New Computer Sales Slump:

[sear]

Sales of new computers have not met sales projections.

Why not?

The usual answer is the economy. But that doesn't seem to explain it. Other related elements of the economy seem to be doing fine.

Have there been any changes to the computer market that might explain the sales drop-off?

Oddly, there are two. And they're whoppers!

The better publicized: Microsoft Windows 8 operating system.

Shirt-pocket "devices" (smart-phones) proliferate. Recent statistics indicate more people have working cell phones than have working toilets.

In a device that fits in a shirt pocket, there's no room for a keyboard. So "touch-screen" technology may be a practical solution.

BUT!!

There are still some dinosaurs around that use old-fashioned desktop computers.

For them, supplanting mouse / keyboard control, with touch-screen is a monstrous sabotage.

Certainly, unquestionably, having a touch-screen control option could be a plus.

But eliminating mouse / keyboard control as an option is a deal-breaker for many potential computer buyers.

But there's a second computer industry finger in the eye to potential computer buyers.

It's virtually impossible to find a new model laptop computer today that doesn't have a built-in camera, and probably microphone/s as well.

Oddly, though generally technology tends to vastly outpace our judicial system, the latter potentially taking years or decades to sort things out,

in the case of cameras in computers, the judicial system is light-years ahead!

There's the matter of the student that committed suicide, because of video of him, surreptitiously captured from his own laptop computer.

An add-on camera and microphone provides the consumer more options. They can pick the exact parameters / specs. they want.

AND

When they want to disconnect; all they have to do is yank the USB plug from the USB port. A 100% perfect security solution.

When the camera is unplugged, it's no longer a security risk.

It may be a stretch to call them savvy consumers.

Let's dial it back and call them sensible citizens.

Sensible citizens understand the monumental, entirely unnecessary security risk a built in, non-removable camera imposes.

And computer sales have slumped substantially.

Will market analysts (apart from me) point the way?

Will at least one manufacturer; among Dell, Asus, Acer, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony, begin to offer at least ONE model either without a camera, or with a modular camera which can be removed (hammered into pulverized dust, and sent to the dump where it belongs)?

Will Microsoft realize that it isn't the master of the market, but a servant?

Will Microsoft either update Win8 to enable mouse/keyboard control, OR offer Win7 to those users for whom it is the clearly superior OS?

Stay tuned! The bottom line is the bottom line.

[BiffSplitkins]

There are still some dinosaurs around that use old-fashioned desktop computers.

Yep, that would be me. LOL

I difinitely prefer a desktop computer for recording music.

[sear]

It is spectacularly easy for me to imagine why Bill Gates might wish to add a touch-screen control option to his ubiquitous OS.

Why he would sabotage his own OS by removing a mouse/keyboard control option with attendant protocols; ...?

"Communist plot" is the obvious answer.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." Hanlon's Razor

Hmmm, tough call!

[Inn Spectre]

Will at least one manufacturer; among Dell, Asus, Acer, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony, begin to offer at least ONE model either without a camera, or with a modular camera which can be removed (hammered into pulverized dust, and sent to the dump where it belongs)?

Luckily after several seconds of research, I've finally invented a high-tech peripheral that can address this problem.

Tools and materials required for manufacture:

1. A roll of black insulating tape
   
2. A pair of scissors
   

Can you guess how it works?

[Rlyeh]

There are still some dinosaurs around that use old-fashioned desktop computers.

For them, supplanting mouse / keyboard control, with touch-screen is a monstrous sabotage.

Certainly, unquestionably, having a touch-screen control option could be a plus.

But eliminating mouse / keyboard control as an option is a deal-breaker for many potential computer buyers.

Desktops have far more upgradability options than laptops or smart phones. Besides anything but mouse/keyboard for FPS games just doesn't feel right.

[Euphorbia]

Sales of new computers have not met sales projections.

Why not?

The usual answer is the economy. But that doesn't seem to explain it. Other related elements of the economy seem to be doing fine.

Have there been any changes to the computer market that might explain the sales drop-off?

Oddly, there are two. And they're whoppers!

The better publicized: Microsoft Windows 8 operating system.

Shirt-pocket "devices" (smart-phones) proliferate. Recent statistics indicate more people have working cell phones than have working toilets.

In a device that fits in a shirt pocket, there's no room for a keyboard. So "touch-screen" technology may be a practical solution.

BUT!!

There are still some dinosaurs around that use old-fashioned desktop computers.

For them, supplanting mouse / keyboard control, with touch-screen is a monstrous sabotage.

Certainly, unquestionably, having a touch-screen control option could be a plus.

But eliminating mouse / keyboard control as an option is a deal-breaker for many potential computer buyers.

