ARM as a primary architecture

[Chris Murphy]

On Mar 22, 2012, at 2:10 AM, drago01 wrote:
>> 
> Interesting. People I know just using them (tablets) as "toys" to play
> some causal games, surf the net & read mails. They go back to there
> laptops / desktops to do anything beyond that.

Most people don't. It's important to understand most of us on this list aren't most people.

Toys?

FAA Approves IPad for Flight Navigation
http://www.tabletedia.com/news/2820.html

Here's a quote from a doctor: "Even if you’re not at home, you can quickly pick up your phone, view the EKG, and take care of patients remotely."
http://www.imedicalapps.com/2011/12/apple-top-iphone-ipad-medical-apps-2011/

This is doing 2 minute google searches...

People read books on mobile devices. Computers? Ick. I'm not reading a book on a computer. It's unpleasant. I can't read on a mobile device because I need a browser with an average of 34 tabs. Most people lack my lunacy.


> 
>> And increasingly less often. Their phone? Can't live without it. It's already a primary device.
> 
> Well people couldn't live without "dumbphones" either so this is
> natural progress.

They could. They had desktops or laptops. Most people would replace their phone in a day if it broke or were lost. A home computer? Weekend. Maybe next weekend.


> "I agree that we will see more smartphones and tablets in the future"
> ... yes no doubt that market still has a potential to grow. I just do
> not believe that a significant amount of people will throw there
> desktops/laptops away and use tablets / smartphones instead.

Most people will. There will be no advantage to a desktop or laptop. So far, speed is all that's really come up. That's going to be a non-issue in a hurry. There's BILLIONS of dollars pouring into mobile and tablet right now. It's what people want.

> 
> Tablets are 99% consumption only devices. Your are missing the
> "production market" ... people do use computers to do work, write the
> apps that the tablet/smartphone people enjoy etc.

Developer market? Image editing and video editing stations? Small markets. Enough to maintain x86? Yeah sure, for a while. But as a majority?

Mobile market isn't just syphoning users from the consumer desktop market, it's growing the market.


> So no there is still a marked beyond the consumption only devices
> (tablets) and the data centers (servers). The world is not black and
> white.

It is a shrinking market.

> 
>> Thunderbolt on an ARM tablet to connect a larger display, bluetooth keyboard, and internet access and the overwhelming majority can do what they need to do.
> 
> Which is a lot more work then simply open the laptop and start working.

Consumers are complicated.

>> For home users, it has already happened a while ago. They don't need a desktop. They probably don't need a laptop either.
> 
> When home user == "only consumes content" then yes but that is not
> necessarily the only use of computers / laptops at home either.

It's the majority case. Email, web browser, books, Netflix, and it's a baby sitter. It's like candy multiplied by TV for kids. Way more interesting for them than desktop computers or laptops.


Chris Murphy