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March 26, 2008

people

John C. Dvorak: Forget about laptops and iPhones; it’s all about the desktops, baby

Posted Mar. 26, ’08, 2:25 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Apple » People

john dvorak.jpgJohn C. Dvorak is a contributing editor of PC Magazine, and after reading his latest opinion piece for said magazine, it’s probably safe to assume that he is also clumsy, forgetful, and has poor vision. Why else would he favor the glories of the lumbering, unmovable desktop over the portability of laptops and iPhones for reasons such as “you can leave your iPhone in a taxi”, “small laptop screens make you go blind” and “if you spill your coffee on your laptop keyboard or iPhone you’re screwed”?

“Everyone thinks that the iPhone is going to be the next major computing platform. Some even hope that it will replace the laptop as the primary PC platform. And what if it does? What are folks going to do when they spill coffee on their iPhones? They’ve already done a lot worse—they drop them into toilets over and over. PodShow’s Adam Curry lamented having this happen to him, as did Leo Laporte on a TWiT podcast.”

After reading the first 3/4 of his piece, I seriously thought it was satire. It wasn’t until I reached the last page, where he earnestly outlines and compares the benefits of desktops and laptops, that I realized he (probably) isn’t joking.

John, I know you’re of an older generation, and these smaller, portable-but-powerful newfangled gadgets might be intimidating, and yes, maybe a little easier to drop in a toilet, but ya know what? People like to be able to take their gadgets with them! People don’t like being stuck in one place every time they want to use their computer, and if they can have a device that offers the power of a desktop, but weighs 5 pounds and fits in a backpack, they’ll take it. I’ve relied on my MacBook as my primary computer for the last year and a half, and do I miss having a desktop even the slightest bit? No sir.

You see, John, this newer generation values portability more than you might think. You say these laptops are delicate and unreliable? I lug my MacBook around in my backpack on a daily basis, and it’s never given me a problem. Sure if I spill a cup of coffee on it, it will probably be ruined, but there’s an easy solution to that: keep coffee and other liquids out of spilling distance from your laptop!. Problem solved. And while we’re talking about accidents, how about this sage advice: don’t dangle your iPhone over a toilet, for the love of God!

I know his article is titled “The iPhone is No Desktop”, and this is true at the moment, but don’t spend half your article trashing laptops to get to the obvious point that the iPhone will not replace a full on computer (at least not yet).

I’m not trying to knock desktop users either, but unless you’re a serious gamer, or you need copious amounts of raw power and a graphics card for your profession, I don’t see why a laptop isn’t a perfectly viable desktop replacement. What do you think?


15 Comments

fletcher Author Profile Page said:

My Dad made a great point the other day. He noted that I was traveling with my iPhone, but not my MacBook. Losing the several hundred dollar phone would be a bummer, but much less than losing the couple thousand dollar laptop. And, the data on the phone is much less sensitive than the contents of my laptop as well.

The iPhone's ability to replace some of my mobile computing needs (Web and Email) allows me to leave my more valuable machine at home. If the iPhone were a little more capable I could potentially switch back to a desktop at home.

So, if I drop my iPhone in the toilet I can be thankful I didn't drop my portable in there. And who uses their iPhone in the toilet? Yuck! I risk death by using my Nintendo DS in the bath sometimes, but come on :)

March 26, 2008 2:49 PM
Donn Author Profile Page said:

Wasted words, David. I fully believe Dvorak knows full well his positions are ridiculous and out of step with the true tech congnoscenti. He does it for the hits and referrals, which you have provided him with.
Cf. Dan Dilger's Roughly Drafted.

March 26, 2008 3:24 PM
Charles Kohler said:

I'm sitting here on North Beach, Point Reyes National Wildnerness, catching up on my email while watching the surf crash just yards from me. I'd like to hear the illustrious Mr. D explain how to accomplish that with his desktop computer.
My iPhone travels everywhere with me, and let's me stay current without weighing me down. Sure, I'm not doing intensive word processing or spreadsheets, but I'm not tied to a desk, either. (BTW, I'm 62 and LOVE the simplicity and portability of my iPhone!)
Mr. D is SO last century!

March 26, 2008 3:26 PM
michael said:

Different devices are good for different things. That’s quite easy.

Using an iPhone may be bullshit and using a desktop computer may be bullshit. But only if your needs don’t fit what these devices can actually do.

Certain devices have certain drawbacks as well as certain advantages. Only if the advantages are minuscule or non-existent (or if other devices offer similar advantages but less of the same drawbacks) the device as a whole can be seen as not useful.

Mobility is in no way a minuscule advantage. And increased Mobility (something simple like the fact that you don’t need a backpack to transport an iPhone) can also be an huge advantage. For many people a big enough advantage that they happily accept drawbacks when it comes to stability, durability, price and power.

Anyone who doesn’t see that must be quite stupid.

In a way designing a good device is all about picking the right package of drawbacks and advantages. In German there is a cute term for a device that attempts to deliver all the advantages with none of the drawbacks: Eierlegende Wollmilchsau (something like: Egg laying Wool-Milk-Pig). And, as everyone knows, there is no such thing. It’s all about the right package.