But there's a second computer industry finger in the eye to potential computer buyers.

It's virtually impossible to find a new model laptop computer today that doesn't have a built-in camera, and probably microphone/s as well.

Oddly, though generally technology tends to vastly outpace our judicial system, the latter potentially taking years or decades to sort things out,

in the case of cameras in computers, the judicial system is light-years ahead!

There's the matter of the student that committed suicide, because of video of him, surreptitiously captured from his own laptop computer.

An add-on camera and microphone provides the consumer more options. They can pick the exact parameters / specs. they want.

AND

When they want to disconnect; all they have to do is yank the USB plug from the USB port. A 100% perfect security solution.

When the camera is unplugged, it's no longer a security risk.

It may be a stretch to call them savvy consumers.

Let's dial it back and call them sensible citizens.

Sensible citizens understand the monumental, entirely unnecessary security risk a built in, non-removable camera imposes.

And computer sales have slumped substantially.

Will market analysts (apart from me) point the way?

Will at least one manufacturer; among Dell, Asus, Acer, Gateway, Toshiba, Sony, begin to offer at least ONE model either without a camera, or with a modular camera which can be removed (hammered into pulverized dust, and sent to the dump where it belongs)?

Will Microsoft realize that it isn't the master of the market, but a servant?

Will Microsoft either update Win8 to enable mouse/keyboard control, OR offer Win7 to those users for whom it is the clearly superior OS?

Stay tuned! The bottom line is the bottom line.

I guess I'm a dinosaur. I still have a desktop from 2001 with Windows 2000 on it, although I only use it for some old software that doesn't work on newer operating systems.

My main computer is an HP laptop (with Windows 7) hooked up to a 50" flatscreen TV. I do this because of eye problems. I make the text as big as possible just to be able to read. Obviously I have to sit back a ways from the TV to view everything and this for me makes a touch screen impossible.

My phone is just a phone (not a smart phone) and I plan to keep it that way.

My laptop's built in camera/video is disabled and I have a piece of tape over the lens just in case my computer gets hacked and they decide to turn my camera on.

For people like me, smaller is not better. I can appreciate having most everything you need in a smart phone or tablet, but for some software you need a full size computer. Can you imagine trying to use Photoshop on a smartphone?

[Coffey]

If this is pre built desktops then I'm not surprised at all. Most of the people who own desktops for gaming or music production etc build their own desktops.

[Sweetpumper]

Will Microsoft realize that it isn't the master of the market, but a servant?

Will Microsoft either update Win8 to enable mouse/keyboard control, OR offer Win7 to those users for whom it is the clearly superior OS?

[sear]

"Luckily after several seconds of research, I've finally invented a high-tech peripheral that can address this problem.

Tools and materials required for manufacture:

• A roll of black insulating tape
  
• A pair of scissors
  

Can you guess how it works?" IS

Technically it's not a guess. After years of professional experience in the field of security, and decades more in practicing it

I would observe that it's woefully unadequate.

a) The adhesive tape most frequently selected for this (it's already a huge, and growing problem!) is electrical tape.

BUT!! Electrical tape is designed to be wrapped around a wire union. Simple adhesion is not enough on its own to meet design criteria.

A computer should last many years. Often computers simply go obsolete, before they electrically or mechanically fail.

Duration may vary, but let's call it 5 years for convenience.

c1) Hoping the adhesive on electrical tape will last 5 years is risky.

c2) That slim swatch of tape may fall off due to adhesive failure

c3) The tape may be brushed off, vacuumed away, or disappear for some other reason.

c4) Conspicuous absense is not necessarily the case, and the computer user may not notice it's missing.

c5) Adhesive tape doesn't shut down the computer's microphones.

c6) Computer-using non-experts may simply say: enter "Control Panel" and disable it.

And you know what? They're RIGHT! Camera and microphone/s can indeed be deactivated that way. So what's the problem?

c7) Malware can just switch them back on again, without ever notifying the user.

Integrating camera and microphones into a non-removable package is conspicuously horrible idea. It's very difficult to believe corporate America (the ones designing, building, & selling the computers) don't know this.

Ockham's Razor:

They know, and just don't give a damn!

Caveat Emptor!

[SHaYap]

Maybe things like this is the real problem ....

[Dark_Grey]

Maybe things like this is the real problem ....

Reposted that pic on a popular social media website. Lately, cell-phone addiciton has become a bit of a pet-peeve of mine. They've become so popular, so fast, that everyone seems to have lost the plot on appropriate useage. I stress appropriate useage! The cellphone does so much, they have been completely integrated into every facet of our lives. They remind you of your appointments, they keep you in constant contact with people you know, they solve math problems for you, they provide you with instant answers to even the most trivial questions, they hold all your favorite songs, they are customized to show your unique personality: they are now, for all intents and purposes, an artificial extension of your very mind.

