Internet Devices - We're Baited, Now for the Switch

I have noticed lately that the landscape of personal computing devices has been changing rapidly.

It's been a nice, smooth logical progression. Feature phones began to be able to surf the web, their screens grew larger, touch became standard, and soon, we all noticed we were using our computers a little less than before.

Tablets and e-readers became commonplace. Those of us with an interest in electronics obviously knew that touch-screened computers were nothing new, but they became thin, lightweight, and affordable. They became well-connected and tethered to nothing but your router or carrier.

For myself, I was taken with the novelty of smartphones. I upgraded from a little sliding LG texting phone to an LG optimus V, and instantly fell for Android, then in the earlier stages of version 2. Being the mischievous type, it was soon rooted and running the most up-to-date Android. Being a techie, I was in some sort of heaven.

Then came the dissatisfaction, and I eventually upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S3, with it's hulking, high resolution screen and snappy response time. It is my phone to this day and I could not be happier with it.

But as more of my computing time is devoted to my phone, and a Nook Tablet (also rooted and upgraded to Android 4.1.2 ), I start to see the limitations of these types of devices. More and more I hear the voice in my head say "If only this was a real computer."

So I start to wonder why fully open operating systems aren't available on these high-powered devices. Certainly I've run Windows XP on machines with far less power than the phone I currently have. Same goes for Ubuntu. Even as "full OS" devices roll out, rocking Windows 8, and soon Ubuntu, we see that these are not the clean OS's that we are used to, but weird, "mobile-ized" versions that remind us more of our phones than our desktop.

How strange, I thought. My phone can show resolutions higher than computer monitors I've had in the past. Even moreso for newer tablets. How strange that they don't just put a proper, simple, desktop OS on them. With all the talk of ubiquity between desktops and mobile devices, why is it that as mobile devices become more like desktop and laptop computers, it is those desktop machines whose operating systems are being altered to behave more like the closed phones we were trying to upgrade from.

Then, I realized, that if I thought of this, simple me, then it is highly unlikely that those from Microsoft, Ubuntu, Google, Apple, Samsung, et al simply did not realize the same. There must be a higher purpose.

And so there must be.

This is the point of my thread. If you've mostly skipped everything, which was mostly just me blabbing, just read this bit.

These new devices are nothing more than a bait and switch. Soon we will see that there is no such thing as ordinary, open PCs. Everything will be in a walled OS, with a market, with a media hub, with a DATA PLAN.

That's it, isn't it. It's the media markets and the data plans.

I believe that very soon, we will have only devices with data plans and markets. We will pay for each byte that we use, and pay for what we use it on. We're talking about a perfect, unholy union of carriers, ISPs, and Music/Movie/Print companies. It's perfect, for them.

People who retain and use full-powered PCs will be monitored closely. These power-users will be the most likely to cause trouble, since all "regular" users will have been funneled into these harmless revenue-generating devices.

I wouldn't be surprised if soon the concept of just buying unlimited bandwidth internet service to your house is simply done, and you pay for a "Home access point" or something along those lines.

Would it really surprise you?

Feature phones are already virtually extinct, replaced by smartphones.
Laptops are suffering under the onslaught of tablets.
Tablets are being offered up to school kids and some offices, in replacement for desktop machines.

It'll be over soon, and we'll have paid good money to have it done.

Take the gun debate, replace "Assault rifle" with "Powerful desktop computer tower" and "Mass shooting" with "Cyber-attack" and you have the reason why.

Honestly, I've written this whole post with my tongue in my cheek, it's probably all nonsense.
But maybe it isn't.

Have a good day, ATS

reply to post by TheBlackTiger


Dear TheBlackTiger,

Interesting thoughts. Consider that the real reason is because the smartphones put all your information on the cloud and do not need desktop operating systems because of that. The tablets and smartphones must therefore be fast or you would not be able to access your information as quickly as you can on a desktop.

reply to post by TheBlackTiger

Take the gun debate, replace "Assault rifle" with "Powerful desktop computer tower" and "Mass shooting" with "Cyber-attack" and you have the reason why.

No, you aren't imagining things. But it isn't going to be about anyone taking anything away from anybody. It will be because people will be too lazy to educate themselves on network security issues, and so someone will come along to take care of that for them.

