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Author Topic: Death of the PC  (Read 10414 times)

wmchauncey

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Death of the PC
« on: July 18, 2013, 03:59:25 pm »

There's not a day goes by that "the death of the PC" doesn't shout out at me.  My outdated and upgraded PC currently serves me quite well considering it's age.
But, as with all things, it will die.  What are PP folks migrating to as their PCs are destined for the trash heap?
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Rand47

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2013, 09:39:11 pm »

Tempis fugit...  Technology fugit...

Since I have one foot in the consulting world and one in the photography/graphics world, I stick w/ PCs.  In the business world the PC is still the standard.  As far as I'm concerned it is six of one, half-dozen of the other.
I work with others in LR & Photoshop on Macs and there isn't a difference worth mentioning, except perhaps cost.

Find a local computer service / builder and build a PC with some real grunt for about half of the cost of an equivalent Mac.   That's what I did after my last HP Desktop couldn't cut the mustard w/ LR 4.   I spent some time finding the right PC builder, having lots of conversations about needs and sweet spot re components.  Worth the effort.

My machine cost about 2k and an equivalent Mac would have been considably more expensive.  My machine is flawless after six months of intense use, and if anything goes south my dependable "computer guy" is about ten minutes away.

2 SSD, one for system & programs, 2nd for catalog & scratch/cache,  third fast/big HDD for data.  Intel Ivy 3770, 32 gigs RAM, good video card, lots of esata and USB 3.0 connectivity.  Screams.  

Best of luck as you move forward.  A good back-up regime is essential no matter what you do.  Rust never sleeps.

Rand



« Last Edit: July 18, 2013, 09:50:19 pm by Rand47 »
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Steve House

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2013, 10:48:12 pm »

Just had a new build put together last month to replace my 5 year old PC that was getting long in the tooth.

CoolerMaster Adv HAF case
Seasonic 1250w PSU
Asus Sabertooth x79 MB
Intel i7 3930k, 6 core
32 GB Ram
512GB SSD System/Applications drive
128 GB SSD dedicated scratch/ACR cache/LR catalog disk
2x1TB WD Black Raid 0 array data storage & current projects
Asus nVidia GTX 780 video card
Dell U2713h wide-gamut monitor
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Rhossydd

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2013, 02:03:47 am »

What are PP folks migrating to as their PCs are destined for the trash heap?
If you mean by "PCs" personal computers with base units monitors, keyboards and mice, rather than Wintel systems in particular, I can see no hope on the horizon that any other form factor will have the power, convenience and accuracy to do the sort of post processing that I need or expect.

WRT to the 'power' of the box, I just upgrade and add to the bits inside to ensure the performance is adequate. I can't see that getting any more difficult soon compared to how it's worked out for the last twenty years of digital imaging.

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RFPhotography

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2013, 08:14:43 am »

I think it's unlikely that the 'desktop' computer for image editing will be replaced with something else on a permanent basis in the near to medium term future.  Mobile technology is advancing but there are still too many constraints with that platform. 
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PeterAit

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2013, 10:23:40 am »

I think it's unlikely that the 'desktop' computer for image editing will be replaced with something else on a permanent basis in the near to medium term future.  Mobile technology is advancing but there are still too many constraints with that platform. 

I agree - the continued use of the desktop computer is guaranteed by the human form factor. We photography nebbishes will always need large monitors and an accurate pointing device.
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wmchauncey

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2013, 12:38:28 pm »

Quote
nebbishes
Yeah, I hadda look that one up...never have I ever been accused of being timid or shy but, it did make me pause.  There probably was a time for that moniker, like when I was a newbee.
I would submit however that the more accomplished among us can be the most opinionated folks on the planet.     ;D

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PeterAit

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2013, 12:53:34 pm »

Yeah, I hadda look that one up...never have I ever been accused of being timid or shy but, it did make me pause.  There probably was a time for that moniker, like when I was a newbee.
I would submit however that the more accomplished among us can be the most opinionated folks on the planet.     ;D

I didn't mean it in a negative way - and of course I included myself!
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wmchauncey

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2013, 01:42:51 pm »

I know that    ;D    We both were injecting some levity into the post.     ;D
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AFairley

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2013, 05:54:00 pm »

I would submit however that the more accomplished among us can be the most opinionated folks on the planet.

One of the saving graces of this forum is that most of the opinionated blowhards actually have a clue as to what they are talking about.   ;D
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Justan

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2013, 11:04:09 am »

Quote
What are PP folks migrating to as their PCs are destined for the trash heap?

The Dell Precision T3600 series is a really good entry level turnkey workstation and the T7600 is at the upper end.

I don’t have a problem with home built or computer store built workstations, except that typically, 6 months or > after it’s made, you may have a hard time  finding a replacement system board, should it be needed. Additionally, in the distant past there was often a good savings to be had by DIY, but that savings has all but disappeared more than a decade ago. Lastly, one almost never sees home- or computer-store built workstations in professional environments, for a good reason...

I do agree that current generation great performing workstations can be found for about half the cost of a Mac.

