PCs are so 90s
If you like Free/Libre software, it’s also very likely you find a certain big software company annoying, because they keep trying to hinder the development of free software, which they do because they want everyone who owns a computer to buy their software. Probably just like you, I have nothing personal against that company (well, their software ate my files a few times, but that’s my own fault: shouldn’t have used it…), but I would like to get rid of that pesky whale sized gnat. How do we do that?
Kill the PC.
It’s hard to get rid of a monopolist, but it could be easier to get rid of the thing it has a monopoly on. Then what is capable of killing the PC? Let’s have a look at some devices that are somewhat similar to PCs…
- PDAs become more and more powerful, and there isn’t as much of an operating system monopoly on those as there is on PCs. Some are Linux-based.
- Mobile phones learn new tricks with every new model. For a while already, they have at least the potential of doing the same task as a PC with a webcam. There are more people who own a mobile phone than there are people who own a PC. There is no monopoly at all. Some run Linux.
- Portable music players also learn new tricks with every new model. Some now also have okay image viewing software. Their interoperability is very nice: most pretend to be USB storage when connected to a PC, meaning you can use them with any PC OS and also with some devices that aren’t PCs at all. Again, there is no monopoly in sight.
- Web based replacements for desktop apps are also promising. Most of these run on Free UNIX-like operating systems. This is the market in which we already won.
So, it seems reasonable to assume it’s possible to replace the PC market with the mobile phone market, using a phone that is also a portable music player and a powerful PDA that can browse the web… if only it had the ease of use of a PC: a big screen, keyboard and mouse.
Of course nobody wants a “mobile” phone with a big screen, keyboard and mouse. How do we make those available when they are needed? Here’s my solution: PCs running you-know-what-OS are everywhere. Let the phone pretend to be USB storage with autorun information on it that starts cygwin’s X server connecting to the phone. Let the autorun software also provide the internet connection of the PC to the phone. There you go: a screen, keyboard, mouse and even a wired internet connection! Because we’re connecting to the “phone” through X, it could run any not too heavy Linux (or BSD or …) app in this mode. Firefox, thunderbird, abiword, it’s all possible.
What about connecting to a PC running a free operating system? Well, those already have what is needed to connect to our phone: usbnet and Xnest.
I bet you’re confused now: how can we kill the PC if the device with which we want to do that depends on PCs for non-mobile (home and office) use? Easier than you would think. We have moved all the computing tasks away from the PC, either to the phone, or to web based apps. The PC has become just a terminal. Does it need all the computing power current PCs have? Nope. Could it be replaced by a cheap unconfigurable docking station that does nothing more than providing a screen, keyboard, mouse and internet connection to a phone? Of course!
Such a docking station could even contain some special-purpose hardware for image/sound/video processing and still be cheaper than a PC. For gamers and other users who need lots of processing power, a docking station containing a Cell chip might make sense. I guess that option would make the phone + docking station combination about as expensive as a PC again, but still a much nicer choice except for those who would buy a gaming laptop. Those would probably like a device containing both the mobile and docking station hardware in one. And even if they won’t, then making the-OS-that-shall-not-be-named a laptop thing would solve most of the monopoly problem.
Anyway, I don’t see why I, or anyone else who is not a hardcore PC gamer, would want to buy an expensive PC if the alternative is a nice beautiful small quiet energy saving thing that does exactly the same when combined with a phone. PCs are so 90s!
You are so 80s ! Shall we kill you ?
PCs still have a monopoly on being connected to the internet – and making phones www (as it is now) friendly or making the www phone-friendly is no mean feat. Offices and many businesses are firmly rooted in PC technology – but a certain shift towards mobile phones is bound to happen more in future. We cannot predict how or when it is going to seriously show – maybe in 5, maybe 10 or 20 years. Here we have a whole generation addicted to mobiles (ok, I’m exadurating. I myself am part of that generation and barely use phones at all), the web and ICQ, which could shift things a little.
However, PC games, period.
Thomas Jollans
2007/3/21 at 14:31:41
Hi Thomas!
Adapting the web and phones to each other doesn’t have to be a big problem. While using the “phone” through either a PC or a PC-replacing terminal, you’re using X, so the phone could run firefox. The technology exists, it just needs to be made a bit smaller and integrated with a PDA/phone thing.
Games… well, there’s nothing we can do against games being written only for you-know-what-OS, except providing a great gaming platform ourselves. How about using a Cell as part of the “special purpose hardware for image/sound/video processing” in the PC-replacing terminal?
Cheers,
Taco
inatie
2007/3/21 at 16:50:03
Article updated to clarify points raised in Thomas’ reply.
inatie
2007/3/21 at 17:16:04
You propose that we abandon the PC for terminals which are powered by our phones. But what happens if you have your phone always plugged in? Is it still a phone attached to a terminal or has it inadvertently turned into a PC?
I do agree with you though that PCs are becomming outdated, and I am hoping that we will move to a world of thin clients and central servers (though not over the internet ‘central’ for privicy reasons).
dylunio
2007/3/21 at 17:46:24
The data you would want to keep absolutely private would be stored in your phone instead of on a central server. The apps for editing the data, however, would probably be downloaded from the net (with a cache on the phone).
If you leave it plugged in all the time, it indeed becomes some sort of PC. On the other hand, you can’t take your PC to a friend as easily. I don’t think anyone would want to leave the phone always plugged in. At university, I often encounter people who bring their data (to show to the professor) on a USB stick, expecting that someone else (read: me :S ) will have brought his laptop. The behavior pattern exists, and I’m sure it would be nice for them if they could (with some limits) view and edit their data on the road.
inatie
2007/3/21 at 17:54:10
a bit of a problem is still created by the fact that mobiles aren’t going to become as powerful as PCs are now, at least not soon. The big gaming market could be pushed to add-on graphics hardware, but power-demanding niches, like video editing or 3D modelling, are a different matter. There are a lot of non-gaming uses for powerful processors that don’t provide much of a market by themselves and don’t overlap extraordinarily.
Thomas Jollans
2007/3/22 at 15:18:17
If there is a model of add-on hardware that contains a Cell processor (which is the idea), it’s going to make PC performance look laughable for any of those tasks, IF someone cares to write software for it.
inatie
2007/3/22 at 20:56:50
[...] are so 90s (update) May 30th, 2007 A while ago I wrote about a little idea of mine: docking stations for phones, providing a full-size screen and keyboard. Palm came up with a similar idea: the [...]
PCs are so 90s (update) « … in a tie
2007/5/30 at 23:47:48