From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Jul 20 23:28:25 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5BA72106566B for ; Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:28:25 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from DStaal@usa.net) Received: from mail.magehandbook.com (173-8-4-45-WashingtonDC.hfc.comcastbusiness.net [173.8.4.45]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2D0628FC12 for ; Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:28:24 +0000 (UTC) Received: from [192.168.1.50] (Mac-Pro.magehandbook.com [192.168.1.50]) by mail.magehandbook.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 63FD7AE5 for ; Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:28:24 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:28:24 -0400 From: Daniel Staal To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: In-Reply-To: References: <375e5bcac1acd4b781ef97bd1718e689.squirrel@www.magehandbook.com> X-Mailer: Mulberry/4.0.8 (Mac OS X) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Subject: Re: 2020: Will BSD and Linux be relevant anymore? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: FreeBSD Questions List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:28:25 -0000 --As of July 20, 2011 5:45:49 PM -0400, David Jackson is alleged to have said: > but you also have scanners, cameras, joysticks, capture devices for video, > and so on that many common users love to use. A lot of people use > computers for writing, home and office business work, and gaming, and > given the choice between a 3" screen and a 20" screen, you want a 20" > screen. Even facebook is better on a 20" screen. > > I stand by what i said, mobile is great for use on a subway, but when you > get home, you really want a nice 20" screen to work on, and the bigger > hard drive and faster CPU. --As for the rest, it is mine. *All* of which can be connected to a tablet just as easily as a desktop. (Well, except for a faster CPU.) I know people who do so. Current tablets have USB, Bluetooth, and HDMI/Displayport. Can you do everything on a tablet that you can on a dedicated desktop? No. But you can do most of it, especially if the people writing the software and designing the add-ons know that's the market they have to work with. I don't think everyone will go to tablets. But I think it's going to be a larger market than you think, and I think they *will* displace some desktops and laptops. The perfect computing device would fit in a pocket, have a screen the size of your wall, have a full (and full-sized) keyboard, and your choice of pointing devices. It would be able to play any game you wanted to play, hold every movie and song ever recorded along with your entire lifetime's collection of documents, and be able to access the Internet from anywhere. It would only need to be recharged as often as you sleep. (And would be able to recharge anywhere.) Today, a tablet is closer to that then a desktop is. It's short on CPU and storage, and it doesn't have the battery life. It's also a little too big and not quite mobile enough. Several of those constraints can be worked around with a docking station/case. Smartphones have the mobility and Internet access, and nearly the charging/battery life, but are even more constrained on other issues. Daniel T. Staal --------------------------------------------------------------- This email copyright the author. Unless otherwise noted, you are expressly allowed to retransmit, quote, or otherwise use the contents for non-commercial purposes. This copyright will expire 5 years after the author's death, or in 30 years, whichever is longer, unless such a period is in excess of local copyright law. ---------------------------------------------------------------