I'm sometimes really impressed and humbled by the things other bloggers write. Some days, I think "wow, there are some really smart folks out there and I just can't compete." Today is not one of those days.
Nicholas Carr wrote a blog posting today (The PC Officially Died Today The New Republic) that really makes me wonder what he puts into his Double Latte with a twist. Let's set aside the actual topic of the article, the iPad. It's a cool little device and looks sexy as hell. Let's talk about the death of the PC as we know it (Mac, Windows, Linux, whatever). The reality is that the PC platform is the worst computing platform known to man, except for all other platforms which have been invented. Sorry Winston.
What this really comes down to is the keyboard. Quick, efficient input requires a keyboard. Folks are willing to sacrifice this in the name of convenience, but to really do any serious input, you need one of these clunky things I'm using right now (and I'm assuming Mr. Carr used one also). I would love to see something faster and more convenient than a keyboard. Haven't seen it yet. Voice activation? Have you ever tried dictating to someone? I type faster than I can talk. Natural User Interface? What, like ASL? No thanks. Killing off the mouse may happen (though I doubt it) but the keyboard is here for a while. My primary work machine will always have a keyboard. Until someone comes up with something better. Still waiting.
So, if you have a computer with a processor, display device, some local storage (volitile, non-volitile, magnetic, solid state, whatever), a keyboard, some sort of input device (touch, mouse, trackball, whatever) and a connection to a network; what is that? Well, in the biz we call that a PC folks.
ITA
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