Posted on 04/14/2013 5:33:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
On May 5, 1907, The New York Times published a column written that same morning by Mark Twain on the news of his death the day before. “You can assure my Virginia friends,” said Twain, “that I will make an exhaustive investigation of this report that I have been lost at sea. If there is any foundation for the report, I will at once apprise the anxious public.” The event led to the oft-misquoted phrase: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
Everyone it seems, loves a good untimely death
So much so, the Wikipedia maintains a list of 219 famous erroneous death reports. Paul McCartney was reported dead on a radio show in 1966, with fans convinced he’d been replaced by an impostor. Pope John Paul II is on the list with the distinction of being the only known triple recipient of early death news reports. And the US House of Representatives cemented its reputation as the best comedy show in town when news of Bob Hope’s death was reported on the floor and broadcast on C-SPAN…five years too early. And so it goes with taking news at face value.
Even me
I guess I’m no different in proffering bold headlines of untimely deaths, but I do think it’s important not to take any data at face value. This week, the newswires are blazing with the news that PC shipments dropped 14% year-over-year. You’d think the zombie apocalypse was upon us (yes, there’s a list of false apocalypses too). But when I look at the fine print, I draw a different conclusion. Note that tablets – including the ones with detachable keyboards – are *not* included in the PC shipments figure.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
AUTHOR WONDERS IF ALL THIS TOUTING OF THE DEATH OF THE PC IS ALL HYPE AND NOTHING MORE:
He says:
Don’t sound the alarm with only half of the story
Well, duh! Isn’t that Microsoft‘s intent – to shift PC sales to tablets? Could it be that Microsoft’s strategy is beginning to work, and we’re seeing Windows 8 & Windows RT tablets starting to take hold? We know that enterprise interest in proactively adopting Windows 8 is muted, but our Q3 2012 Workforce Employee Survey data is remarkably promising for Windows 8’s prospects for BYOD in the enterprise, with a full 20% of information workers reporting that they want Windows 8 on their next tablet, vs. 26% for iOS. Not bad considering that Windows 8 wasn’t quite shipping yet when we fielded the survey.
what on earth is Blackberry playbook
The idea of wanting to make a PC somehow or other work like a tablet or gadget (Windows 8) is basically idiotic.
Arafat’s death was reported numerous times before he actually cashed in. I know, I read it numerous times, right here.
if pcs last like they should, people wouldn’t need to keep replacing them...............
I just signed a contract with a very large client. Said contract requires we conduct all invoicing thru an internet portal they have set up. They gave us minimum requirements and specifically stated Win 8 not supported. Chrome not supported either.
Not at all. It will make it easier for developers to deploy applications across multiple platforms at once. In Windows 8 on a desktop, you can avoid the Start Screen by pinning your most used applications to the Task Bar. The Live Tiles are nice though.
.
All these reports of declining “PC” sales are a little deceptive when tablets are counted in a separate category. Tablets are personal computers, though smaller and with less functionality in most cases. But the more expensive ones are practically just smaller PCs.
Just because desktop or laptop or notebook sales might decline while table sales increase, that doesn’t equal declining personal computer sales, just a shift in the platform for a portion of PC sales.
Again.
This week.
Yada yada yada...
Call me when someone develops another OS that can replace the Windows OS family at the enterprise level. Until that happens it's going no where. No amount of shoe horned in to full corporate operation Ipads or trying to use Google whatever is going to change that.
And yes I use my Ipad that way now, and its not bad, but...
Something *is* going on, the author’s protestations to the contrary. PC’s running windows are being hit by the perfect storm of phones, tablets, windows8, lack of a technological imperative to upgrade, the cloud, virtual computing, the list goes on and on. Hard to imagine the market ever recovering to what it has been absent some other game changing event or events.
And that’s one of the “problems”. The limiting factor on most people’s computer is no longer the processor or storage, but rather the bandwidth of the internet connection. It’s like being able to upgrade to a car which can go 200 mph, but still being stuck on 65 mph roads. Why spend the money?
I bought the latest iPad back in November not to replace my windows laptop but for other purposes. I found myself rarely going back to use the laptop and did only to retrieve files that were on it.
Each time I’d get back on my laptop it would frustrate me to no end.
I WILL NEVER purchase another windows based PC ever. Bill Gates can kiss my a$$!
I know it will cost at least twice as much but my next PC will be a MAC.
I use a database that automatically works with Windows 8 like a dream. Invoices should be simple, that doesn’t seem right. I’m not a the one programming this stuff, so what do I know.
Money is money, you gotta do what they want..
Funny how different people have different experiences with the same things. I am writing this on my iPad, which is great for certain things but not for others. I use PC's a lot at home & work, like my win 7 AND my win 8 machines. I have a macbook that I use for a few specific things, but every time I try to use it for things I normally do on a PC I am frustrated to no end. At this time there is NO way I'd adopt a Mac as my main tech device.
I remember the toll road debate here in Houston.
The governor’s (paid) friends on this site kept telling me that soon every highway (and street) for that matter will be a toll road, so get with it, stop trying to live in the past. Beyond that, they will be privately owned and unregulated (i.e., charging at least 30 cents per mile). That was a decade ago - and yes there are a couple of new toll highways (as well as new freeways), and some new toll lanes on existing highways (as well as new free lanes), but no - the Interstates in Texas still don’t have tolls, and the talk of that crap is went out the door when the Governor needed to get re-elected in 2010.
Until Windows 8, I’ve been a defender of Microsoft’s OS’s. But this was sickening. People don’t buy a computer because it has Windows, they buy a computer in spite of Windows. And while Windows isn’t great, it works good enough and we got used to it. So now MS decides that they OWN us and can give us whatever crap they want to dish out. Well sorry, but the customer is speaking now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.