, and I'll finally add an optical drive so I can start ripping every DVD in the house. Also gotta build me a HTPC for next year's housing.
  • I really just need to reformat mine. It's getting a bit slow and clunky.
  • I really just need to reformat mine. It's getting a bit slow and clunky.
    My laptop is acting up. No shady stuff on it, but startup time isn't what it used to be. I wonder if the X220 has built in system restore?

  • I assumed that anyone with an iPhone 1 had it in the pre-3G days when it had no apps.
    True, it didn't have apps when it first came out, but subsequent updates to the OS fixed that.

    I've also recently upgraded to the 4S, and I'm quite happy with it myself. Siri is becoming one of my favorite features.
  • Siri, what is love?
  • (Ding-Ding) Baby don't hurt me.
  • edited January 2012

    couldn't resist.
    Post edited by Hitman Hart on
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