Post-PC era? Not quite

[MorphingDragon]

Explain how iPad computing is "dumbed down"? Hell, there is even a file explorer app that allows me to connect to another computer file share, if I want to look at files! There are 400K apps, many of which are "power user" type applications. You can be as dumb or intelligent in your usage as you want to.

It is not I that said the iPad was dumbed down.

 

[MorphingDragon]

The iPad has no command line, has no user accessible filesystem or file explorer, heck it has no concept of files in a user presented way. Everything is a database (the Music Library, the Video Library, the Photo Library) which Apps access and present to the user in a controlled fashion. The user doesn't have to manage meta-data, doesn't have to update the browser, update the music player, update the core display system, it's all packaged up and given to him.

So? Is a database capable of anything less? Is a lack of command line really a burden? How is this different from certain OSes with imaged based updating?

It is irrelevant how the computer handles data in the backend, that does not define how smart or dumb a computer is. As long as users can access and manage their data in a way that gives them power over their data, it is not dumbed down.

Law and Accounting software is starting to adopt filesystem-less paradigms, with document and workflow management. We are starting to come to a stage where abstract ideas such as a file system are no longer needed and all users need to worry about is their data.

There are no tools pre-installed that a hacker can use after a successful exploit to further compromise the system,
no compilers, no linkers.

Last time I checked only specialized OSes came with fully functional development environments by default. This seems more like nerd rage than a legitimate point.

There is no multi-user complexity, multiple profiles and settings, etc..

So you're saying its DOS?

It's really an appliance. It's dead easy and it manages itself. The user can do actual work with the applications instead of being bothered managing the system.

So a computer is something that needs a learning curve and explicit user management? Good grief I hope you don't do interface design.

 

[KnightWRX]

It is irrelevant how the computer handles data in the backend, that does not define how smart or dumb a computer is. As long as users can access and manage their data in a way that gives them power over their data, it is not dumbed down.

That was my point, the user does not manage their data, the device does. It stores it, it files it, it organizes it based on meta data structures. It's all automatic.

Every single one of my points can be taken by itself, but that is "nerd rage" like you put it. You missed the point of my post and of the Post-PC era OSes like iOS/Meego/Android and others. The point is that all my points put together take all the "managing" out of computing and turns devices into appliances that are "used".

"Managing" a computer and data vs "Using" a computer and data.

Think about that. Think about the whole, not the parts.

 

[MorphingDragon]

That was my point, the user does not manage their data, the device does. It stores it, it files it, it organizes it based on meta data structures. It's all automatic.

Every single one of my points can be taken by itself, but that is "nerd rage" like you put it. You missed the point of my post and of the Post-PC era OSes like iOS/Meego/Android and others. The point is that all my points put together take all the "managing" out of computing and turns devices into appliances that are "used".

"Managing" a computer and data vs "Using" a computer and data.

Think about that. Think about the whole, not the parts.

I understand what you are saying, but I disagree. (The most discrete way to troll though is to break up arguments into bite sized chunks. ) "Appliance" suggests limitation of functionality, but that is purely subjective.

A computer is not defined by how much management it requires. It is defined by what tasks it can accomplish and superfluously by how easy it is to do that task.

Just because a computer is smart enough to (mostly) manage the data for a user doesn't make it "dumb" computer or appliance. Dumbing down the computer is just a solution to making computing more accessible, it is not the only way.