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Comment by neya | Hacker News Reader

The iPad eats the consumer PC market?

Oh please, please stop this BS. The iPad sales are shooting up, true. The PC sales are going down, maybe true. But that could be due to several reasons - Maybe consumers are just 'upgrading' (like RAM, HDD, etc.) their existing PC's, or maybe existing PC owners don't want to even upgrade their PC at all because it's still working fine, there just could be a lot of reasons.

The statement that just the iPad alone eats the PC market is like saying, KFC is killing Ford's sales because it sells more chicken. Makes no sense, does it? Exactly, that's what the iPad vs PC comparison looks like too.

NO consumer would want to replace a PC with an iPad because there is a LOT of utility attached with a PC that it would be a blunder to replace it with a tablet like an iPad.

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This statement is just as inaccurate! You've completely dismissed the fact it might be happening based on no evidence at all.

My brother just tossed his laptop for an iPad and he loves it. There's one person who has, so you're already wrong.

Does your brother have access to a desktop computer? If so he didn't replace a computer for an iPad. He replaced his mobile gadget for a lighter option.

Tablets are great for consumption, but extremely poor for generating content. Even with an external keyword, writing a document (not even talking about a spreadsheet) in a tablet is least than pleasant.

No other PC, just his iPad. And he uses the keyboard and thinks it works great, so you are wrong in saying that it is bad for generating content. That's your opinion, not a fact.

iPad is bad for generating content. I don't mean bad as in BAD. By bad, I mean it's not going to be just as good enough as a PC. Best example? Take photoshop. Photoshop for iPad is so amateurish compared to Photoshop for PC. I can never imagine a designer using just an iPad to survive, because he will miss out a lot of valuable tools (Illustrator, PS, etc.). But, I also want to personally thank you for being so polite and not being staunch (like most of them usually are). Cheers! :)

Yes, there are definitely some kinds of content that won't be doable on a tablet, such as your Photoshop example.

The OP just stated that word processing was harder on an iPad, which as we both know is simply an opinion.

Hmmm, I'm not being a dick, but I just want to give you an example - As to why word-processing is really difficult on an iPad. Assume you are a blogger, each platform like tumblr, blogger, etc. has its own Editor. And to make text bold, italic, listed, etc., you need to select the text, which is quite frustrating, if not hard on an iPad. Selecting text is easier with a mouse than say, with your fingers, especially on miniscule text.

Selection is just one example. Talk about dragging images within an editor - Most editors don't support the OnTouch event, but rather just the OnClick event, so there is a huge difference, actually.

Exactly, you nailed it man. Very valid argument. Cheers!

Ok, change it to: the iPad is eating the growth in the consumer PC market, plus a little bit more, plus the Mac is eating a little bit, and way on the outside, Ubuntu, 21 lengths back, is starting to make it a four-horse race.

It's a valid comparison because most people do very simple stuff with their PCs. Stuff that tablets also do today, and will continue to do better and better.

Do you think comparing minicomputers to PCs makes any sense? Of course not, you can't compare those, PCs are mere toys compared to a minicomputer. Yet the minicomputer market (and DEC with it) is dead today.

Doesn't necessarily mean the PC is thrown out but where once they might have upgraded a computer or bought another (perhaps for a child/teenager) they might buy a tablet instead. The products are competing for the same disposable income and in very much the same field and also they compete for time and attention and the dollars will follow those.

What do most people spend most time doing on PCs? Web browsing, email, games, reading news and YouTube? All those things are well supported on tablets and for some they may be better suited to the tablet.

Sure the PC is better for development and serious writing but that is only a fraction of usage and writing doesn't need a very modern computer (or Windows 8).

It's not that big of a stretch. Instead of looking at sales you should be looking at engagement. What are the #s looking like for time spent on the Internet by people who own both a tablet and a PC?

I assume it's leaning more and more towards tablets which really does imply that tablets (cough the iPad) is eating the PC.

NO consumer would want to replace a PC with an iPad

Do you know many real people?

I know you, so, I'm not sure. I'll leave that as an exercise for you :)

NO consumer would want to replace a PC with an iPad because there is a LOT of utility attached with a PC that it would be a blunder to replace it with a tablet like an iPad.

This is an innovator's dilemma situation, where the incumbent technology (PCs) are delivering far more value than some users need. As such, "worse" technology (tablets, phones) are acceptable replacements for PCs for some of those users.

To you, that extra value is important, but many people just want Facebook, Email, Internet, etc. Those people are often totally happy with a device like an iPad that doesn't have as much overhead or complexity.

> Facebook, Email, Internet, etc.

I can only believe you're writing this as "a lot of people" would, and not seriously...

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