Jim Kasson

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2013, 11:20:14 am »

The Dell Precision T3600 series is a really good entry level turnkey workstation and the T7600 is at the upper end.

I don’t have a problem with home built or computer store built workstations, except that typically, 6 months or > after it’s made, you may have a hard time  finding a replacement system board, should it be needed...

I used to build all my tower computers, but stopped about 8 years ago, using mostly Dell Txxxx workstations. I made the change party out of convenience, but found that the Dell computers have had more sophisticated and efficient cooling systems than I could produce without going to liquid cooling -- which I've tried and found to require periodic maintenance. The reason that Dell (and, I assume, hp and Lenovo) can produce such quiet and efficient air cooling systems is that they get to design them for a particular processor family, motherboard, power supply and case.

It was ever thus. I remember taking apart a DEC tower (how many remember that DEC briefly made Intel-based computers?) in the mid 90s and finding the inside dominated by a huge and complex plastic shroud whose only purpose was airflow management.

I suppose now, what with the ready availability of 3D printers, it's possible for the DIYer to design and construct cooling systems similar to what the biggies use, but it would require significant engineering skill, and either airflow simulation studies or prototyping and testing (bring out the cigarettes, the traditional smoke source). That's not something I want to sign up for.

Jim

Telecaster

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #12 on: July 21, 2013, 05:01:43 pm »

If my iPad had the memory & storage capacity of my desktop I'd scrap the desktop in a nanosecond. Ain't no better pointer for editing than your finger! Actually storage capacity isn't that big an issue...I can read/write to networked storage just fine, but I need to maintain a separate system to host the networked drives. Displaying on a larger screen is doable too. The main issue is memory. But that'll come...and then the high-end editing/cataloging software will follow.

Tablets are so much fun to use. IMO working on a desktop or even laptop feels primitive in comparison.

-Dave-
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wmchauncey

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #13 on: July 21, 2013, 06:19:47 pm »

I like my man-cave atmosphere of my own office/photography/computer room...are no interruptions in there.       ;D
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Rhossydd

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #14 on: July 22, 2013, 02:47:22 am »

Ain't no better pointer for editing than your finger!
Except you can't see where you're touching, your finger masks it.
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Telecaster

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #15 on: July 22, 2013, 02:54:29 pm »

Except you can't see where you're touching, your finger masks it.

Haven't found this to be an issue...but I can imagine more sophisticated editing software allowing an offset, so the brush or whatever you're using wouldn't be directly under your finger.

-Dave-
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Steve House

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #16 on: July 22, 2013, 03:59:04 pm »

Haven't found this to be an issue...but I can imagine more sophisticated editing software allowing an offset, so the brush or whatever you're using wouldn't be directly under your finger.

-Dave-
Sounds like a hand-eye coordination nightmare to me.
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Telecaster

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #17 on: July 22, 2013, 05:56:19 pm »

Sounds like a hand-eye coordination nightmare to me.

Hardly. People easily associate mouse/trackball/trackpad movements with on-screen cursors. When your finger is the pointing device there's less abstraction. Creating a temporary brush offset, when necessary (not often IMO), would be simple & straightforward. Switch on an offset option...this could be done a number of different ways. For example, folks are already familiar with cloning offsets. How I'd do it: tap once to establish finger position; while holding finger down tap again with second finger to establish brush position. Easy peasy.

IME the ease with which people take to tablets is directly proportional to their desire to do so.   ;)

Also...anyone working with a graphics tablet, like an Intuos, will get this stuff right away. If you want you can even use a stylus instead of a finger, a la drawing/painting.

-Dave-
« Last Edit: July 22, 2013, 06:01:52 pm by Telecaster »
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Steve House

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #18 on: July 22, 2013, 07:36:46 pm »

Hardly. People easily associate mouse/trackball/trackpad movements with on-screen cursors. When your finger is the pointing device there's less abstraction. Creating a temporary brush offset, when necessary (not often IMO), would be simple & straightforward. Switch on an offset option...this could be done a number of different ways. For example, folks are already familiar with cloning offsets. How I'd do it: tap once to establish finger position; while holding finger down tap again with second finger to establish brush position. Easy peasy.
..
Oh I agree that the finger is an excellent pointing tool - I seee a spot on an image and I can put myginger omn it with a high degree of precision.  But that OFFSET, that's another matter!  If the mouse pointer moves to exactly 1 inch to the left of where my finger touches, getting the pointer to touch that spot on the first try is going to be more a matter luck than anything else.  One would have to touch exactly 1 inch to the right of the desired spot, not .999 inches, not 1.001 inches, not 1.0000 inch at 89 degrees or 91 degrees from vertical but exactly 1.000 at exactly 90 degrees.  I just don't have the spatial coordination to do that and I doubt most people do.
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Telecaster

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Re: Death of the PC
« Reply #19 on: July 23, 2013, 03:12:41 pm »

Oy...

When using an offset both the active brush area and the offset area would remain visible on-screen. No guessing required. This is how the Photogene app on the iPad implements cloning...works fine & dandy user interface-wise. You can move the sampling region around & resize it too.

-Dave-
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