Good column but this ongoing idea that the smartphone is the new personal computer is wrong. It's a different type of device. Smartphones are not replacing computers in terms of a device to get work done, other than email and phone calls. Doing real work for just about any job on a smartphone, even a big one like my iPhone 7 Plus, is not really viable. You still need a laptop or desktop to work in a spreadsheet, design a full page ad layout or do serious programming.
We need to let go of this idea that new technology is always a version of some other one, or replacing some other one. That's actually rare. Most of the time new inventions are just that; new.
> Smartphones are not replacing computers in terms of a device to get work done, other than email and phone calls.
That is A LOT of work (real work) being replaced right there.
We also need to stop thinking people bought personal computers to work or be more productive. Part of the personal computer market was sustained by families needing a device to be connected, browse the web, do homewrok, etc... those use cases are now being replaced by the phone or a tablet.
Nobody is saying that smartphones are replacing computers completely, just that for a big part of the market the computer was a complex tool that was underused. That market is now finding smartphones/tablets are simpler to use and more apt for the tasks they want. We will always have specialized devices for certain jobs, but the main computing device is (for the majority of the population) the smartphone.
It is the interface (small, touchscreen) that is new, along with the wireless network connectivity.
Other than that a smartphone is most definitely a personal computer though. There are many, less keyboard/mouse bound tasks that people regularly did on desktop PCs 10-15 years ago that we now do on our phones.
My wife is an assistant. She does a lot of her work on email. But not all of it. She can't do her job on her smartphone.
Almost nobody can do their entire job through their smartphone, and that's not going to change. They are not replacing the personal computer, they're just an additional device that has a different role.
Of course it can change. There are three things inhibiting the use of the smartphone for productivity: most of the software available at the moment has not been designed for that role, it will take years for the software to catch up in terms of functionality, and it will take years for the market to adopt software that is up to the task.
Notice how there is no mention of the hardware above. Processors, memory, and I/O capabilities are already up to the task for many environments. The only unsolved problem in terms of interfacing to suitable I/O devices (i.e. screen and keyboard) is having a universal standard.
Of course, the real question is whether it is desirable to invest in bringing the software up to par. Perhaps it is worth it to have a universal platform. Perhaps it is not worth it because the market is not interested in having that universal platform.
Note: I am not arguing that the smartphone can replace all conventional computers. Some markets are simply too specialized to make investing in the transition viable. Other markets have no need for portability. Yet other markets will find that the trade-off in capacity or performance is too large. On the other hand, there may be a place for people who want a single device in their life that can adapt to many different situations.
Sorry but you are simply wrong. You keep using people who use personal computers as their work tool. But thats missing the point. We are not talking about engineers, designers and people who need to work in excel all day but they are still a minority compared to those who own a smartphone.
The point is that many people don't own a computer but use their smartphone to do everything with.
You see that once you have to build solutions for the masses.
I used my wife who is an assistant, not a developer or engineer. Exactly what jobs that currently utilize a personal computer do you see being able to be move entirely to a smart phone? If you're so insistent they exist, please supply some examples.
> You see that once you have to build solutions for the masses.
I have been a professional software developer for 20 years, my friend. I have worked on products at every level. Please stop being so patronizing.
And I have been working with this for 25 years so what? That's not relevant as this is a fairly recent development.
You keep missing the larger point and you are mixing two discussions.
You wrote and I quote
"Good column but this ongoing idea that the smartphone is the new personal computer is wrong. It's a different type of device."
What you are forgetting in all this is that people who never used computers before for their work are now using smartphones and tablets instead, what they are replacing is mostly pen and paper. Construction sites, drivers, inspectors etc. They skipped the personal computer and moved directly to smartphone.
No one is claiming that people don't use computers, what is being claimed and what is right is that people are increasingly using smartphones for things they used to use computers for and that some people are going directly to smartphones instead.
Which means that in the overall economy which is what Mossbergs article was about, the phone is the primary computation device for most people and that even in areas where the computer is a primary device the mobile takes over more and more of that work.
Thats the point and isn't negated by some notion that your wife use a computer for some of her work. With regards to whether the smartphone is a different device then you are arguing against yourself as you just said your wife uses it for things she also do on her computer.
Not sure where you get the patronizing tone from. The numbers speak for themselves both when it comes to webstats, sales stats, usage etc.
> Not sure where you get the patronizing tone from.
This would be a start:
> Most people doesn't have your or my kind of work. And even those that do will be able to use their phone on any screen at some point.
Nice assumption there.
> The numbers speak for themselves both when it comes to webstats, sales stats, usage etc.
How so... You make it sound so obvious. Webstats, sales stats, usage... you'll need to elaborate. The sales stats of smartphones vs desktop/laptop really doesn't by itself prove declining use or a shift in use. In my industry (which is not tech BTW, so stuff that notion), almost everything across levels in mostly desktop and average age of devices nearing 10 years - this refutes the relevance of sales stats. Primary software is all "native desktop", and real desktop, not some fucking Electron app, not a web app. There are players in this industry that are trying to shift to tablet/smartphone with cloud apps, but they have made little actual conversion - ie it is a rounding error. Webstats are not an issue.
No the numbers don't speak for themselves. Continue implying I'm an idiot that knows nothing outside tech (ha!), or explain.
> some people are going directly to smartphones instead.
"some people" are always doing something.
> primary device the mobile takes over more and more of that work.
The other argument is that mobile devices have augmented many things without significantly replacing existing systems. And really, while that is all fine, if critical things are still dependent on the "old tech" than it is a counter to the significance of a mobile invasion. From personal experience, in a few industries, in 2017, you could make all the smartphones disappear and people would be sad and there would be some significant efficiency losses, but things would move one. On the other hand, make the old PC infrastructure disappear and everything goes to hell. That I felt was, in part, the gist of the OP's arguments and I agree.
I think you're a prick. You certainly come off that way in text.
> You see that once you have to build solutions for the masses.
Oh and I'm going to opine based on your generalizing assertions that your definition of masses must be more limited than you think. Unless you mean masses as "media consumers", in which case I'll just say it is not a small industry, but it is a minor part of the economy.
We need to let go of this idea that new technology is always a version of some other one, or replacing some other one. That's actually rare. Most of the time new inventions are just that; new.