Great thread.

The reason why you cant put xp on a phone or tablet is the architecture of the chip.

ARM processors are not x86 or x64.

That's why we can't put a 64 bit os on a 32bit machine. Same reason you can't put these OS on an ARM processor.

You can get versions of windows for mobile. ARM compatible. Windows CE for instance.

Or you can install a variant of Debian on your ARM tablet. Support is the only issue. There is none. Hardware.

I agree, it's becoming more and more a mobile orientated world. But this is inevitable, and not really a conspiracy. People like to be on facebook or messaging their buddies while walking down the mall bumping into ME all the time.

Every time I get on public transport I see 90% of the people either reading a kindle, surfing the web on their phone, or playing crappy games on a tablet.

It's a gold mine out there to grab this market. Even that kid who just made $30 million for a summarising app.. dear god 17 years old and a millionaire. FOR AN APP.

I remember when the internet was the domain of geeks. Geeks weren't popular. But we had that big clunky 386sx laptop and only on an empty bus would we pull it out and load some old dos game. lol. rarely.

Now it's the in thing. Tweet your piccies, like your facebooks, record that arrest.. blog on the fly.

There will always be a desktop market. At least in the near future anyway, with the remaining few of us old farts who prefer a keyboard and mouse. But as the 2 year olds who grow up on a fruit product mature, their world will be touchscreen this swipey that, and they'll look at a keyboard the way we used to look at old school typewriters.

"People used to use that?"

I like the idea of having a pc in my pocket. But like you, I am often left thinking "If only this were a real pc." because the bottom line is, the hardware is simply cheap low power stuff.

I've tried running ancient OS's on new hardware to try and regain that feeling of having a beast of a machine... but the way the internet is these days, it's just slow. Everything is images, animations, tracking.. which bring a simple webpage to a stand still at times.

I've never used a more recent tablet/phone so I can't speak for them.. but budget devices leave a lot to be desired.

Makes a good mp3 player tho!

I have to disagree, I have an iphone, but I hardly use it cept when I am going to sleep, otherwise I am on my computer. In fact touch screen annoys me so much, I much prefer a mouse and keyboard and a 23 inch computer monitor

reply to post by TheBlackTiger


I agree with you, I feel soon the gov wont have to censor to much info on the internet because most people are trapped in their hand held devices which limits their access to world information as we have with our desk tops. Since gov know they will have a fight in gaining control of the internet, they just let technology take it's course and do the job for them.

Well the desktop market will fall in the coming years. Not because of handheld devices such as mobile phones and tablets, but for the simple reason that computing in general will ultimately happen in the cloud.
Basically, just a screen, a small usb sized device and an internet connection is pretty much all you will have. The danger in this is simply that the cloud might adapt a smiliar scheme as already used for mobile devies... mediahubs, app stores... and obviously there are some privacy issues aswell.

You folks that are all about your damn cell phones are irritating.
"I need the new android"
"I need the new IPHONE"
blah blah blah.

Then the whole texting thing....
That turns a 2 min phone COVERSATION into a 3 hour texting escapade.
---"Like, if only there was a way I could simply TALK to this person instead of texting them"

Doesn't make sense. It's like half the population went from talking on the phone to staring down
into thier phone writing a "text" message.

Then you got those aholes that find it absolutely NECESSARY to NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE WHILE DRIVING because there is nobody else in the car to hear thier gossip or BS that nobody gives a S*** about in the first place.

(maybe I should put this in a Rant thread)

I was the last in my family that was dragged kicking and screaming into owning a cell phone. I don't want people to find me or know where I am. I don't need to gather data from the internet while on the road. I can wait until I get home or work on a PC. Just a disposable phone for $120/year and 800 minutes nation-wide for emergencies. iPod Touch for free WiFi nearly everywhere in the country while on the road but I've used that 3 times in 2 years.

Put the devices away and everyone get to work.

The way its going PC's will be obsolete and replaced by TV's with cloud computing, which will undoubtedly lead to controls placed over what your able to do. We will see e-paper and nanotechnology becoming common place, with smartphones that wrap around your wrist which can fold out to become a pad with all sorts of capabilities - recharging from the atmosphere and static electricity. Beyond that, I expect to see something akin to "The Matrix" where we enter a lucid dream or virtual world within our minds through technology. I can see all this happening within the next 100 years with the current rate of technological advancement. My advice: don't get caught in the moment, go with the flow, what will be will be and what is just is.

