

Frank Shaw  (Source:
Microsoft said mobile devices are used just like PCs



Source: TechNet

Comments     Threshold


RE: convo
By karimtemple on 5/31/2013 4:03:23 PM , Rating: 2
1) All your thought experiment seems to demonstrate is that, one: the "personal" in personal computer doesn't refer to the fact that the computer is assigned to one person, and two: whatever it does refer to is something your VAX 780 and a desktop don't have in common. This actually doesn't mean that the commonality in question is not shared between a tablet and a desktop.

2) What we're talking about here are form factors. A PC is a PC because the form factor is suitable for every person having one. A VAX 780 is not suitable for every person having one, and it's therefore not a PC. A desktop is. A laptop is. A tablet is. They're PCs.

Interestingly, software actually plays a factor in the "class" of computer too. Hardware is kind of simple because it's more like a container -- You have hard limits on how much it can hold and what type of contents it's suitable for holding. But within those bounds, the software being contained within could be anything of any size or complexity. A Sega Dreamcast isn't thought of as being a PC, but if its software was general-purpose, it would've been a PC. The limited scope of the software makes it a "console."

People decry semantic arguments, but I quite enjoy them. I only dislike them when they're irrelevant to the OP (as with any argument).

RE: convo
By ElFenix on 6/2/2013 11:36:09 PM , Rating: 2
to further illustrate that software is a defining characteristic, the Atari 400 and 800 personal computers were basically Atari 2600s with upgraded graphics capabilities and keyboards built in (the 400 with a legendarily bad keyboard).

RE: convo
By Argon18 on 6/4/2013 1:40:33 PM , Rating: 2
You've contradicted yourself here. A phone and a tablet are not PC's, for the same reason a Sega video game system isn't (per your own example). It's the closed software ecosystem that draws this delineation, as well as the closed hardware.

Lets talk about the software first. A Sega video game system is limited to only the software titles that Sega has authorized. Sega defines the entire software ecosystem for that device. An iPad is no different, in that Apple runs the "App Store", the sole source of software for it, and Apple decides which software titles are or are not approved. A PC has no such limitation. I can run whatever OS I want on a PC. Linux, Windows, OS/2, DOS, FreeBSD, you name it. After selecting the OS, I can then select whatever software I want, or even write my own.

As for the hardware, the situation is the same. With a PC, I can expand its features and capabilities through industry standard expansion busses and interfaces. I can buy hardware from dozens of manufacturers to add new capabilities not envisioned by the PC manufacturer. A phone, an iPad, or a Sega video game console are completely different - they are closed proprietary hardware. I cannot expand them. I cannot add new capabilities. I cannot turn to multiple vendors to source replacement parts. It's a closed embedded appliance.

Phone/tablet/game console is a completely different hardware and software paradigm from a PC.

RE: convo







