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Apple Poised to Become World's Top-Selling PC Vendor with Tablets Included
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Which begs the question, if i replace your macbook with a "skypebook" - is the skypebook a computer? Its an interesting question really, as our words to describe what something is, is in every way related to how we perceive it, which in turn is in every way related to how we use it.
That said, an ipad is clearly a computer. Is it a PC? Jobs didnt think so. I think he had a point then, and i think he have a point now. Its not that it isnt personal, and a computer - its just not a "personal computer". The fact that it isnt, is in large part of its success.
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If i hook up my PC to a 3" screen, what is my PC? An xPod? Or, even better, what if i hook up my smart phone to my LCD? Is it then a PC? Ironically i must say this, in ways you are right (form factor is key) - its just that you're wrong in others (it is not all).
(But yes, an ipod is not a tablet, or a pad. Following the weiser classification, its a tab.)
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Wouldnt the PS count towards computers? After all... it is a computer. Just a very restricted one, now that we cant run Linux on it.
Ok and ? We've established that iPad's are not Laptops or Desktops... What are you arguing exactly ?
Hmm, careful on the logical fallacies there. I don't think it's meaningful to class the iPad as a PC. Nor do any consumers that I've either heard, or talked with, refer to their tablet as a PC.
As others have pointed out, mobile phones can also interface with a keyboard, external screen etc - noone would consider them as a PC in the meaningful sense of the word.
My HP48G could interface with a keyboard, run Lemmings, be programmed (in assembler and high level languages) and had Xmodem and Kermit protocols built in. Is it a PC? No, everyone would, rightly IMO, consider it a programmable calculator.
Now the definition of what a PC is may change over time - but arguing for Apple being the biggest PC supplier "if tablets are included" is just a BS PR piece for the research firm to get headlines.
Microsoft would love to delude people into thinking that hardware has to be capable of running Windows in order for people to call it a computer. This marketing spin apparently successfully manipulates some people who lack the technical education to be able to tell the difference.
An Apple II is a personal computer that does not run Linux AFAIK.
Neither industry nor consumer would classify a phone hooked up to a screen/tv as a computer. Neither industry nor consumer would - in general - see an ipad as equivalent to a pc. If W8 is a hit, things might change. But for now, no. Not because there is any good reason not to count it as a "personal computer" per se, other than the obvious one that is... that people simply dont see it that way (yet*).
* actually i think its more likely that the "PC" as a category dies off, than that we see these "neo-PCs" (or post-PCs if you prefer that) as that. What will we call the new devices? No idea... computers perhaps? Back then the "personal" in PC was needed. Nowadays, PC is a computer. Its the "norm" so to speak. The neo or post-PC represents a shift (just like PC v. Mainframe C). PC v. PC makes no sense. Thus as long as we have the "old PC" we need a different word to separate the two.
Once more, not because it isnt a personal computer, but because "PC" is something "that is not an ipad".
To appease downvoters: The ipad is "something that is not a PC". More positive connotation that way.
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An iPad is a computer, but not a PC.
A PC has to be able to do more things now than in the eighties.
A Unix RISC workstation is not a PC.
The definition will constantly be changing. Today we don't call iPod Touch's PCs because that's not really how they are used. It has nothing to do with size of screen or device.
In the future - we might be wearing computers on our wrist that rival the best desktops today. Maybe there will be an optical implant, glasses or some other means of accessing data. Those future computers might not have actual screens and/or a device size we currently attribute to a computer.
But to define is in human nature. That's what we do. We are a living creature that likes to define and label. But definitions and labels are fluid. The world was once defined and labeled as flat.
Sure does create a lot of conversation though!
In the future - we might be wearing computers on our wrist that rival the best desktops today. Maybe there will be an optical implant, glasses or some other means of accessing data. Those future computers might not have actual screens and/or a device size we currently attribute to a computer.
But to define is in human nature. That's what we do. We are a living creature that likes to define and label. But definitions and labels are fluid. The world was once defined and labeled as flat.
Sure does create a lot of conversation though!
Is a padfone a PC? Is a phone a PC? Is a USB-computer a PC?
that they're all a computer is a given, but if you asked 100 people at random, 99% would say that neither were PC's.
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I agree with most of your points, except that i dont think they will ever be "PCs". I think that category itself will die, sooner or later, and that as long as we have it we will call them PCs and the rest... something-not-a-pc.
It could be a tablet PC, but it's not.
if it ran full unrestricted OSX, the iPad would be a PC.
Now the term could be PDA for it.
It's a tablet computer. It's not a tablet PC as in "Tablet is an IBM PC compatible hardware platform" but "Tablet computer that is for personal use".
Again, don't quite understand what you're arguing. iPads are different devices from IBM compatible PCs and other desktop, laptops...
So, for all the Dell boxes that IT locks down and completely restricts, we should remove them from Dell's PC market share?
Great! Makes Apples numbers look even better.
So, for all the Dell boxes that IT locks down and completely restricts, we should remove them from Dell's PC market share?
Great! Makes Apples numbers look even better.
A broken car is still a car.
I will add my 2 cents to the pile. Anyone keeping track? With all these pennies, we may be able to afford an iPad!
Technically, a digital wristwatch and an old pocket calculator are computers.
The definition of PCs is a bit vague and changes over the years, but it seems to always include these concepts:
-It is affordable to many people.
-It is capable of doing varied tasks.
-It can be expanded by adding applications after the initial delivery to the end user.
Sounds like the iPad is a personal computer, just not as powerful or capable as other computers. But for many a limited computer is perfect, a "traditional computer" would be overkill for their needs.
Then it is a computer that is personal and happens to be a tablet. What's not personal about it ? What's not a computer about it ? What's not a tablet about it ?
It shouldn't be lumped in with laptops and desktops and I don't agree with the premise of this market share analysis, but the iPad is a computer regardless.
Before the language was lazily slaughtered, moped meant MOtorcycle with PEDals. That's what a moped truly is. Anything else is just a motorcycle with a small engine. Governments and marketing gimmicks smeared the name and consider small-engined motorcycles to be mopeds... makes no sense. Look at the word, see the origin of the term. Government generally can't manage a post office, let alone a language. Mopeds are motorized bicycles--motorcycles with pedals.
The iPad is a computer.
Wait, so the iPad is a computer. Ok we agree there. But then you say it's not a Personal computer. Fine, you think the iPad is a public computer ?
And then you say the iPad is a personal device assistant... Wait what ?
Is the iPad personal or not ?
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I never said the contrary. In fact, I'm one of the few who keeps saying computer is a very generic and broad term that applies to many kind of devices.
Sony is the bestselling computer manufacturer due its very popular Playstation line of personal computers.
See how stupid this is.
Because technically consoles, smartphones, PDAs, PCs, some TVs, some settop boxes, and even certain Japanese breadmakers are computers.
There is really no dispute about this.
But what the "iPad-is-a-computer" proponents are trying to do is to come up with a definition of PC that includes tablets, but does not include smartphones, etc. But that's just special pleading - making exceptions designed to include the iPad but exclude other computers - only on the basis that they believe a priori that iPads should be computer. But there is no basis for that distinction. (And for what it's worth, I knew people who bought folding keyboards for their palm pilots and used it to do work while travelling).
The definition of what a PC is comes down not to any technical difference, but to what market segment it occupies. In other words, basically, what people point to when they say "that's a PC."
And that's not what consumers do with the iPad. That's not what *Apple* does with the iPad. Most iPads are used to replace a secondary PC. That doesn't mean that they *are* PCs - it means that they are good enough to be used *in place of* a PC. In the same way that people have used smartphones or even PDAs to replace PCs. That doesn't make them PCs anymore than using a PC to replace a typewriter made the PC a typewriter.
Tablet computers are just that, tablet computers. They are in a different market category from personal computers, even though there is some usage overlap. As there is with videogame consoles and smartphones.
I don't think it does anyone any good to muddy the waters.
See how stupid this is.
Because technically consoles, smartphones, PDAs, PCs, some TVs, some settop boxes, and even certain Japanese breadmakers are computers.
There is really no dispute about this.
But what the "iPad-is-a-computer" proponents are trying to do is to come up with a definition of PC that includes tablets, but does not include smartphones, etc. But that's just special pleading - making exceptions designed to include the iPad but exclude other computers - only on the basis that they believe a priori that iPads should be computer. But there is no basis for that distinction. (And for what it's worth, I knew people who bought folding keyboards for their palm pilots and used it to do work while travelling).
The definition of what a PC is comes down not to any technical difference, but to what market segment it occupies. In other words, basically, what people point to when they say "that's a PC."
And that's not what consumers do with the iPad. That's not what *Apple* does with the iPad. Most iPads are used to replace a secondary PC. That doesn't mean that they *are* PCs - it means that they are good enough to be used *in place of* a PC. In the same way that people have used smartphones or even PDAs to replace PCs. That doesn't make them PCs anymore than using a PC to replace a typewriter made the PC a typewriter.
Tablet computers are just that, tablet computers. They are in a different market category from personal computers, even though there is some usage overlap. As there is with videogame consoles and smartphones.
I don't think it does anyone any good to muddy the waters.
This. The water is muddy as is by default. For example, slam iOS inside a macbook - or even better - a grey box, and ask people. What is this? While im quite sure they wouldnt say "a PC", they'd still respond something like "where the **** is the start menu on this PC" :- )
Wow, this is actually bigger than a lot of people realize, I think, in terms of where it may lead.
It will reverse the minority share of the computer market that Apple always used to have.
Of course, people will debate wether or not the iPad should count as a true computer, but the reality is, for the average person who surfs the internet and uses email and needs basic document making capabilities, etc., the iPad completely fits the bill... and it's power and capability will only increase over time.
Now don't get me wrong, the iPad has a few (but very large) limitations, but for many people, that won't matter. People who are not power users. And especially "old" people who are often intimidated by normal computers. There will always be a market for a "real" computer for power users and heavy duty content creators and serious gamers, etc. but as the day to day computing appliance, tablets have already begun to dominate, and they've only been out for a couple of years! (Not counting those big clunk "tablet" laptops).
Anyway, I digress, my original point was that this is big, and it's because it will increase Apple's general marketshare of computing devices, which will bring more people into Apple "ecosystem". It's a powerful gateway device.
It will reverse the minority share of the computer market that Apple always used to have.
Of course, people will debate wether or not the iPad should count as a true computer, but the reality is, for the average person who surfs the internet and uses email and needs basic document making capabilities, etc., the iPad completely fits the bill... and it's power and capability will only increase over time.
Now don't get me wrong, the iPad has a few (but very large) limitations, but for many people, that won't matter. People who are not power users. And especially "old" people who are often intimidated by normal computers. There will always be a market for a "real" computer for power users and heavy duty content creators and serious gamers, etc. but as the day to day computing appliance, tablets have already begun to dominate, and they've only been out for a couple of years! (Not counting those big clunk "tablet" laptops).
Anyway, I digress, my original point was that this is big, and it's because it will increase Apple's general marketshare of computing devices, which will bring more people into Apple "ecosystem". It's a powerful gateway device.