Jump to content

Are We Dinosaurs?


raymac46

Recommended Posts

I think in many ways we are if we run Linux (Android excepted.)

Most of us are solidly in the x86 PC world and a lot of us run desktops still (I have three of them.) I also have a few netbooks and a laptop. I use a keyboard and mouse with all of them.

I suppose for me to get with the program I should be using an iPad or maybe an Android tablet. But I read recently that even these more touch and tap appliances are on their way out. iPad sales are down; Apple doesn't issue new hardware as often (and they seem to be diving their market into basic and Pro tablets.)

No in this post PC world it seems everybody wants to compute on a smartphone - and I suppose Linux is there after a fashion since Android is so dominant in that sphere.

But I don't want to go there - not with failing eyesight and no budget for mobile access. I just hope there are enough of us around to keep interest in good old desktop Linux going for a few more years.

Do you ever worry about Linux becoming more of a server stack and no love for a desktop O/S?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

Well in the Enterprise market, every one is still on laptops and desktops. Actually, I do not know anyone who does any computing on their tablet or smartphone. They use those for Facebook, email and other mindless activity.

 

There may be certain projects that are geared towards Servers but most Linux distros are geared towards the desktop and I do not think that will change any time soon.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That may be but I bet most of your business travelers have a smartphone along with them.

Right now if you're coming back to Canada you can fill out your immigration form on your smartphone and just scan a UPC at a kiosk in the airport. Saves a lot of time standing in a queue.

One problem that still exists is that a lot of documents are still composed for printing and a lot of that is tough to do on a smartphone. Aside from the skimpy keyboard you can't really read the text of .pdfs that well.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting how the digital age is working its way into the doctor's office. One specialist I go see carries an iPad around now with all the test results and radiology docs on it. His office still has a couple of PCs and a laser printer though.

My optometrist has a cloud based record keeping system now and all the exams, optical prescriptions and eyeball photos go there.

Edited by raymac46
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

Now a lot of business people do use smartphones for their company email and such but to really do any work, a laptop is a must.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hedon James

I agree with SB. As a general rule of thumb, desktops/laptops/servers are for PRODUCTION, while tablets/smartphones are for CONSUMPTION. Of course there are exceptions, but I think these generalities are truisms. And I don't see it changing anytime soon....as long as keyboards and mice are more efficient at input/production, it will continue that way. JMO...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

And most of the time those people that do work with tablets and such are executives who do not do any real work on the devices besides emailing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hedon James

And most of the time those people that do work with tablets and such are executives who do not do any real work on the devices besides emailing.

 

You said it, not me! (but you aren't wrong!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

Well I only know because I am the guy who brings your new machine and transfers the data from the old to the new one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

V.T. Eric Layton

As long as there are techies around, there will always be desktop systems and desktop Linux. You'll never see a real gamer playing games on his Android phone; screen too small. You'll never see tech-nerds, who like to custom build their own systems, building Android netbooks. You'll never see, as Josh says, IT techs monitoring servers or networks using their iPads to do that job.

 

While the desktop system isn't as popular among the run-of-the-mill computer consumers, it is still a vital part of the technical world.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hedon James

As long as there are techies around, there will always be desktop systems and desktop Linux. You'll never see a real gamer playing games on his Android phone; screen too small. You'll never see tech-nerds, who like to custom build their own systems, building Android netbooks. You'll never see, as Josh says, IT techs monitoring servers or networks using their iPads to do that job.

 

While the desktop system isn't as popular among the run-of-the-mill computer consumers, it is still a vital part of the technical world.

 

Yep! And truth be told, a desktop is way more power than most consumer/users need in order to do what they want to do. Usually limited to e-mailing, web-surfing, watching videos, checking weather, and occassionally playing some games. A tablet is all you need for that, and a cellphone will suffice in a pinch, when your tablet isn't readily available.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you think about it, even the doctor is a technology "consumer" when he uses his iPad to review an MRI diagnosis. The "producers" - the tech who made the image and the radiologist who analysed it probably used more powerful desktop PCs to do their jobs.

Edited by raymac46
Link to comment
Share on other sites

V.T. Eric Layton

Even when you do manage that on your smarty-pants phone, Ray, you'll still need to hook that phone up to a BIG monitor to really enjoy what you're doing. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

If they would port it to Android, my phone could run that. It has a Snapdragon 820 CPU, Adreno 530 GPU, 4gb of ram, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's what you need:

  • RECOMMENDED:
  • OS: Windows 8.1 64bit.
  • Processor: Intel i5 3330/AMD FX 8350 or better, Quad physical core, 64 bit, 2.3Ghz or better.
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM.
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 660 or better/ AMD HD 6950 or better.
  • DirectX: Version 11.
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection.
  • Storage: 30 GB available space.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

Well maybe I over-exaggerated but it does have a quad core cpu, 220gb of storage, a pretty good mobile GPU, LTE broadband, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello,

 

There are plenty of inexpensive tablets around, most running Android. Tablets which run Windows (and, presumably, one can install Linux onto) are available as well.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

As long as there are techies around, there will always be desktop systems and desktop Linux. You'll never see a real gamer playing games on his Android phone; screen too small. You'll never see tech-nerds, who like to custom build their own systems, building Android netbooks. You'll never see, as Josh says, IT techs monitoring servers or networks using their iPads to do that job.