Hey everyone,

Since I am so interested in this stuff I wanted to add some random thoughts.

I had a heated argument with a buddy less than a year ago about the future of home computing. He seemed to think that it was going to go the way of, essentially, everyone running thin clients and paying for 'computing services'. Depending on the users financial status, the user would be able to access more or less powerful machines, running on more or less secure networks.

I don't agree with him; I think that it is going to go the way of personal clouds. People want what the cloud can do, but they don't trust it. When I look online, I don't see people buying thin clients, I see people buying the most wicked-powerful workstations that they can lay hands on. I mean, for Christ's sake, an AMD chip with 8 cores is available for about $175.00 and the motherboard to go with it that will support 64 gigs of RAM runs about $75.00. I can squeeze nearly the same power in to a miniATX format now.

What I foresee the wise doing is running a bare metal hypervisor on a small but screaming device and serving up whatever they like to their own thin clients. It can be infinitely more secure, powerful and aesthetically pleasing since you won't have what sounds like a 747 engine in your living room. Imagine any flavor of OS or app you like, running in your own test environment, like a juke box.

Er somethin' like that.



P.S. I also meant to add two things. 1. Bodhi Linux has a 'Tablet' desktop setting. I have installed it on ancient stuff. If you think Android is powerful, blah, blah.

2. The quickest way to wash the bad tablet and smart phone taste out of your mouth is to set up a target device and install either FreeBSD or Arch Linux; try to avoid anything 'Live'. Then go here 'learn the shell', and do some tutorials. I promise you will feel better in the morning. And yes, BSD is developing bhyve. Even if you are a newb like me, beating one's head aginst the software is very enlightening.

Some of us have to work on computers for a living. Video Editing, Photo Editing, Graphics Design, these are not things you can do professionally on a tablet with an app. You need a real machine and real pro software to get the job done right. Desktops won't go anywhere until all things can be done on a mobile device, we just aren't there yet. And PC gaming? Can't play my favorite games on my phone, just crappy apps.

Oh and I would love nothing more than to no longer be tethered to my desktop... but we just aren't there yet. And I don't see it happening anytime soon. I'll be keeping an eye on adobe.

So called "cloud computing" isn't anything at all new. It's the OLD tech. It used to be called "mainframe computing" and that's exactly what it still is. "Personal computing" and its advantages have been around for ~35ish years now, but the mainframe approach goes back decades earlier. In mainframe computing, a large, expensive, powerful central computer aka the mainframe does all or almost all of the computation, and users use cheap little "dumb terminals" which are mostly just a screen and input devices, and a connection back to the mainframe.

The internet is giving the old approach new life, but there's still a lot for lots of companies NOT to like about it, particularly from an accounting perspective. For example, why would a company like to pay for all the electricity and hardware for processing power that PC users currently pay for?

The 'death of the PC' is once again prematurely being reported. The PC approach makes sense because significant, useful power is affordable for home users is available and that's not going to change as the per-unit cost of computing power continues to fall over the long term.

In fact the arguments for the death of the PC began before it was even born. The arguments for the imminent death of the PC are the same as the arguments against the PC ever happening in the first place; they are older than the actual PC itself and the PC has done and will continue to do awesome.

reply to post by resoe26


I totally agree with your rant there. I am still clinging to what I believe may be the last non-smart phone left on this planet. And I still try to ignore the darn thing as much as possible. Gimme my desktop and my comfy chair any day over a phone or even my kindle (which the kids have usually hijacked anyway).

And thank you for mentioning the biggest problem I have with all of this mobile technology: folks aren't responsible enough to use it. Six months ago, my 8 year old son was run over by a car because the driver apparently couldn't be bothered to stop facebooking while she was driving. It may seem hard to believe for some people, but seriously, using tech irresponsibly could very well ruin another person's life.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your rant, but this is something I feel very strongly about.