March 26, 2008 3:56 PM
Anonymous said:

I thought John Dvorak was dead. He might as well be , he has always been irrelevant.

March 26, 2008 5:02 PM
Brett said:

Okay, so it's pretty dumb that I am writing this, because I haven't read David's article, but I HAVE read this "review". The comment I have is that, while there are plenty of arguments why the iPhone and laptops are the future of commuting, 95% of users are corporations - not bloggers - who want people tethered to their desks - not on a beach - and the best way to do that? A desk top. Dunno. But that's my two-cents (4 Euro cents) worth.

March 26, 2008 5:08 PM
barry said:

30 inch display is a great tool for multitask work. Can't do that on a laptop or iPhone. I use all 3.

March 26, 2008 5:11 PM
David Dahlquist said:

@barry: A 30 inch display is just as useful with a laptop that supports it (like an MBP) as it is with a desktop. Using it with a laptop gives you the best of both worlds, and so there's still no need for a desktop unless, like I said, you need a ton of raw power / RAM / video processing ability.

March 26, 2008 5:22 PM
wesg Author Profile Page said:

I agree with Fletcher. When travelling, avoiding risk is important and losing a laptop, with potentially confidential information, is much more troublesome and costly than an iPhone (or other gadget).

Personally I'm looking forward to getting my iPod touch so I can leave the MacBook behind on short trips.

March 26, 2008 5:56 PM
leeloo said:

i don't necessarily agree with mr. d, but i disagree with you. what's wrong with a desktop? it's sometimes offensively more expensive for what you get in a laptop vs. a desktop. i understand the portability issue, but not all of us think that a laptop is the answer. i think a much more powerful desktop & an iphone will suffice!!

March 26, 2008 6:06 PM
Mike Author Profile Page said:

I'm surprised John Dvorak has not heard of a laptop docking station .. you know, that gadget that helps transform a laptop and its external peripherals into a desktop PC. Anyway, I use my MB at home with an external 24" monitor and while I'm typing emails from my hotel room (like this email), I use the MB as it was intended to be used .. as the portal productivity tool it was designed to be.

March 26, 2008 8:07 PM
Kelmon said:

In the past laptops were, well, kinda rubbish. You paid a heck of a lot of money for something that was typically poorly made and had rubbish performance compared to a desktop. Thankfully those days evaporated years ago. These days I do all my work on a MacBook Pro - what would a desktop offer me other than a fixed location to work? Before I switched to a Mac I had built an all-singing, all-dancing Pentium 4-based Windows PC that was blazingly fast (for the time) but the MBP just destroys it in benchmarks. Clearly current desktops are much faster but since our need for faster computers hasn't really grown that much, what's the point?

I think this brings up a more important issue: given that current computers are already faster than we (usually) need, is there anyone with a current Mac who thinks they'll be upgrading soon? I'm looking at my C2D MBP and wondering if I'll bother upgrading it in the future before it fails since it's already faster than I need, beyond adding a bigger hard drive. Who is Apple going to sell to in the future?

March 27, 2008 12:49 AM
Philip Regan said:

You do realize, don't you, that the only reason why he writes this nonsense is to boost readership and bring people to the website? Right? He specifically mentioned the iPhone because he knows that it is a cheap gimmick to boost readership (and said so in his blog). The reason why his opinions sound like nonsense is simply because they are nonsense. He doesn't report news in his blog; if it were a newspaper, he would be on the Op/Ed page. It's supposed to be inflammatory. That is his job. What makes him so good is that he B.S. his way through an opinion enough to make sound like a real argument.

It is times like this when I question this blog's editors' ability to discern what is real news and what is an obviously simple ploy to annoy people and therefore a complete waste of its readers' time.

Get over it. I stopped reading his nonsense ages ago (and I think I commented something similar to this a while ago about this very same topic).

March 27, 2008 7:28 AM
David Dahlquist said:

@Philip: If you think I reported Mr. D's story as actual news, then I'm afraid you're the one with a misconception. At the very beginning of my article I referred to his story as an "opinion piece", as in "Op/Ed" like what you said but apparently didn't read in my article. The "news" was that he wrote such a ridiculous piece. I also mentioned in my article that I wasn't completely sure he was serious, but just to be on the safe side, I decided to refute his argument and toss in my two cents. Simple ploy to get readers or no, a ton of people are reading his article and many are taking it seriously, so I felt it was right to address it.

March 27, 2008 12:33 PM
Philip Regan said:

@David: Regardless of my mistakenly glossing over the Op/Ed reference, I still find it surprising that you still choose to respond to any of the dreck that Dvorak spits out. Especially given how much factual news your staff outputs on this fine blog. This is like the only real sin you commit, and I think you're better than this. Really, you ought to ignore him and move on. Speak with any reasonable IS/IT department and they tell you the same things I am. Cheers

March 27, 2008 5:43 PM

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