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| Authored by: Ian Al on Saturday, March 30 2013 @ 12:09 PM EDT |
I'm still trying to get my head straight about what a computer is used for.
In the good old days when I was old, computers were used to compute. The early
mainframes were used for applied computing jobs like payroll production and
armament aiming. There was always programming once the patch panel was consigned
to history. Later, they were used for company finance and scientific computing.
There has always been a non-computing thread of gaming including tick tack toe,
life, and text adventures.
Then personal computers discovered the interweb and applications that required
computing, but were seen by the user as creative rather than computing
tools:publishing, music creation, video and audio production, design and
graphical creation. The interweb was used to search for information, shopping,
on-line social activities. Finally, we have apps which fit into all catagories.
Desktops are used for both computing, creative and non-computing purposes.
Tablets and phones are mainly used for the non-computing purposes, although
there are both computing and creative apps.
The future main market for personal operating systems is in the tablet and phone
area. The tools capable of intensive computing and creative work demand a
desktop, but will not be a significant part of the dosh-making market.
This will be so for the majority of business personal computers. They are
already moving to the app-style of computer use.
Apple still support computing and creative work on desktops and laptops.
Microsoft seem determined to excise this part of the market for their OS. From
the simple marketing point of view, this is sound.
The problem for both Apple and Microsoft is that the present high price tags for
these devices is already plummeting. Apple do not get lots of revenue from the
OS and desktop computing software, but they will continue to get good revenue
from the hardware.
Microsoft are betting the farm on maintaining their OS and app software revenue
from the tablets and phones. When the hardware price plummets, so will the
premium for the operating system. It is only the high value desktop and laptop
hardware that can support intensive computing and creativity software that will
enable the pull-through of Windows and Office revenue on which Microsoft are
completely dependent and this is the lifeline that they are cutting off.
I need a desktop. About a third of my time is in creativity, programming and
related work. The remainder is interweb-based like this interminable Groklaw
comment.
All I can say is long live Linux and death and destruction to any attempts by
Canonical to go the Microsoft route.
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Regards
Ian Al
Software Patents: It's the disclosed functions in the patent, stupid![ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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