Power to the People
Loyd Case published a very thought-provoking article on Extremetech today about the concept of power in computing and how our perceptions have been changing. Certainly energy efficiency has become more and more important in computer products, as ways to make batteries last longer and devices run cooler. However, the way we look at power in terms of strength is also changing.
When I first started buying and using tech products, I was obsessed with size like everyone else…it was a numbers game. You wanted a PC with the fastest chip, the highest ram, the largest hard disk. You wanted a digital camera with the greatest number of megapixels. Now, as I have learned more about technology and the market overall has matured, I have learned that more important then sheer power is how well suited a device is to the task at hand. I hardly ever even look at CPU speed or megapixelage anymore, instead considering other features like what GPU is installed, RAM type, zoom factor or sensor acuity when making a tech purchase.
As Loyd says,
The way tech is marketed is still somewhat reminiscent of the “bad old days” of the Megahertz era. More is better, bigger numbers are better. Jim Lynch laments the lack of more memory in the new iPhone 3G. That’s old school thinking.
One interesting device I’ve been watching is the ASUS EeePC. The idea of a streamlined laptop that’s small, yet fully functional apparently hit a sweet spot in the market. No PC user would call the EeePC “powerful,” yet it’s a nicely balanced system for what it is: A compact laptop that you can almost forget you’re carrying around, but with enough power to get the job done.
Take a look at the full article and let us know what you think…does size still matter? Should it?
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As it is in Linux, less is more.
Right, kind of distinction between the notion power consumed and power in terms of perceived useful output, with the latter concept being a function of how capable the end user is. You can go out and buy a Falcon Northwest gaming system, a “powerful” system, but if you only use it for email, IM, and editing digital camera pics, the unit’s full capabilities, it’s “power”, is being squandered. OTOH, you can take an older system, throw something like Puppy Linux on it (88MB ISO) and the old system can become a more useful, thus “powerful”, system…geneb’s demonstrating geneb’s “less is more” comment.
I run Windows XP on my main laptop since it serves my business needs, my leisure needs and it is what works most easily on my corporate LAN. My Thinkpad runs it well, and I have very few complaints. I run Vista at home on a Toshiba laptop and again, it suits what I use it for, mainly media and entertainment.
When I ordered my Eee, I had the option of XP or Linux. Putting XP on a system like that made no sense to me, so I opted for Linux even though I have no experience with it whatsoever. I am looking forward to playing with it on a small, agile machine like an Eee which I intend to use for email, blogging and general messing about.
Choose the tool for the task and you can’t go wrong.
Size does matter when you are trying to get the job done. I want a device that is web enabled and has an MP3 player, camera, GPS and phone. It would be nice if it was a reasonable price when compared to other devices. The iPhone is very close to meeting this goal, but could be a lot better, if certain aspects of it were bigger!
I think Jim Lynch is right, because the size of the things he’s complaining about aren’t adequate to get the job done.
I want to hold all my MP3 files, a lot of camera shots, and other extraneous data on my new iPhone. This requires a lot of memory, which the iPhone almost meets.
The camera’s megapixels almost meet what would be good in a small camera, I was hoping for 3-5+MP.
GPS seems adequate for my needs, talking would be a bonus.
3G seems about perfect for me, faster might not be possible at this time.
So, in my view, more memory and more megapixels would make the iPhone more suitable to the tasks at hand.