NPD: 90% of $1,000+ PCs Sold in Fourth Quarter 2009 Were Macs

[Eidorian]

I think it's all about making tech approachable and usable by anyone. Zero learning curve. But this naturally comes with the dissemination of tech. never before have we had so much of it, in every area of our lives - from airliners that almost fly themselves to a cellphone for everyone (including children) to so much content and information in digital form. It's almost a requirement to make tech dead-easy for anyone to use because tech is becoming the gatekeeper for almost all information.

More people than ever have to take advantage of tech to get the most out of available information these days - even relationships, be they formal or personal.

We're getting to a point where technology will no longer be a source of wonder in and of itself, but a given. The next Great Enterprise for people might very well be something outside or beyond tech. is it the expansion of consciousness in radically new or different ways? Will it be the discovery of new life? Will it be a renewed sense of physical exploration (space)?

Obviously, tech will play a critical role in all of this, but I think the wonderment will be about the new discoveries it will allow us to make, rather than about the tech itself.

I see your points. It makes me a bit more hopeful about this transitional period.

Regardless, I've been spending a lot of time with my fellow tech wizards to prepare for that. It feels strange to be a prophet unto them in order to get ready for this since we're all still young enough.

Believe me, I've been the prophet before.

 

[*LTD*]

I see your points. It makes me a bit more hopeful about this transitional period.

Regardless, I've been spending a lot of time with my fellow tech wizards to prepare for that. It feels strange to be a prophet unto them in order to get ready for this since we're all still young enough.

Believe me, I've been the prophet before.

You might very well be right this time as well. So we're at a sort of crossroads and it can go either way.

My hope is that despite my love of automation and the simplification of tech, that tech-wizards don't get discouraged and are able to find an outlet that is just as influential on the course of technology as their current (or past) outlet. Again, this new outlet will probably take the form of the creation of all this usable tech. But if this creation will only exist in the confines of companies or institutions, protected from the outside world by patent-hell, then the ability to tinker and create legitimately, in our garages, backyard workshops, and classrooms and test labs at our colleges and universities (that aren't corporate-funded and commissioned) will be completely stifled. It will be the change of ownership of the legitimate rights to tinker from the enterprising individual to the billion-dollar corporation that has institutionalized creativity.

So really, I feel that is the problem here: the threat of institutionalized creativity.

 

[Gomff]

You might very well be right this time as well. So we're at a sort of crossroads and it can go either way.

My hope is that despite my love of automation and the simplification of tech, that tech-wizards don't get discouraged and are able to find an outlet that is just as influential on the course of technology as their current (or past) outlet. Again, this new outlet will probably take the form of the creation of all this usable tech. But if this creation will only exist in the confines of companies or institutions, protected from the outside world by patent-hell, then the ability to tinker and create legitimately, in our garages, backyard workshops, and classrooms and test labs at our colleges and universities (that aren't corporate-funded and commissioned) will be completely stifled. It will be the change of ownership of the legitimate rights to tinker from the enterprising individual to the billion-dollar corporation that has institutionalized creativity.

So really, I feel that is the problem here: the threat of institutionalized creativity.

This is what Linux is for. When Technology gets too mired in patent hell, too hidden and unable to be tinkered with, open source will fulfill that need. I haven't ventured into that world yet because Windows and OS X are still open enough for me to create and work in. But Linux is catching up.....And of course there's Android.

The technology world has proved time and time again that stifling progress in one area just leads to it springing up from somewhere else. If you stop providing a service, it creates a demand that someone will see and fulfill.

 

[*LTD*]

This is what Linux is for. When Technology gets too mired in patent hell, too hidden and unable to be tinkered with, open source will fulfill that need. I haven't ventured into that world yet because Windows and OS X are still open enough for me to create and work in. But Linux is catching up.....And of course there's Android.

The technology world has proved time and time again that stifling progress in one area just leads to it springing up from somewhere else. If you stop providing a service, it creates a demand that someone will see and fulfill.

Ahh, the Open Source factor. Open Source might just the big equalizer if it ever comes down to it. There are a number of ways the Open Source community can accomplish this. After all, some of the best technologies, like OS X, Webkit, etc., came from Open Source.

So are we talking more on the software side of things (I assume this one), or the hardware side, or both?

 

[Gomff]

So are we talking more on the software side of things (I assume this one), or the hardware side, or both?

I guess I'm talking about both really. Open Source for the software, to facilitate the building of boxes with available (and prototype) hardware for the purposes of tinkering / development.

I think software companies have to be careful how tightly they sew up their Intellectual Properties, otherwise they become too restrictive and end up being overlooked for something more accessible. Good practice for web development these days is to be standards compliant and avoid proprietary stuff where possible. Much as I think the iPad should support it, Flash isn't really a healthy thing for the web either for the above reasons.

Also, I believe we should all be grateful for Open Source whether we use it or not....It keeps commercial developers on their toes and stops them getting too proprietary...Some people genuinely believe Open Source is the future. It's exactly the same principles that make the internet work.....It was basically an amazing act of altruism to invent the internet with all it's standards and protocols, then just give it away free. So much of what we take for granted on the internet just wouldn't be possible if instead someone somewhere owned and controlled it with copyrights and patents.

In that sense, I guess we are all using and benefiting from Open Source technology.

 

[rolphi]

People are much more willing to give Apple money for their solution than do any work to evaluate the options that are available.

Very true, but considering the sheer number of purchase decisions any adult has to make, it is no wonder that people want to do this.

For every one product that you invest the time and effort into evaluating options, there are 10 other product categories where you can't be bothered. This is true for everyone; the only difference is which categories they care about.

I wouldn't judge people because they can't be bothered to do the research in a product category I find interesting. I'm sure they could do the same to me.

 

[blackhand1001]

If you think consumers are only after raw specs, you're quite mistaken.

Thats not what I meant. I meant that a $500 system will blow at light speed through the tasks that consumers do on their machines. Heck old pentium 4's 2 ghz feel fast for those tasks.

 

[Eidorian]

Thats not what I meant. I meant that a $500 system will blow at light speed through the tasks that consumers do on their machines. Heck old pentium 4's 2 ghz feel fast for those tasks.

$49 for an E3200 or $99 for an Athlon II X4. A Core i5 750 isn't that much faster,

 

[cmaier]

$49 for an E3200 or $99 for an Athlon II X4. A Core i5 750 isn't that much faster,

But it's not designed by a bunch of losers and one Bill McGee, like the Athlon.