This is true.
Moreover, definitions don't need to based on any sort of objective criteria in order to be relevant in the market. We tend to buy as much based on want, feeling, emotion, as we do on utilitarian need.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Poised to Become World's Top-Selling PC Vendor with Tablets Included
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is true.
Moreover, definitions don't need to based on any sort of objective criteria in order to be relevant in the market. We tend to buy as much based on want, feeling, emotion, as we do on utilitarian need.
Actually
- considering the burst of the hype bubble, the Euro crisis and the impeding bankrupcy of the US of A -
I'm a pretty happy camper for buying Apple stock put options, when the price was around 410$
link to that nonsense?
Sure, but I know of no major shifts that for example transformed cars into trucks and vice versa.
People may stop using trucks totally and shift to using cars for everything but that will not make car the new truck.
Likewise, people may stop using PCs (although it is highly debatable) and completely shift to using iPads for everything (again, debatable) but that will not make iPad the new PC.
So the point stands that even though it is self stroking for some there is no reason to bundle iPad with PCs - they two are separate, functionally different things.
We are all consumers, but we are more than consumers. We are people who care about computer related news stories. When you consider all consumers, probably less than 1% reads stories about the brand they buy from. Hence, sites like this are aimed at a much more specific demographic than "consumer".
good choice...now there will be a fight to who uses it but I digress. good choice on the new computer!
Agreed. Certainly people decide what to buy on how the device looks like, how many of their friends use the same device etc. So it's never about the usability alone.
I thought i had forgotten to reply.
NOPE. just as a Tablet is not a desktop. a tablet is a computer though. just as a Bicycle is a Vehicle, NOT an automobile (unless the bike is automated, hence the automobile).
every AUTOMOBILE is a VEHICLE. but NOT every VEHICLE is an AUTOMOBILE.
You both missed my point. I am not referring to the average poster. MacRumors is a website and when people google info about Apple or it's products - it's highly prominent. To think that the average VISITOR reading the site and/or a message board is not the general public is to be a bit egocentric.
When people buy cars and other items - they often read reviews or things that people post. It might be one day or one search - but they do it. I don't think that's even debatable.
Bottom line is - this website and it's information is open to the general public and just because there are "regulars" here - doesn't mean the General Public isn't passing by.
And I think Arn would disagree. While he appreciates the regular visitors - a website is always looking to appeal to the masses and provide information of value to anyone searching. Why else all the news that is only tangentially Apple related.
I never said regular consumers don't read this website. But they don't post/read as much as we do. I don't think that's debatable either. Hence this site is not "aimed" at the mass consumer. It's aimed at us, but the mass consumer sometimes benefits from it. So it's utter nonsense to say that a news story shouldn't appear on this website because it's not relevant to the consumer.
And simply pointing out a find is not a egocentric behavior. I think you are confusing it with a type of behavior that would say "I know more about computers because I read websites like this, hence I'm a better/more important person than the mass consumer." That would be egocentric.
Business Standpoint
I'm not saying that tablets should not be considered PC's, but I want to initiate the discussion around business use of computers and how tablets are still not up to par in this regard.
I spend my days running pivot tables in excel, drilling into hundreds of thousands of data sets to analyze and provide usable outputs. At this point in time, my iPad, iPhone 4S, and HP Touchpad do not have this ability, let alone screen size.
Similarly, one comparison I ran into in my old job was how Google Docs, though extremely revolutionary and full of great features, it falls short of replacing Microsoft Office (most notably Excel).
Though I think Google Docs will eventually get there, I'm not sure how soon tablets will provide the computing and storage capacity to run extremely intensive business analyses and reports.
From a consumer standpoint, yes, include tablets with consumer PCs, but not business PCs.
I'm not saying that tablets should not be considered PC's, but I want to initiate the discussion around business use of computers and how tablets are still not up to par in this regard.
I spend my days running pivot tables in excel, drilling into hundreds of thousands of data sets to analyze and provide usable outputs. At this point in time, my iPad, iPhone 4S, and HP Touchpad do not have this ability, let alone screen size.
Similarly, one comparison I ran into in my old job was how Google Docs, though extremely revolutionary and full of great features, it falls short of replacing Microsoft Office (most notably Excel).
Though I think Google Docs will eventually get there, I'm not sure how soon tablets will provide the computing and storage capacity to run extremely intensive business analyses and reports.
From a consumer standpoint, yes, include tablets with consumer PCs, but not business PCs.
What do you call a wooden stick which you use to play cricket with? A bat. What do you call that same wooden stick if you use it to hit someone with? A weapon.
How we define something depends on how we use that thing. A bed is something you sleep on. A chair is something you sit on. A personal computer is something you do personal computing on.
So the question isn't about input method, size, power or anything like that. An iPad is a PC only if it is used as a PC is used. So what do most people use their PCs for? Email, web browsing, playing games, watching movies or TV shows, listening to music, shopping online, looking at photographs and social networking.
These things are what most people use their PCs for. I think we can agree on that. Does this list also apply to an iPad?
If so then the iPad is a PC by any reasonable definition.
How we define something depends on how we use that thing. A bed is something you sleep on. A chair is something you sit on. A personal computer is something you do personal computing on.
So the question isn't about input method, size, power or anything like that. An iPad is a PC only if it is used as a PC is used. So what do most people use their PCs for? Email, web browsing, playing games, watching movies or TV shows, listening to music, shopping online, looking at photographs and social networking.
These things are what most people use their PCs for. I think we can agree on that. Does this list also apply to an iPad?
If so then the iPad is a PC by any reasonable definition.
Once you accept the fact that at least 50% or more of the regular posters on MacRumors are committed Apple haters it becomes easier to understand. Why the management allowed this to happen is beyond me but they did.
But you have only described how consumers use Personal Computers at home, you have not at all considered the use of PCs in the workplace (HPs largest market), where many additional tasks are required and performed. Many of which are not yet available on tablets.
Perhaps this statistic should be divided into two categories. PCs for personal use and PCs for business use.
Steve Ballmer replied in the affirmative when Walt Mossberg asked him if he is saying the iPad is a PC.