Discussion on:

Utopian convergence of PC and mobile: How far away is it?

has an internet connection. Please let me give it another connection with useful functionality and still call it a single device, especially if it means I prefer it to the old device.

Now, the mouse and keyboard on your desk allow you to access the power of your desktop computer, and the monitor allows you to see the results. I see tablets replacing keyboards and mice as the interface with your "desktop" which may eventually become your "closet server". You just won't have to sit at a "desk" to use it. People still want to have their own independent computing power, with access to the cloud, but the massive storage of your own videos, photos, music, documents, etc will be in the box in the closet, and your tablet will allow you to access them. The cloud is a nice concept, but local storage will always be something people want.

You'll get the full-sized monitor, and physical mouse and keyboard, off my massive roll top desk when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers. The data (and OS and apps) may move into a box in the closet, but I want the large physical tools I've become accustomed to.

I too will always have a mouse, keyboard, and large monitor sitting on my ergonomic gaming desk setup.... but I would also like to be able to sit in my living room and use my tablet to que up a video stored on my desktop, to watch on my TV, check my email while I am waiting for the previews to finish, and Google the cast of the movie because I recognize one of the actors and can't remember his name, or what other movies he was in. I can also take the tablet into the kitchen to make a snack, and continue to watch the movie being displayed on my TV. No need to stop the video when I take a pee.... just carry the tablet into the bathroom.... but turn off the camera of course.....

I'm beginning to suspect it's a generational thing. I have no desire to read my personal e-mail more than once a day. I don't store entertainment media on my computer. I'm satisfied pausing something while I hit the kitchen or head; it will still be there when I get back. I'm not satisfied watching something on 7" screen that I could as easily be watching on 35" or larger.

I believe American society has become less patient in my lifetime. No one finds the slightest delay in gratification to be acceptable anymore.

Generation Schmeneration! I am 58 years old. At a recent family reunion a 70 year old friend of my aunt was enthusiastically talking to me about her 7" Samsung Galaxy Tablet, and all the cool things she could do with it, and my 27 year old daughter just looked at us and said she had no idea what the heck we were talking about. People use technology the way they want to. That's the great thing about freedom and choice.

I believe it is currently, and into the foreseeable future, impossible for any mobile device, be it notebook, netbook, tablet, or phone, to have the power of a contemporaneous desktop. For now, gadget#1 is my phone (non-smart, no data plan) so that I am accessible via voice and sms. At home and office, I have powerful PCs which I lump together as gadget #2. And, in between I have a information butler which is currently an IPad2. Along with all the standard functions of a mobile device, I also have secure access to the power of my home and office PCs. The only thing I see changing in this scenario is moving from the Ipad2 to a Tab I am currently evaluating.

Why won't tablets simply get flip-out keyboards? Or for that matter, why won't laptops become capable of folding in their keyboard for tablet-mode?

spastic left click finger...

For a user like me it's all about the keyboard and the monitor. Unhook me from my keyboard and chain me to a touchscreen and I will definitely pursue my other ambition of becoming a fur trapper north of the Arctic circle. So the idea of a dock is attractive, until I think of leaving it at home every time I travel and then being stuck with a tablet or a phone in a hotel room punching away with my thumbs. I mean am I the only one who feels thumbs were designed for nobler tasks than this stupid faux-keying we all are doing? Like hitchiking, or indicating hearty approval?

I like the kitchen oven comment the best - the key point is that when you combine functions that are performed better or more efficiently separately - you make compromises or lose something. I still prefer an old Western Electric phone on a hard telephone line, simply because I get tired of dropped calls, batteries on the headset or phone running down, poor reception, etc. - not to mention it still works during power outages. As technical people, many of us tend to forget that there is still a large population that either cannot afford, are unable to access high speed internet or cell service due to rural locations, or just don't care about the internet that will always need simple, basic PCs with locally run apps.

1) I see no future in the cloud for ordinairy folk.
2) I want to control, manage and secure my data.
3 ) I do not want anyone else in that loop as I control access.

Now one thing that I do not see mentioned in this debate is how do I access Excel.
I use Excel every day, rain or shine. Mobile and fixed to my desk.
I used to use PDAs for mobile Excel and dock with my Desktop and or Laptop as the need arises, I keep these synchronised as far as practical. Following the death of my last PDA( my fourth!) I am unable to use Excel on the hoof. Ok I could buy a Windows Mobile, albeit I have just purchased a Nokia Symbian phone with my femtocell ( bad move, I know now!).
Cell or Mobile phones have been problematic for me here, and world wide, I have to work too hard to make them work.
I have just succeeded in making my latest Cell work inside my home - it needed a femtocell to get an adequate signal! - I know have a fairly stable G3 connectiion- before the femtocell there was no connectivity and I have tried many Mobile providers over the years. Yes I know that living in a rural environment is not good for communications but I believe that we have to press these providers into providing a decent service, after all we pay enough for it!.

