Ballmer: The Slates Are Coming

[Kevin O'Gorman]

On Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 12:45 AM, Michael Haney <thezorch at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 8:51 PM, Christopher Chan
> <christopher.chan at bradbury.edu.hk> wrote:
> > On Tuesday, July 13, 2010 08:43 AM, Fred A. Miller wrote:
> >> For a number of reasons, I don't agree that tablets will replace PCs.
> >
> > Nor do I agree that PCs will become irrelevant and be replaced by the
> cloud.
> >
> > Let's wait and see.
> >
>
> I see something more like the Private Cloud than using something out
> on the Internet.  My vision of the future is far more attainable right
> now.  Users would connect to a powerful central computer in the home
> that is connected to the Internet.  This computer can run
> sophisticated games, play movies, play music,browse the web and grab
> emails simultaneously for multiple users.  There's only one central
> computer in the house to manage and update.  The family connects using
> whatever they want, be it a graphical terminal that gives them a
> desktop and provides ports for connecting devices like a webcam, a
> digital camera, game controllers and etc, a tablet for web browsing,
> or anything else you might imagine.  These connections can be wired or
> wireless.  For wired connections we're talking FAST optical fiber
> networks, and for wireless we're talking about something beyond the
> 802.11n standard we have now.
>
> I see this possibly happening in about 10 years, but its somewhat
> achievable right now to a limited degree.  The technology isn't quite
> there yet to make this work as I described it above.
>
> This actually sounds a lot like the Sun Stations we used to have at school.
One computer, many monitors and keyboards.  Lots cheaper per seat for a
roomful, and a pretty good visual experience.  So it's been doable for a
while
now; I just wonder if the infrastructure is sensible for the typical nuclear
family,
and that there'd be agreement about what's running.  Moreover, it probably
leads to VMs that do not manage themselves.  I worry about the management
requirements, the willingness to keep the central thing on 24/7, etc. etc.


-- 
Kevin O'Gorman, PhD
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