Think about it - when was the last time you had to remember...anything? Passwords, notes, invitations, phone numbers? Don't worry! It's all being handled by that cranial add-on in your pocket...

If only we could balance this incredible technology with the world outside of that 4.2" screen, instead of trying to cram our world inside of it. Unfortunately as time goes on and technology becomes more impressive, I see that scenario is less and less likely to happen

Edited May 22, 2013 by Dark_Grey

[Dark_Grey]

Sorry about the earlier rant, all.

To address the OP: most people used to own a desktop to check email, social media, watch youtube, etc. Light internet browsing or office work, essentially. The modern tablet can easily handle those tasks and more. So for the "average user", why be strapped a desk if you don't have to be?

[SHaYap]

Reposted that pic on a popular social media website. Lately, cell-phone addiciton has become a bit of a pet-peeve of mine. They've become so popular, so fast, that everyone seems to have lost the plot on appropriate useage. I stress appropriate useage! The cellphone does so much, they have been completely integrated into every facet of our lives. They remind you of your appointments, they keep you in constant contact with people you know, they solve math problems for you, they provide you with instant answers to even the most trivial questions, they hold all your favorite songs, they are customized to show your unique personality: they are now, for all intents and purposes, an artificial extension of your very mind.

Think about it - when was the last time you had to remember...anything? Passwords, notes, invitations, phone numbers? Don't worry! It's all being handled by that cranial add-on in your pocket...

If only we could balance this incredible technology with the world outside of that 4.2" screen, instead of trying to cram our world inside of it. Unfortunately as time goes on and technology becomes more impressive, I see that scenario is less and less likely to happen

its been going on for some time .. now more so as its 'smart' phones so users need be smart and can leave the smart to the phone ....

on the other points .. one more for you :

just so you'll feel better

[Dark_Grey]

[pic]

just so you'll feel better

Awesome - I used to collect Bizarro comics. Great post

Edit -- removed pic from quote to reduce length of page..

Edited May 22, 2013 by Dark_Grey

[Michelle]

Think about it - when was the last time you had to remember...anything? Passwords, notes, invitations, phone numbers? Don't worry! It's all being handled by that cranial add-on in your pocket...

I'm old school...I try to remember everything. I have a calander in the kitchen and when I call people I dial the phone from memory. I do have to make notes every once in a while, but I generally don't want my brain to get lazy. lol

[SHaYap]

I'm old school...I try to remember everything. I have a calander in the kitchen and when I call people I dial the phone from memory. I do have to make notes every once in a while, but I generally don't want my brain to get lazy. lol

plus something the kids these days have not the satisfaction of knowing ....

[Dark_Grey]

I'm old school...I try to remember everything. I have a calander in the kitchen and when I call people I dial the phone from memory. I do have to make notes every once in a while, but I generally don't want my brain to get lazy. lol

lol I know there are "mature" members on this board who never built habits out of relying on their phones. Heck, I'm only 26 and even I remember cell-phones being a rarity in school! That's how fast technology progress. Literally the difference in years between siblings can determine what sort of experience they will have growing up! Exciting times we live in...

[Michelle]

lol I know there are "mature" members on this board who never built habits out of relying on their phones. Heck, I'm only 26 and even I remember cell-phones being a rarity in school! That's how fast technology progress. Literally the difference in years between siblings can determine what sort of experience they will have growing up! Exciting times we live in...

All of the grandparents, up to at least 70 years old, I know have the latest technologies in smart phones. I don't happen be a grandparent. It's the only way to stay in touch with the family. Once they buy one they get all of the bells and whistles, because they don't have kids at home to support anymore. They've got plenty of time to play with their new toys too.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Michelle

[Michelle]

plus something the kids these days have not the satisfaction of knowing ....

When you think about it, those old phones were tough! There was almost no way to break the dang things.

Prank and obsene phone calls are no more, because if someone really wants to find you they can and will. lol

[SHaYap]

When you think about it, those old phones were tough! There was almost no way to break the dang things.

Prank and obsene phone calls are no more, because if someone really wants to find you they can and will. lol

but it hasn't stop them none over here ... we get unsolicited porn links over the smart phones all the time //

[Orcseeker]

Or the fact that the need to purchase a new computer isn't as necessary? The computers I have are well up to speed and comfortably meet the requirements of all the new games. Which have actually been evening out in regards to requirements and processing power across the board. More care has been taken to efficient programming as well I have noticed in the latest releases.