[Discuss] Future of Personal Computers

[mark at buttery.org (Shirley Márquez Dúlcey)]

On 3/13/2012 6:26 AM, markw at mohawksoft.com wrote:
>
> Here's a use case:
> Imagine a writer writing a book or article, or even a blog. He doesn't
> care about technology. He uses a blue tooth keyboard and mouse (hell,
> maybe not even a mouse) he types his book just as he would a laptop. He
> researches the web, he uses it for email, skype, etc. All things a tablet
> can mostly do right now. He flies or takes the train, he can hold the
> tablet and edit the copy conveniently without a keyboard.
>
> Gets in the office, props the tablet on a stand, it's his main computer.
>
> Who needs the laptop?

If the writer's main use case is writing, a device with an attached 
keyboard will be more convenient than a Bluetooth keyboard. Only one 
piece to carry instead of two or three. Touchscreens are also lousy for 
editing; they're not sufficiently precise to place the cursor exactly 
where you want it, so you really want a mouse or touchpad.

A tablet is a great device for consuming media. But it's really not so 
great for producing it; the inputs are too limited. I don't think that's 
going to change any time soon, and people whose main job is producing 
content will stay with other computing devices. Laptops didn't replace 
desktops for everybody, and tablets aren't going to completely replace 
either of them.