[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Laptops Still Have a Role -- for Now here

[MarkEdwards]

No way in hell a mobile phone type device will ever replace a laptop. They keyboard alone is priceless.

Surfing the Web on a 4 inch screen is just plain silly. People do it because they can, not because they have to.

... Sometimes it seems as though "news reports" are telling people what to do instead of reporting facts and logic.

[MleB]

Devices requiring an online OS or cloud programs will only ever be as good as the access to the net at any given location - and that's far from either ubiquitous or cheap at the moment - and there are locations where a notebook can function now where a mobile OS device will simply never get a signal. Current devices (from smartphones to the Pads of whatever flavour - by their very nature 'companion devices' - lack the professional software, expandability and peripheral support any 'real' computer (or user) takes for granted now. At the risk of giving Steve Jobs way more credit than he is due, smartphones, pads and other mobile devices will only become something other than what they already are only when Jobs isn't setting the benchmarks that Apple and others follow.

[TheTess]

Nobdy in there right mind will choose watching a movie or enjoying anything on a tiny little screen compared to a laptop. Case closed. It trumps the smart phones and silly NO APP STORE NEEDED! Wooot!

[itpro5c3]

Yeah, just like the laptop was supposed to have replaced the desktop 20 years ago. The writer does not get it that he is talking about different devices used for different purposes. Almost like having said "bicycles will be replaced by cars" back in the late 1800's.

[elvisfan]

These stories are just silly. If someone is at home or at a hotspot. To think that they would want to use a 4 inch screen instead of a 15 or 17 inch laptop, just doesn't make any sense. For one thing. Unlimited data is going the way of the Dodo bird. Whereas you have unlimited at home. Yes, it is nice to be connected in all places. But the mobile device will never replace the home PC, in my opinion.

[mikedgolf40505]

I agree with the all of the above comments; does anyone on PC World ever edit this stuff before they put it out? I love my iPhone, but it will never replace my MacBook Pro. How am I supposed to type on it? How am I supposed to create a document, presentation, edit video, or any other number of tasks on it? Web surfing on these devices, to kill time, will continue to rise; but to think they will make the laptop obsolete is just foolish folly.

[waldojim]

maybe when phones include micro projectors so you have a nice sized screen, and a virtual keyboard that lets you type on any table top... I could totally replace my laptop with something like that.

But my current phone doesn't do that. I don't remember seeing any announcements for such a product either.

[scuby]

Laptops will always have a place. Don't forget traveling salespersons and truck drivers who keep their records and such need the space to keep them.

[RobertGapen]

I will never buy anything that requires me to have a contract ever and this whole idea that Internet is not unlimited any more but the phone requires me to use it is just plain stupid and i can not believe people actually look at this and say oh this is a good idea

were ever there is a fool with money there is a scam artist waiting to take it

[thewazak]

Stange, another PCW blog (only yesterday) reported on a study that suggested millions of people plan to buy a laptop in the next 90 days ....
So, make up your mind PCW: is the laptop selling like hot cakes - or is it dying?
It can't be both!

[stewdanko]

Here's a survey for you. A survey of 300,000 people don't know how to use a laptop and think the Internet is just something to update their Facebook accounts.

[HighSierra]

I think I'll stick to my neural interface for now.

[brianjbartlett]

waldojim, on 27 November 2010 - 04:04 PM, said:

maybe when phones include micro projectors so you have a nice sized screen, and a virtual keyboard that lets you type on any table top... I could totally replace my laptop with something like that.

But my current phone doesn't do that. I don't remember seeing any announcements for such a product either.

Actually it has been demonstrated before, a couple of years back if I recall correctly. It used a laser to draw and sense a virtual keyboard. I've also seen projection as a feature before, even in conjunction with a virtual keyboard. The main problems with such a device is that some surfaces are unsuitable, power draw even for diode based lasers, and resistance to the virtual keyboard. Now that we have virtual keyboards, that last one is probably going the way of the Dodo.

[waldojim]

brianjbartlett, on 28 November 2010 - 06:58 PM, said:

Actually it has been demonstrated before, a couple of years back if I recall correctly. It used a laser to draw and sense a virtual keyboard. I've also seen projection as a feature before, even in conjunction with a virtual keyboard. The main problems with such a device is that some surfaces are unsuitable, power draw even for diode based lasers, and resistance to the virtual keyboard. Now that we have virtual keyboards, that last one is probably going the way of the Dodo.

Nope, someone made a fancy little CGI video of such a device. It has been discussed to death on various other forums, and essentially it costs too danged much to do that. You are looking at nearly $500 in projection tech alone, not to mention the battery life (or lack there of), size, and weight of this monster. It really isn't viable at all. That was why my post up there was meant as a tongue-in-cheek comment...