 

While the desktop system isn't as popular among the run-of-the-mill computer consumers, it is still a vital part of the technical world.

 

Yep! And truth be told, a desktop is way more power than most consumer/users need in order to do what they want to do. Usually limited to e-mailing, web-surfing, watching videos, checking weather, and occassionally playing some games. A tablet is all you need for that, and a cellphone will suffice in a pinch, when your tablet isn't readily available.

 

Well for the most part until you want to write a long email or a document and then, even with swiping and autocomplete, it quickly becomes a major pain. Granted most consumers do not write long documents or emails nowadays but I was more so referring to a business setting.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have one of those cheap Android tablets and it is handy to read books on. I like it better than an actual e-reader because the screen is backlit in low light.

Those Windows based tablets like the Surface Pro are really just laptops with a detachable keyboard.

I don't do a lot of production these days - just some emails and blogs (and here of course.) But I'd never try to do it on a tablet. For general use I still need some sort of PC.

That said, it looks as if the garden variety tablet like the mid-sized iPad is going the way of the netbook. Either the larger "pro" tablet or the smartphone is taking its place. Either that of folks are just holding on to the older tablets as there is little incentive to upgrade them.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A friend of mine has one of these surface thingymabobs. The way she generally uses it the keyboard serves more or less as a stand while she uses the touch screen and on-screen keyboard for everything, which seems to work for her. I doubt I could adjust to using it like that... Aside from it taking up a sizeable chunk of the screen, I'm quite dependent on alt-tab, and control-space to expose all windows, which I don't see being so convenient to do reaching over to the screen.

 

On the other hand, I would be interested on seeing how Gnome 3 handles the touch screen, or perhaps KDE's Kickoff or dashboard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hedon James

Within the past 2 weeks, I have recently purchased a Lenovo A12 tablet:

 

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/lenovo/a-series/lenovo-a12/

 

As a Linux user, I prefer Android, but my previous Android tablets always left me with a feeling of disappointment. I had a Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet (forget the model, but think of the KitKat 4.x series?), but it was kind of slow. Started looking into the possibility of a Linux installation, or Cyanogenmod, but it was an ARM processor, so Linux was out. It was also my opinion that the 10" screen was just a little too small for my tastes, as I found myself "pinching" the screen to enlarge webpages/books/etc... And a keyboard option for laptop-style usage would be handy. So based on all this, I figured a new tablet made more sense than putting CM and a bulky bluetooth keyboard/case on a "too small" tablet screen. And I wanted it with an intel CPU so I had the future option of a linux installation, if it ever comes to fruition.

 

This was around the time when I kept hearing that Ubuntu Touch was coming. You can only hear that so many times before you tune it out. I became aware of the MJ Technology tablets, which suggested that the Ubuntu distro (not touch) was in a Beta state and would be shipping "soon". Far as I know, that never happened, although it looks like they switched the base OS to OpenSUSE and at least delivered SOMETHING! And it was only 10", so maybe I wouldn't have been happy with it anyways.

 

Microsoft Surface tablets would've been the perfect form-factor for me, and with intel CPU for Linux! But everything I read suggested that Linux installations were buggy...something didn't work; wifi dongles required for workaround of wifi chipset; attached keyboard didn't work, etc.... I wasn't interested in paying for features that Linux couldn't access, and I wasn't interested in helping MS propogate its attempts to stifle the market. I concluded any tablet had to be Linux "out of the box" or Android.

 

Around this time I became aware of the Cube Tablets, one of which was a 12" model that shipped with Ubuntu and offered a keyboard package, for the seemingly affordable price of $399 plus shipping. Further research revealed that the flavor of Ubuntu was Kylin; this concerned me a little, as there was going to be a lot of Chinese (which I can NOT read, LOL!), but I was confident I could replace it with another flavor. A test run in Virtualbox confirmed a satisfactory result. But problem #2 was that the $399 advertised price seemed to be an introductory offer that was now $700?! WTH...for a TABLET?! This was too much $$$ for the product and it turns out the ONLY vendor of these tablets was in China. There were 3 possible outcomes for this scenario:

1. This tablet was another linux scam.

2. Order the tablet, but if I was dissatisfied, it was going to be a real PITA to return it and get my $$$ back.

3. I'd be happy with the tablet, but I paid way too much for it. And at $700 plus shipping, it should be PERFECT for me, not just "acceptable".

