Sunday, October 30, 2011

Death of the Desktop

It has occurred to me more than once over the years that the main reason I have a traditional computer is for Second Life. I could get the news and weather from TV and plenty of entertainment, too, especially when I had a DVR. The daily newspaper was interesting, though not as much as the radio. And I love to read. Books, magazines, packages in the grocery store. Anything.

But what do I do with the computer? Well, I read. Play solitaire. And I visit Second Life. Because of the latter, I also have several graphics programs so I can create textures. Sure, there are things I do on the Web like Netflix and Neopets. But except for Neopets, everything I do on the desktop other than Second Life I can do on my iPod Touch or my iPad or on AppleTV, especially now that Cloud storage is here.

So what is the point here? Not entirely sure. But I spent most of my day mucking about the house doing various things with my iDevices in tow. I watched a recipe and took out my iPod Touch to make entries on the grocery list app while cooking then ate my meal while watching Netflix and waiting for the other meals to cook (it's like a restaurant here ... no two people want the same thing). Then I looked up things for my mom (she's figuring out her iPad) for Christmas shopping and was able to hand the screen to her.

Tomorrow when I'm out shopping I'll use the iPad to talk to people instead of the chalk slate I used growing up. When I save up about $190 I'll get an app that will be my voice. And I'll hook up to the WiFi at McDonalds to update my mail and check the weather and ... well, whatever. I certainly won't have to drag my desktop computer with me, though it has been done.

Very handy things, these portables. And I really wonder if I'd use a traditional computer if it weren't for Second Life.

No comments: