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I think it has a lot to do with the rapid growth of mobile tech compared to pc tech. Every year ios device processors basically double in speed and x86 gain about 10-15%. A five year old laptop is still adequate with today's software while the first iphone can't even run most software, whether it's a virtual limitation or not. (is that the right term? i mean when apple drops support even though the device *could* run the software).

I find that most typical casual users who mainly uses mobile devices still use laptops for certain tasks. I didn't read any of the thread, sorry if these points were already brought up.
 
I think it has a lot to do with the rapid growth of mobile tech compared to pc tech. Every year ios device processors basically double in speed and x86 gain about 10-15%. A five year old laptop is still adequate with today's software while the first iphone can't even run most software, whether it's a virtual limitation or not. (is that the right term? i mean when apple drops support even though the device *could* run the software).

I find that most typical casual users who mainly uses mobile devices still use laptops for certain tasks. I didn't read any of the thread, sorry if these points were already brought up.

Yet the Surface Pro blows the ipad 4 away in terms of performance.
 
The PC will never be totally dead though...

This is correct. Because people will always need a PC. Just what people define as the average PC is changing. in the 90's it was a desktop computer. In the 2000's it was a notebook computer. And today it is a tablet computer like the iPad. I wonder what it will be in the 2020's.

I don't care what fud apple feeds us. The iPad IS a PC. Just a different kind of PC.

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Yet the Surface Pro blows the ipad 4 away in terms of performance.

All that performance means squat if the OS and apps can't or don't take full advantage of it. You need good OS/app optimisation to go with that hardware.
 
Yet the Surface Pro blows the ipad 4 away in terms of performance.

?

Well yeah, of course it does. The Surface Pro is a laptop in a tablet form factor, it uses an x86 processor.

What exactly are you trying to say/prove? I'm genuinely curious...
 
A tablet is nice for reading in the bed or on the couch, but for working all day every day... you gotta be kidding me. How can you give up your 27" display, a physical keyboard and a proper mouse?.

I totally agree, but the question is how many people work all day/every day on the computer? Before smartphones and tablets people used to buy computer just for internet use and basic stuff. Same people with same needs would not go for computers anymore.
 
Hold it! HOLD IT!!

Ok, anyone taken a closet look at those numbers and compared IDC vs Gartner?

All the increases/decreases are pretty much similar between the two. For all the other suppliers. Except Apple. But, one reports ~7% increase, the other ~7% decrease. That coincidence, that the increase/decrease was exactly the same number, doesn't seem right.

My money is on a mathematical error in ONE of the reports, where a plus was inadvertently changed to a minus (or the other way around).

People make mistakes, and the question is WHICH of the research companies made the boo-boo, AND whether they will own up to it or "let it slide". I mean, these are "numbers" companies that shouldn't make such a 3rd grader mistake, so there is probably a great deal of pride involved.

Problem is, now we don't know WHICH report to trust...
 
I am curious, though. If tablets take over the world, where will people write applications for those tablets?

Only a fraction of a percent of the U.S. population knows how to write apps. The PC took over the computing world, but IBM still sells small numbers of mainframes and supercomputers for the few left who have certain specialized needs. That eventually may become the PC's story as well. A tiny 1% of the market for app developers and such.
 
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Congratulations Lenovo is all I can say for giving businesses what they want. No they might not be the most stylish but they are very reliable and you don't have to negotiate with a Dell rep for hours to get a good price on 10 blooming desktops, I have better things to do you know! Its the downfall of Dell and HP we are witnessing as they fail to adapt in every market.

Not terrible news for Apple, hardly register on the sales scales over here in the UK though but in terms of US market share at least its holding up. My OHs C2D Macbook which can't use ML is ripe for an Upgrade as is my Mac Mini so I am sure we can help the UK figures in the next Q or 2.
 
...I mean, these are "numbers" companies that shouldn't make such a 3rd grader mistake, so there is probably a great deal of pride involved....

While you may be right, "3rd grader" mistakes are made by even more numbers-centric people than these. Familiar with the Hubble telescope? (A critical mirror was manufactured wrong because one of the scientists dropped a negative during the calculations.) Then, how about the Mars orbiter? (The spacecraft crashed into the planet because of a miscalculation stemming from a failure to convert between English units and metric units.) So, long story short, even the best "numbers" people have things slip past them...
 
Wonder if VMWare has anything to do with these numbers. My workplace is switching out all their desktop system with Thin clients that connect to a virtual desktop which is hosted in our data center. We used to manage 2200 desktop machines and now we run them all on 3 cisco ucs blade chasis with 8 blades in each. It's cool stuff and it's almost like going back to the dumb terminals that places used to have.
 
This is correct. Because people will always need a PC. Just what people define as the average PC is changing. in the 90's it was a desktop computer. In the 2000's it was a notebook computer. And today it is a tablet computer like the iPad. I wonder what it will be in the 2020's.

It's fully possible that many people will not use anything more than their phones. Many of the limitations are the same. Backups and storage are current sticking points either way. Neither is that great if you have to do a lot of typing. As you pointed out, people get too hung up on semantics, but it's logical to consolidate personal electronics wherever possible. Even recently people have made the argument that the average user just checks facebook and email. I can do that from my phone. I don't need anything else to do that.
 
We are in the post PC era. iDevices are the future of Apple. The Mac will receive less and less attention as time goes on. Right now the iDevices are responsible for over 80% of Apple's profits. The Mac will eventually just be a "hobby" for Apple as much as it hurts me to say that.

Seems the MacPro is already just a hobby. ;)
 
I can't speak to these reports, but personally, I would have purchased two Apple computers recently, except:

1. The latest Mac Mini had issues with HDMI video output that required a firmware update and a point release OS update. By the time the problems were fixed, I decided to skip this generation, and wait for the next Mac Mini release.

2. I've been wanting to purchase a Mac Pro, but the current product is so out of date, I won't buy one until a truly updated machine is available.

I suspect there are other people like me, who are waiting for Apple to stop screwing up, and give us a reason to hand over our money.
 
Apple, try doubling SSD sizes on the next revision and see what happens. You can easily do it.
 
I think a lot of people are waiting for Haswell, myself included. This is probably affecting PC sales as well, although not as much as the impractical W8 OS.

As soon as the updated Macs come out Apple will see a huge boost in sales.
 
I hope apple shipments fall some more. I'm glad people are using their wallets to tell people that their products are too expensive for what they're offering. $1500 MBP with dual cores STILL? Lmao
 
This is correct. Because people will always need a PC. Just what people define as the average PC is changing. in the 90's it was a desktop computer. In the 2000's it was a notebook computer. And today it is a tablet computer like the iPad. I wonder what it will be in the 2020's.

I don't care what fud apple feeds us. The iPad IS a PC. Just a different kind of PC.

Yeah... you know what I meant, though ;)
 
I wonder what percentage custom build PCs make up, for desktops that is.

No one I know would buy a Dell etc desktop, they would build it themselves. Most tent to upgrade components.

I can see more people having a decent desktop these days for cpu/gpu intensive grunt and a tablet for portability.

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If the news about an all-new Mac Pro coming out this month or next are correct, the timing couldn't be more perfect.

The sales of the Mac Pro are quite low. And the way Apple has been updating the hardware of the mac pro, its probably not a good choice for non commercial use.

At least this refresh of the mac pro will allow better support of the hackintosh community :)
 
It's fully possible that many people will not use anything more than their phones. Many of the limitations are the same. Backups and storage are current sticking points either way. Neither is that great if you have to do a lot of typing. As you pointed out, people get too hung up on semantics, but it's logical to consolidate personal electronics wherever possible. Even recently people have made the argument that the average user just checks facebook and email. I can do that from my phone. I don't need anything else to do that.

You're right... the average person can easily consume content on their phone... but where did that content come from in the first place? Most likely it came from a regular computer.

Checking email is fine from a phone. Lots of people do that.

Composing email from a phone isn't too difficult either.

But creating any meaningful content from a phone or tablet... then it gets tricky. The standard laptop or desktop computer isn't obsolete yet.

Maybe someday you will be able to run your business solely from a phone or tablet... but I'm still thinking there will need to be a Windows PC or a Mac somewhere in the building :)

Quickbooks Pro has an iPad app... but you still need the Windows version for it to run. And that's just one type of application that requires a regular computer.
 
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