I decided to keep an eye on E-bay, Craigslist, Amazon, etc... To this day, I still haven't seen a single resale offered. Either that tablet was a scam, or they're just so perfect that no one wants to get rid of one?!

 

While I was watching for the Cube tablet, I became aware of the Nextbook Ares11 offered at WalMart for $199. This machine seemed perfect...intel CPU, the right size, detachable keyboard, Android, and at a great price. For $200 I figured "how can I go wrong" and bought it on the spot. This thing is JUNK! How is it possible to take such promising specs & form factor, and CRIPPLE it! While it came with Android 5.0 Lollipop, it also came with the Lollipop memory leak, so it crashed a LOT. Turns out the manufacturer has a history of churning out product, but never updating software...I'd have to fix it on my own. While troubleshooting that, I also learned that it used disk encryption, which may or may not have contributed to the crashing, but it certainly slowed it down. I started looking into installing Linux on the intel CPU, but ran into all kinds of issues, including 32-bit bootloader for a 64-bit machine; lack of touchpad drivers, etc...this was also a NO-GO for Linux. I became familiar with the XDA website and taught myself how to "flash" that tablet to get root, fix the memory leak, and remove the encryption. No matter what I did, it was lipstick on a pig. It'd be better for a couple hours, or days, then get buggy again. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I would open Firefox for websurfing, but touching my screen selections could range from an instantaneous response (yay!) to a delayed response that made me question if the tablet was frozen/crashed. It's a shame that such promising specs on a tablet were so crippled by the manufacturer. It's pretty obvious to me that E-fun (the manufacturer) doesn't use, nor even test, their own products, because if they did, there is NO WAY they would've let that one out of the factory. I learned later that this is a common theme with many of their products. Once burned, twice learned...

 

Which brings me full circle back to my original statement regarding the Lenovo A12 tablet...I am THRILLED with this tablet! Love EVERYTHING about it! The size, the form-factor, performance, the 360' rotating keyboard, the flat "virtual" keyboard surface is genius for a tablet/laptop hybrid, it's 64-bit, an intel CPU, and Lenovo has a history of being Linux-friendly. At some point, someone way smarter than me will figure out how to put Linux on this thing. But until then, I'm perfectly happy using it exactly "as is". For anyone else considering a tablet purchase, I highly recommend you look into the A12 and see if it's for you!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

Within the past 2 weeks, I have recently purchased a Lenovo A12 tablet:Started looking into the possibility of a Linux installation, or Cyanogenmod, but it was an ARM processor, so Linux was out.

 

What do you mean? There is Arch Linux ARM, Debian ARM, Fedora ARM, Ubuntu ARM, etc. and this is not a new thing. I was using running Linux on machines with ARM processors back in 2012 with my HP Touchpad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hedon James

Good point. It was out for ME. At one point, I had learned that intel x86 chips were required for Linux installations; but obviously there are ARM distros now. I don't completely understand why it was suggested that x86 was needed for Linux installations. Maybe I'm confusing architecture restrictions with UEFI and secure boot restrictions. One thing I'm certain of....it's a LOT more work to put Linux on a tablet than a desktop/notebook. I'll work that hard for my desktop/laptop that I spend so much time on; but I'm not wanting to work that hard for a tablet that is a casual "fill in the gaps" type of device.

 

Sounds like you have tablet flashing experience? When I have some more free time in life, I may want to enlist your expertise. I have a NextBook Ares11 with hardware specs that suggest it would make a nice Linux tablet...if I could iron out the reported bugs/issues. Even if I brick it, I'm not losing much...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first tablet was a 7 inch Nexus 1st gen back in 2012. It still works after a fashion and I let the grandkids play with it - there are a few children's games installed. However you cannot go much higher than Android 4.4 or you run into trouble. It's clearly obsolete.

I am also a Lenovo fan so I picked up a Yoga Tab 3 8.0 around Christmas last year.

http://www.gsmarena...._3_8_0-7642.php

It's pretty slow and old fashioned but it has a nice design and a very long life battery. It's great for e-reading and I can hook it up to my stereo if I want to run Spotify. It's now running Android 6 pretty well. It's no substitute for a laptop but it has its uses.

I'm using my Yoga Tab 3 to listen to Hall and Oates right now - Abandoned Luncheonette.

Edited by raymac46
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

securitybreach

Sounds like you have tablet flashing experience? When I have some more free time in life, I may want to enlist your expertise. I have a NextBook Ares11 with hardware specs that suggest it would make a nice Linux tablet...if I could iron out the reported bugs/issues. Even if I brick it, I'm not losing much...

 

Sounds good, just let me know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...