ETA: Why can't someone make an app that makes phones inoperable at a certain velocity or something along those lines, simply for safety's sake?

reply to post by Clairaudience


I beg to differ the desktop is not going any where, ever heard of MMO's it is a billion dollar industry.

Enough said about that.

Originally posted by DustbowlDebutante
reply to post by resoe26

 

I totally agree with your rant there. I am still clinging to what I believe may be the last non-smart phone left on this planet. And I still try to ignore the darn thing as much as possible. Gimme my desktop and my comfy chair any day over a phone or even my kindle (which the kids have usually hijacked anyway).

And thank you for mentioning the biggest problem I have with all of this mobile technology: folks aren't responsible enough to use it. Six months ago, my 8 year old son was run over by a car because the driver apparently couldn't be bothered to stop facebooking while she was driving. It may seem hard to believe for some people, but seriously, using tech irresponsibly could very well ruin another person's life.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your rant, but this is something I feel very strongly about.

ETA: Why can't someone make an app that makes phones inoperable at a certain velocity or something along those lines, simply for safety's sake?

edit on 28-3-2013 by DustbowlDebutante because: spelling

edit on 28-3-2013 by DustbowlDebutante because: (no reason given)

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your son. I hope he is alright and I hope you or your spouse got your "popeye" on with the driver. (I know I would have)
Kudos to you for keeping it real with the old school phone. I too have an old flip phone that I tend to ignore more often than not.
(only for emergencies mostly) but my wife thinks its fun to 'text' me daily on it.
(you'd think she'd stop by now because I rarely respond)

reply to post by DustbowlDebutante


I am very sorry to hear about the incident with your child...

They do have the technology to prevent using electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle. I drive a semi for a living. We utilize what is called Qualcomm in order to communicate with dispatch and maintenance. We cannot operate the interface while the truck is in motion. The system is locked out until the truck comes to a complete stop.

I see drivers moving at over 70 mph, all the while with their phones in hand, texting or talking. VERY DANGEROUS!!! More dangerous than driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

reply to post by TheBlackTiger


Regardless of whether or not you're right, it's a very interesting observation and line of thought. You put into words some of the feelings I've been having (except the taking power from the ppl part). Cool post, S+F!

BTW - Win8 - TOTAL POS. Hopefully Win9 will be tolerable...

Actually for someone who openly admits in all tongue in cheek .... your on the money more so than those that 'think' they have the truth in a subject.

reply to post by TheBlackTiger


Your feelings are warranted. The counterpoints in this thread are largely simply not the REAL reason why this change has occurred. I do not think it is a conspiracy, but I have seen the shift you speak of over decades. Walled gardens are ideal for platform and digital ecosystem players, economically speaking. They can also be great for consumers, but with the positives, come many negatives that IMO outweigh the positives. The big positive for consumers is in the consumption department. Devices like the iPad offer a fantastic consumption experience. That is, browsing the web, tinkering with interesting apps, all without the worry of malware due to the sandboxed nature of the applications. You don't have to worry about not installing five crapware applications every time you install something (this prob. was much worse say 5-10 years ago, mostly in Windows), etc. For consumption, these devices are great.

Due to the proprietary nature of these platforms (even if a company gives you some freedom, ala Apple's developer program, you are still playing within THEIR decided limitations and learning a lot of proprietary, non-transferrable knowledge).

So what suffers as a result? Computing knowledge within the population is one thing. While being able to use an iPad might be impressive if the user is two years old (literally, two-year olds can use these, it's crazy), this is not the same as general computing knowledge. Computer science/low-level software and hardware knowledge is not being learned by heavy use of the most popular mobile devices among young people, etc. Now an iPad is a great educational device, for ex., you can get some wonderful interactive books to teach you a great many things. But again that's a caveat, and personally, I care about computing knowledge as I've always felt it hugely important -- the capacity for people to use computers as tools. So what suffers, is in the CREATE realm largely, vs. CONSUME.

Imagine a 14 year old girl that grew up with a Rasperry Pi, using that as her primary computer, vs. a girl that only had an iPad and used it for everything. Guess which kid is going to be leaps and bounds ahead wrt computing knowledge...

I suggest you stop using your mobile devices so much. Get a nice PC that you can start messing around with popular Linux distros on (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.). Get back to what you love! Phones are for calling people. :-P