[Coco] The early days of Hacking and Coding a CoCo Was: Here's a CoCo 1 ...

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Jan 20, 2014 10:14 AM, "Bill Loguidice" <bill at armchairarcade.com> wrote:
>
> I think for 95% of the population, a good tablet will be all they'll ever
> need, particularly as docking and connectivity options continue to evolve
> (i.e., on-the-fly connectivity to other input devices and larger displays
> as needed). For the other 5%, which includes a lot of us, a good desktop
or
> laptop is what we prefer. For me, personally, I have two main personal
> systems, one is my desktop, which is tethered to two 27" monitors, and my
> Surface Pro 2, which is a laptop/tablet/cintiq hybrid. Certainly something
> like the Surface Pro 2 points to where the tablet form factor could be
> headed, with modular expandability as needs dictate. Of course, with that
> said, it's quite likely that our smartphones will continue to advance to
> the point where they'll be the hub platform, and that that core module
then
> docks into whatever you want, be it a tablet shell, laptop shell, desktop
> shell, etc. We're clearly headed down that route (and have had primitive
> attempts at that idea before, like with the Motorola Atrix).
>
> Anyway, for now, you can sort of liken who needs/desires "real" computers
> with who owned personal computers like the CoCo back in the '80s. It's a
> relatively small percentage of individuals, but notable enough where it
> will likely always be a market worth serving. The difference now is that
> instead of the rest of the population having nothing, they can use things
> like tablets, which is kind of refreshing in that it seems almost everyone
> can join in on the technological fun.
>
> By the way, having used and owned (and continue to use and own) several
> different types of smartphones and tablets, I certainly don't look down on
> anyone using them for "real" work. I've done it in a pinch, and it's not
> too bad really, and in some ways better than traditional form factors. At
> the same time, certain things like multitasking are clumsier and they
> really are best at consumption rather than creation. That balance will
> continue to shift, however, no question. I mean, after all, these things
> improve every six months, and at some point there'll be more than enough
> power to spare to do all kinds of crazy things. We're already getting into
> 64-bit processors and multi-GB RAM capacities. As someone who loves
> technology, I'm optimistic about the future and think we'll always have
> something to serve our needs.
>
> -Bill

You touched on a couple issues that are at the root of my dislike for the
"replace a desktop with a tablet" movement.

First let me make it clear that I have no dislike for tablets themselves...
I make a nice income writing Android apps :)    I own lots of tablets
(including some Surface Pro/Pro 2s, which are beautiful machines and in a
class of their own).

It scares me when I hear variations on the popular themes "90/95/99% of
people only need a tablet" and "most people are just information
consumers".  Have we given up on 90/95/99% of the population?  That isn't
the information revolution I was hoping for (and until the last few years,
assumed would just happen on its own). We were creating more and more
powerful tools, and surely there were mistakes and not enough time was
spent making them accessible.  It's hard to make powerful things simple to
use.   However, the sudden shift to "solving" that problem by just making
things *less* powerful is a cop out (admittedly a very profitable cop out
for a couple wealthy corporations).

Can a tablet do what most people want to do right now?  Sure,  for the
simplest definition of people, want, and now.  However it limits the user
in many ways that are perhaps not apparent.  Want to research a couple
facts in that post you are making?  Well... its a pain on a tablet, so lets
just skip it.  Need to refer to information from more than one source to
make a decision?  Meh, too much work, lets just take what the first one
claims for granted.  Want to share a complex opinion?  Too hard, let's just
click thumbs up.

When you combine this with the fact that one of the popular platforms is
completely controlled from what hardware you are allowed to buy to which
apps you are allowed to install by a single, massive, ridiculously wealthy
corporation.... welcome to the dark ages of computing :(  Replace the
Church with the Corporation, literacy with computer literacy, etc... scary
to me.

$0.02
-Aaron