We were supposed to have hoverboards 2 days ago

Two years ago at Fanfest I watched a Nvidia developer play eve on a Tablet. CCP seems to have known about the emergence of tablets two years before the OP became concerned.

The numbers don't lie. The traditional PC is walking dead. It pains me to admit as much as anyone.

I spent $4,000 custom-building my last PC. But my next PC will cost perhaps half that money. It will run Linux, not Windows. And I will likely use it less than either my slate, my gesture-enabled television, or my cellphone. So will you, even if you don't believe me yet.

[quote=Glathull]

blah blah

- The future of traditional x86 and x64 PC architecture is increasingly vague. Laptops have been outselling desktop systems for years, but tablet sales are gaining exponentially. A whopping 122 million ARM-based tablets and smartphones sold in 2012.

[sort of true but not really. Laptops have outsold desktops in certain market segments. It's not true overall unless you look at Apple. 122 million is a small number compared to the total units of personal computers that were sold. It's gaining on traditional sales, but not exponentially.]

[I loathe Apple as much as anyone, but last time I checked they still represent a broad segment of computers. Why split hairs over who makes them rather than what they do?]


- Within two years, ARM devices will account for more than half of all personal computer sales.

[Only if you count phones as personal computers. And I don't.]
[I do. You will too. Increasingly powerful docking cellphones will replace PCs (and tablets) for many users in the coming years.]

[And less than 1% will natively display 3D of any kind. It's a stupid market that no one wants. Some idiot company will keep trying to make it work, but it won't ever catch on. You people don't get it. We already see the world in 3D. It's the one feature we don't need in am effing device.]

[The people panning 3D are probably the same people who panned Technicolor and THX. Come to think of if there were those who said "movies" induced so much nausea no one would ever go to see one.]


[Windows 8 has no problems playing any of the games that I play. That's not an exhaustive list. I don't see anyone touting any games as Win8 only. The gaming world would be quite well off if people would get off they're XP asses and upgrade to Win7. Win* adoption has nothing to do with game design priorities right now.]
[I have Windows 8 and get along fine with it. But when influential people like Gabe Newell start panning it, the industry pays attention. 'nuff said.]

[But your biggest problem is thinking that in order to survive, EvE has to appeal to a large market. EvE isn't a new social network that needs to have as many users as possible to hope to someday sell advertising (ahem, Google+). EvE already has a sustainable business model.]
[That model will be considerably less sustainable when the hardcore PC user crowd thins in favour of sleek and intuitive new devices, developers stop writing applications and drivers, and hardware becomes unthinkably expensive because it is no longer being mass-produced.]

What exactly is it that you are on?

How is CCP even remotely responsible for technological advances in the industry? How is it that you consider that they should be concerned that they won't be able to support EVE on those devices should the time come? Why is it that you think these devices will outperform PCs?

So many questions; so little time.

Do you think that PC is suddenly going to be obsolete? That Windows operating systems which function only on X86-64 Architecture normally, will suddenly become obsolete despite being one of the most common OS in the world?

Do you think Intel will suddenly go under? Nvidia will stop making GPUs for high end PCs? That none of that stuff will be necessary in years to come?

[you're looking at $4000 of hardware. tablet can't provide this, and I have a feeling you overpaid http://imgur.com/a/Ii7Q1

Hmm... looks to me like $3000 worth of pixels and $1000 worth of PC. But to each his own :-)

The PC is BECOMING obsolete.

There are reasonable conclusions that can be drawn from the mobile data that we have. We can tell that people really like surfing the web on iPads and Android phones. We can tell that only a very small number of people give a flying fucknut about flash. We can tell that if you give a user an easier and simpler way to do something, the user will take that option.

You are suggesting that everything will eventually be simpler and easier to the point that "there's an app for that." This is not the case. Some things will never be a better user experience on a tablet than they are with a desktop or laptop. Like, for example, developing the software that runs on tablets on phones.

Regardless of my use or yours individually, I can guarantee you one thing: the more apps are being made for mobile devices, the more traditional PCs are being sold to build them with. We may get to a place where it's only devs and nerds and idiots like me who buy desktops, but that class of people is growing at the same rate as the apps that are being created. I don't want to talk about professions where desktops and laptops are a necessity for certain purposes. I don't have data on that. But I bet it's an even bigger market than the app developer market.

Can we stop pretending Linux will ever be a serious competitor in the OS market already?

For the last time, it is not about "gimmicks". It is about what is coming, what is already here, and what is not going away.

For most of us, our computer is the most expensive electronic gadget we will ever purchase. We buy them infrequently, research the heck out of what we buy, and budget for them carefully.

What I am saying is that within five years the traditional PC platform will no longer exist, except as a hobby/enthusiast platform. There will no longer be enough users willing to spend the money for increasingly rare and exotic computers and computer parts to keep a game the size of EVE in business.

It's not about what we prefer or don't. It's about where consumer electronics are already headed, who is along for the ride, and who will lose out.

I call bull on the so-called Fanfest "demo".

Linux is already the world's most popular OS, thanks largely to Google/Android. That ship already sailed. Linux doesn't need to dominate the PC market, because PCs will no longer matter to anyone.

I've heard these words for decades.

Ageck, are you game developer? What's your occupation? What makes you think that Valve's opinion is so important? Have you heard something from Activision? EA? Maybe -- omg -- Zynga? No? As i thought.

I don't wanna insult you. But as a game developer i can't see any sense in your thoughts.
Portable devices are just... another market segment. That's all.

Linux is already the world's most popular OS, thanks largely to Google/Android. That ship already sailed. Linux doesn't need to dominate the PC market, because PCs will no longer matter to anyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaT9Z2zxPu0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Start at 48:50.

Seen it long ago. It's faked.

Either that or CCP scrapped the initiative shortly thereafter. You'll recall shortly thereafter was the $70 monocle fiasco, and CCP pulled all hands on deck to placate angry players. This project no longer exists... you can count on it.

I don't work in IT.. I'm just an enthusiast and lifestyle gamer. :-)

Ah, that explains everything...