Returnong to the multiplicity of dervice debate.
I see no clear winner here.
I would be happy with a cell or Mobile phone that could handle Excel and other programs - I see no need yet for 50 plus extra Apps on any device, let alone loaded on 3 or 4. These seem frivolous to me, I do not use facebook ( I was an early adopter but soon saw the perils and stopped using it) I have never used twitter etc and cannot see the sense in "Following" celebrities etc I have too much else to do! This device would have to be connectable to my Main DeskTop or Laptop - and if it was a Laptop I would need a server to communicate with CAD peripherals, Maths tools, Astronomy tools, specialist printers, eBook reader access, Music access Scanners etc, Photo galleries and Libaries generally I do not see any room in my life for a tablet, or need for one,My daughter currently usea a tablet for recipes and other household needs where the Apps do come in handy!.proffesionally she uses a couple of laptops.
I agree with ross that the user's biggest needs are a good HMI (keyboard and mouse) although I would want a tablet as well. I have broadly given up keying in messages with thumbs and only send messages when it is important and I can find no other way of communicating.

Nokia :P ?

I tend to agree though I think it won't come quite as quick as you think, because of the big money trying to hold it back, but first or maybe the answer to this convergence is a true tablet.

Right now we have two tablets, the big-screen smartphone, and the UMPC (UMPC is/was a Windows tablet before anyone used the word). Neither of these will be that convergent device, or the final iteration of the tablet. The true tablet will be something truly in between. It will be more capable than a big-screen smartphone, and not just because of a different OS, but it will be less than a UMPC.

The other question to answer is if you choose a tablet, what do you use for a phone? Will we go back to Bluetooth headsets connected to your 3G tablet? I'm not sure.

I'll be waiting to hear the rest of this article.

Regardless of what device someone at Intel ends up using, Intel IT is working on what we call the compute continuum, which we define as seamless, consistent experiences across devices. We are using a combination of technologies and trends???such as ubiquitous internet connectivity, virtualization, and cloud computing???and working towards redefining the way we provide services to meet changing user requirements. Check out our latest paper here: http://intel.ly/mUr11C

?

And yes, I think it is.

intel. ly? No thanks.

but this one smelled more like PR than a personal observation.

I clicked on the link and it took me to a ligit intel website.
This is the link: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/it-management/intel-it-the-future-of-enterprise-computing-preparing-for-the-compute-continuum-paper.html

I am surprised that most of the techies here seem to have missed Jason's trajectory.

The logical system and the physical interface are separate layers of the computing architecture.

A single Operating system that is inter-operable accross scalable hardware can make the user experience much more convenient. If the difference between 'docking your smartphone off your desktop' or 'running your desktop off your smartphone' is semantically the same its easier just to do things.

An operating system that can integrate accross multiple processors on multiple devices and view the data and storage devices logically as well as using a single operating environment for a user is very convenient.

The only operating system with the flexibility in the near future to adapt as a single user environment accross mutiple scalable devices, I suspect, is linux.

Getting the protocols and multiple interfaces working in a streamlined way is quite a software challenge.

Security, Identity and Resource allocation accross
a cloud server user profile,
home media devices,
profile on a friend's desktop computer,
playpad thingy from a fruity company,
smartphone
and 'exercise entertainment bonodoggle'
is real challenge. Its a reasonable utopian expectation...

For redundancy one would expect there would be multiple ways to verify identity, cross-platform synchronisation and every separate hardware unit could operate separately/offline. Just that proximity (physical or internet) will provide transparent seamless (I know its hated marketing ohrase which I mean in a technically real way) use, is a real simplification of people's lives.

I can't believe no one mentioned this. This may fall into the category of specialized but there is no mobile solution for this. Even the best laptops still do not give me the options I need for the best gaming experience

I have seen this and it is the most exciting thing and could replace every device. I saw this video a few years ago and I am not sure where they are at with it but if it can be marketed I am going to buy

http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/#VIDEOS

The things this article describes are a far cry from any sort of PC utopia I ever have, or ever will, envision. I have NO desire whatsoever to see my PC and my mobile device become combined in any manner beyond the USB cable I use to transfer a few pictures and the occasional video. Not once have I ever been somewhere away from home and thought, "Golly gosh, I sure wish my HTC phone could run 3DS Max... I could get some 3D modeling work done while I'm waiting to get my hair cut."

Why do people who report on tech stuff seem to think that we're heading for some inevitable combining of hardware platforms, as if it's something that simply MUST be done? It doesn't. WTF is wrong with keeping PC's and mobile devices separate? It doesn't even make sense to me because there's absolutely NOTHING on my mobile device that I want on my PC and vice versa. I don't even share calendars and contacts between them!! Sheesh.