On 6/29/2011 9:58 AM, George wrote:
On 6/28/2011 7:32 PM, A. Baum wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:27:52 -0400, aemeijers wrote:

On 6/28/2011 5:35 PM, A. Baum wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:08:25 -0400, Dbdblocker wrote:

Looks like desktop and laptop computers are on the way out. The
smartphone with it's always on internet browser is coming in. Use a
tablet to connect to your smartphone's own hotspot if you want a
larger screen. Portable, mobile use anywhere. Should also kill
computer desk sales. Works for me.

You'll not experience the actual computing power of a desktop in a
tablet or smartphone for a good while to come. They couldn't touch this
4 ghz quad core AMD/Asus combo with 8 GB ram, NVidia CUDA support and 2
terabytes of SATA 3 storage. Oh, forgot the 32" HD monitor.

Nor can most people afford the no-longer-unlimited cell phone data
plans, and there are vast parts of the country where cell phones barely
work, if at all, for voice calls, much less a high speed data
connection.

I think all these writers predicting the end of last-decade technology
have never been to fly-over country. Desktops and laptops, and hard
cable internet connections, will be with us for the next couple of
decades, unless somebody invents a new way to blanket the country with
wireless signal.

I took my IPad 2 on a flight across the country 2 months ago. The airline
had wireless. Boy what a joke that was. They use common carrier cell
towers that aren't even EVO1X. Once you get say 30 people online it's
useless. Unless you live in a large city, 4G is spotty. I have a 4G USB
stick for my netbook. It's like using 33.6 dial up. Nowhere near the
rated data transfer. Maybe in ten years when we're in generation 6 or 7
of cellular data it might be a bit faster but for now it sucks for
everything except text email and messaging.

Maybe try a different carrier? I have a 4G phone. When in a 4G area I
typically see 9 Mb/s download (24 Mb/s in Philly last week) which rivals
my cable modem at home. When in a 3G area I typically see 2 Mb/s
download which is also quite usable.

Shrug. Sure, if you throw enough money at it, you can get nice toy with
good connectivity. Some of us still cringe at paying $43 a month for
low-end DSL. High-end data plan? Ain't gonna happen.

--
aem sends...